'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī
تفسير : (the thunder hymneth his praise) by his command; it is an angel; it is also said: it is the voice of the sky (and (so do) the angels) and also the angels hymn his praise (for awe of him) the angels have awe towards allah. (he launcheth the thunder bolts) i.e. fire (and smiteth with them whom he will) he destroys by means of fire whoever he will, referring here to zayd ibn qays whom allah destroyed by fire, along with his friend 'amir ibn al-tufayl who was killed as a result of being stabbed in his waist (while they dispute (in doubt) concerning allah) while they dispute with muhammad (pbuh) concerning the religion of allah, (and he is mighty in wrath) his chastisement is severe.
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
تفسير : and the thunder — this is an angel, who is in charge of the clouds, driving them, [while he] constantly, proclaims his praise, that is, he says, ‘glory be to god through his praise’ (subhāna’llāh wa-bi-hamdihi), and so too the angels, proclaim his praise, in awe of him, that is, of god. he unleashes the thunderbolts — these are a fire which issues forth from the clouds — and smites with them whom he will, such that it burns [that person]: this was revealed regarding a man to whom the prophet (s) had sent someone to invite [to islam] and who said, ‘who is the messenger of god? and what is god? is he [made] of gold, or of silver, or of copper?’, whereupon a thunderbolt came down on him and blew off the top of his head; yet they, that is, the disbelievers, dispute, argue with the prophet (s), about god, though he is great in might, in power, or in [the severity of his] retribution.
Ali ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi
تفسير : (he launcheth the thunderbolts and smiteth with them whom he will…) [13:13].
nasr ibn abi nasr al-wa'iz informed us> abu sa'id 'abd allah ibn muhammad ibn nusayr> muhammad ibn ayyub al-razi> 'abd al-wahhab> 'ali ibn abi sarah al-shaybani> thabit> anas ibn malik who reported that once the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, sent a man to one of the arab tyrants, saying: “go and tell him to come and see me”. he said: “o messenger of allah, he is too haughty to comply”. he said: “go and tell him to come and see me”. the man went and said to him: “the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, asks you to come and see him”. the man retorted: “what is allah? is he made of gold, silver or copper?” the man went back and informed the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, saying: “i told you that he is too haughty to comply”. he said: “go to him a second time and ask him to come and see me”. he went and the man repeated exactly what he said in the previous occasion. the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace, asked the man to go and call him a third time, and the man repeated what he said in the two previous occasions. the man said: “as he was talking to me, allah sent above his head a cloud which thundered and a bolt of lightning struck him and removed his skull”. allah, exalted is he, then revealed (he launcheth the thunderbolts and smiteth with them whom he will while they dispute (in doubt) concerning allah, and he is mighty in wrath).
according to the reports of abu salih, ibn jurayj and ibn zayd, ibn 'abbas said: “this verse and the verse before it were revealed about 'amir ibn al-tufayl and arbad ibn rabi'ah. these two men went to see the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, and, as they were coming, one of the prophetic companions said: 'o messenger of allah, here is 'amir ibn al-tufayl coming toward you'. he said: 'leave him, allah will guide him if he wants good for him'. he proceeded along until he stood in front of the prophet and said: 'o muhammad, what do i get if i become muslim?' he said: 'you get what the muslims get and you suffer what they suffer'. he said: 'in that case put me in charge after you die'. he said: 'no, that is not up to me; that is up to allah, exalted is he, and he appoints whoever he wills'. he said: 'in that case, put me in charge of the arab nomads and you will be in charge of the settlers'. the prophet said: 'no!' he said: 'what are you going to give me, then?' he said: 'i will give you the reins of horses to use in military conquest'. he said: 'do i not have them already?' this man had told arbad ibn rabi'ah, that once he started talking to the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace, he should go behind the prophet and strike him with his sword. arbad pulled out his sword about a span but allah, exalted is he, jammed it and he could not pull it out completely. when 'amir started gesturing to arbad, the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, turned back and saw arbad handling his sword. he prayed: 'o allah, deal with them for me as you will'. allah, exalted is he, sent on arbad a thunderbolt, on a sunny day, and burned him. 'amir ran away, saying: 'o muhammad, you called your lord and he killed arbad. by allah, i will fill the land against you with unsaddled horses and unbearded youths'. the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'allah, exalted is he, will stop you from doing that, as will the aws and the khazraj'. 'amir then spent the night in the house of a woman from banu salul. in the morning, he collected his weapons and left saying: 'by the lat and al-'uzza, would muhammad and his companion (meaning the angel of death) show themselves to me, i will stab them with my spear'. when allah, exalted is he, saw how he behaved, he sent him an angel who hit him with his wing and thrust him on the dust. a huge gland, resembling a camel's gland, straightaway appeared on each of his knees. he returned to the house of the woman from banu salul, saying: 'a gland like a camel's gland, and dying in the house of the woman from banu salul', and he died on the back of his horse. allah, exalted is he, revealed about him this (alike of you is he who hideth the saying and he who noiseth it abroad) [13:10] up to his saying (the prayer of disbelievers goeth (far) astray) [13:14]”.
Sahl al-Tustari
تفسير : and the thunder proclaims his praise, and so too the angels are in awe of him…thus does he make special mention of the angels. ʿikrima said: ‘thunder is an angel who has been put in charge of the clouds; he drives them along just as a camel herder would do his camels.’kaʿb reported from ʿumar <img border="0" src="images/radeyallahanhom.jpg" width="24" height="22"> that he said, ‘i heard the messenger of god <img border="0" src="images/salatonmassenger.jpg" width="24" height="22"> say: “truly, god creates clouds so they speak with the most excellent speech and laugh with a most excellent laugh. their speech is thunder and their laughter is lightning.”’ abū bakr said that he asked him <img border="0" src="images/salatonmassenger.jpg" width="24" height="22">, ‘what would you say regarding a day on which there is a heavy downpour and the sound of the thunder is violent?’ he replied, ‘this is a report of god’s good pleasure (riḍā), mighty and majestic is he, so how must be the report of his wrath (ghaḍab). let us seek refuge in god from his wrath.’his words, exalted is he:
