mounted their mounts to meet him. There was a grudge between them and al-Walid from the Pre-Islamic period (Jahiliyyah), so al-Walid feared that they had only ridden toward him to kill him. He returned to the Messenger of Allah without meeting them and said, "O Messenger of Allah, the Banu al-Mustaliq have withheld their alms and have disbelieved after their Islam." They said, "O Messenger of Allah, he has only turned back due to an anger he harbored against us. We seek refuge with Allah from his anger and the anger of His Messenger." Allah then revealed [their excuse] in this verse.

"The matter descends"—meaning the revelation—"among them," "between the heavens and the earth," "that you may know" by this revelation "that Allah is over all things competent and that Allah has encompassed all things in knowledge," such that nothing escapes His knowledge.

Muhammad said: "In knowledge" (ilman) is in the accusative case (mansub) as a confirmatory source (masdar), meaning: He has known all things with knowledge. This part has ended, praise be to Allah.