46

And verily they plotted, against the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" , their plot - when they desired to kill him, or detain him [in his house] or banish him - but their plotting is with Allahu ta’ālā, that is to say, knowledge or the requital thereof [is with Allahu ta’ālā], and their plotting, even though it be great, was not such whereby mountains should be moved, meaning that it is not of any importance, but that they are only harming themselves thereby. It is said that the use of 'mountains' here is meant to be literal; alternatively, it is also said [to be a reference to] the laws of Islam, which are likened to these [mountains] in the way that they are established and fixed (a variant reading has la-tazūlu [instead of li-tazūla], with in softened [from inna, 'verily'], in which case the intended meaning is that [the extent of] their plotting is great. It is said that 'plotting' here is [actually a reference to] their unbelief. This second [reading] is consonant with [Allah’s saying]: Whereby the heavens are almost torn and the earth split asunder and the mountains fall crashing [Q. 19:90]; according to the former [reading], however, one should read it as [if it were] wa-mā kāna, and [their plotting] was not such …).