Commentary
And when he refuted their argument; as a hint; and a statement; by what exposed them; he refuted for them another argument clearer than that; and more exposing; so He said (the Most High): ﴿And certainly We know﴾; meaning: continuous knowledge; ﴿that they say﴾; meaning: also; a repeated saying; they do not cease to utter it; ﴿Indeed, only a human teaches him﴾; and they know that this is a trivial statement; then he began to respond to them; so He said (the Most High): ﴿The tongue﴾; meaning: language and speech; ﴿of the one they incline towards﴾; meaning: they lean or indicate ﴿to him﴾ by claiming that he taught him; deviating from the intention; unjustly; straying from the truth; oppressing; ﴿It is non-Arabic﴾; meaning: not the language of the Arabs; and yet it is clear in its eloquence; not ambiguous; and it is a boy who was a Christian from some of the Quraysh; there is a difference of opinion regarding his name; and this construction was placed in the language of the Arabs for the purpose of ambiguity; and concealment; and from it is "the raisin is non-Arabic"; for its concealment; and "the dumb animal"; because it cannot clarify what is in itself; and as for "I made the book non-Arabic"; it is for removal. (p-257) ﴿And this﴾; meaning: the Qur'an; ﴿is a clear Arabic tongue﴾; meaning: it is so clear in its expression that it makes evident to others that it has great clarity; so if the teacher were Arabic, it would be necessary for them not to be unable to bring forth something like what he taught; so how could it be while he is non-Arabic?!
Explore Other Scholars on This Verse
Compare different scholarly perspectives on Surah An-Nahl verse 103