Surah Al-A'raf

Its purpose is to warn those who turn away from what the Book called to in the previous surah regarding the Oneness of Allah and the gathering upon good and fulfilling what is obligatory upon them from the evidence in Al-An'am. It warns them with the calamities of the two abodes. This is better than what appeared to me and I mentioned it at "And the weighing on that Day is the truth" [Al-A'raf: 8]. The clearest indication of this purpose is the matter of Al-A'raf, for believing in it entails having oversight over Paradise and Hell, and standing upon the reality of what is in them and what has been prepared for their people. It calls to the observance of every good and the avoidance of every evil, and to take heed from every admonition. "In the name of Allah" the one who is covered with the cloak of pride and the garment of greatness and majesty. "The Most Gracious" whose mercy includes His vengeance upon the people of disbelief and misguidance. "The Most Merciful" who guides the people of selection to adhere to the path of fulfillment.

When He mentioned - glorified and exalted is He - at the end of the previous surah that He had sent down to them a blessed Book, and commanded them to follow it, and explained the reason for its revelation, and mentioned what necessarily follows from that in the methodology of conveying the message and the field of excellence. Among what He included is that He commanded those who are called to it to only Him. If He wills, He guides them, and if He wills, He leads them astray. He continued with what is necessary to complete that until He concluded the surah with what is connected to what it began with, so its embrace of it became strong until they became like one thing. He began to indicate what he concluded with regarding the swiftness of punishment and the universality of goodness and reward and what preceded it. He said, informing about the beginning of His decree: [It is] "A Book" meaning: great, clarifying the straight path. It left no ambiguity and did not leave any good except that it commanded it, nor any evil except that it prohibited it. For its revelation is from His great mercy. Then He described it with what confirmed what He indicated regarding His mercy by saying: "It has been sent down to you" meaning: and you are the most noble of people in soul, the most expansive in chest, the most beautiful in heart, the most profound in roots, and the most knowledgeable in attracting the distant and drawing in the hostile adversary. This is something that He has specifically honored you with, raising you above all of creation in degrees that cannot be counted and ranks that have no limit, so they can be sought.

And when the purpose of the mission was primarily to warn against what they were upon of misguidance, and facing people with the warning was severe on the souls, and taking the initiative to do so was extremely difficult; He preceded His saying by attributing it to His specification of this mercy: "So let there not be". [He expressed the heart by its dwelling place, which is wider than it, exaggerating in the matter, and said]: "In your heart is a constriction". This means: something of tightness with them or fear or something like that from it, regarding what is related to "It has been revealed" from His saying: (p-349) "To warn by it". This means: a warning to everyone who reaches it or to the opposers of the swift punishment, similar to what He - glorified and exalted is He - inflicted upon the past generations and the previous nations, as indicated at the end of Al-An'am. And He will recount their stories from this Surah. "And to warn by it" is a reminder, meaning: a great one, "for the believers". This means: with glad tidings, admonitions, forgiveness, and mercy, as indicated at the conclusion of Al-An'am. And the omission of the object indicates the generality of the message to everyone who can be warned and reminded among the rational beings. It is permissible that the lam of "To warn" relates to the meaning of prohibition, meaning: remove the constriction for such and such, for whoever has a wide heart will take the initiative to what he wants or will be constricted. That is: let not the constriction occur for the sake of your warning, meaning: for the sake of your warning by it. And the prohibition for the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - was turned into the constriction as an exaggeration and etiquette. It is permissible that the estimation is: "To warn by it and to remind by it", for it is a warning for the disbelievers and a reminder for the believers. And the verse, in every estimation of the interweaving, affirms "To warn" first, indicating the omission of "To remind" second, and the affirmation of the believers second indicates the omission of the opposers first. For the souls are of two types: dull, ignorant souls far removed from the unseen world, immersed in the pursuit of bodily pleasures and animal desires; thus, the mission of the messengers in their regard is a warning and a fright. And noble souls, illuminated by divine lights, thus the mission of the messengers in their regard is a reminder; because these souls, by virtue of their original essences and their created nature, are inclined to be drawn to the world of sanctity, yet perhaps they are veiled by coverings from the world of bodies, leading to a type of bewilderment and heedlessness. So when they hear the call of the prophets and connect with the lights of the spirits of Allah's messengers, they remember their center and perceive their origin. They long for what has occurred there from the spirit and the fragrance, and they soar towards them in every flight, thus those lights become pure for them. Abu Hayyan said: And the connection of this Surah with what preceded it is that when He - the Most High - mentioned His saying: "And this is a blessed Book which We have revealed, so follow it" [Al-An'am: 155], He then elaborated from it to what follows until His saying at the end of the Surah: "And He is the One who made you successors of the earth" [Al-An'am: 165] and mentioned their trial in what He gave them. And that cannot be except by the legal obligations - He mentioned what would be by which the obligations are established, which is the divine Book, and He mentioned the command to follow it as He commanded in His saying: "And this is a blessed Book which We have revealed, so follow it" [Al-An'am: 155]. End of quote. And his teacher, Imam Abu Ja'far ibn Al-Zubayr said: When the Most High began with the consideration: "Have they not seen how many generations We destroyed before them, whom We established in the earth as We have not established you? And We sent down the rain upon them in torrents and made rivers flow beneath them, so We destroyed them for their sins and brought forth after them another generation" [Al-An'am: 6]. Then the Most High said: "And indeed, messengers were mocked before you, so those who mocked them were encompassed by what they used to mock" [Al-An'am: 10]. [Then the Most High said]: "Say: Travel in the earth and see how was the end of the deniers" [Al-An'am: 11]. Then the Most High said: "And indeed, messengers were denied before you, so they were patient over what they were denied" [Al-An'am: 34]. And the Most High said: "And indeed, We sent to nations before you, so We seized them with adversity and hardship" [Al-An'am: 42]. And the Most High said: "O assembly of jinn and mankind, did not there come to you messengers from among you recounting to you My signs?" [Al-An'am: 130]. Thus, the reference in these verses relates to the consideration of the past nations and what happened to them when they denied their prophets and the destruction of those generations due to their denial and obstinacy, and the consolation of the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - by the occurrence of what happened to him with those who preceded him from the messengers: "Indeed, We know that what they say grieves you" [Al-An'am: 33]. Thus, the reference and consolation necessitated the elaboration of the news of the past nations and the previous generations, and the informing of the patience of the messengers - peace be upon them - towards them and their gentleness in their supplications. And there did not occur in the four Surahs before Surah Al-An'am like this reference and consolation, and it has been repeated in Surah Al-An'am as has been clarified after the conclusion of what he intended from explaining the path of the righteous in taking and leaving, and the state of those who deviated from their traditions among those who sought it or aimed for it but were not granted success, and did not complete their hope from the two groups: those relying on hearing and those depending on sight. The former deviated due to the sudden change and alteration, and the latter deviated due to the poor reception and the inadequacy of understanding and the reason for the deviation of the two previous eternal groups. So when the matter of these ended, the address was directed to his consolation - peace be upon him - and the strengthening of his heart by mentioning the conditions of the prophets with their nations and the command of creation to consider the past nations. And it had been presented to the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - when mentioning the prophets.

﴿Those are the ones whom Allah has guided, so by their guidance, be guided﴾ [Al-An'am: 90]. The Most High has elaborated on the condition of those to whom the reference is made, and He has fulfilled much of their stories until the end of Surah Hud, up to His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: ﴿And all that We relate to you of the news of the messengers is that by which We make firm your heart﴾ [Hud: 120]. So reflect on what the intended stories of the nations were opened with and how it concluded; it will become clear to you what I have pointed to - and Allah knows best His intent. And reflect on the opening of Surah Al-A'raf with His saying: ﴿So We will surely relate to them with knowledge, and We were not absent﴾ [Al-A'raf: 7] and the conclusion of the stories in it with His saying: ﴿So relate the stories, perhaps they will give thought﴾ [Al-A'raf: 176]. After the narration of the stories of the Children of Israel, there is the story of Bal'am: ﴿And relate to them the news of he to whom We gave Our signs﴾ [Al-A'raf: 175]. Then He said: ﴿That is the example of the people who denied Our signs﴾ [Al-A'raf: 176]. So contemplate this indication after the mention of the stories, and how He associated those who denied the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, from the Arabs and others with those whose mention was made among the deniers. And reflect on the opening of the mention of the wretched with the story of Iblis and its conclusion with the story of Bal'am, both of whom disbelieved with knowledge, and in that is the greatest admonition. Allah the Most High said after that: ﴿Whomever Allah guides, he is the rightly guided﴾ [Al-A'raf: 178]. He began the response with His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, by mentioning what He has bestowed upon him and upon those who responded to him, so He said: ﴿Alif Lam Meem﴾ ﴿A Book that has been revealed to you﴾ (p-353). He referred to His favor in sending down the Book which He made a guidance for the pious. And here He indicated what it carries for him of consolation and the opening of chests with what has occurred of wonders and stories, while being a guidance and light. He said: ﴿So let there be no constraint in your breast from it﴾, meaning: that it has included what raises the constraint and consoles the souls to warn by it as those before you warned, of whom We relate their news from the messengers. And to follow their traditions in your warning, calling, and patience, and for the believers to remember. Then He commanded His servants to follow what He has revealed, saying: ﴿Follow what has been revealed to you from your Lord﴾ [Al-A'raf: 3]. For the destruction of those whose news We relate to you from the nations was only due to their failure to follow and their leaning towards their allies from the devils of jinn and mankind. Then He followed that with the story of Adam - peace be upon him - to clarify to His servants what His tradition has been regarding them from the dominance of the devils and their plotting, and that he is an enemy to them: ﴿O Children of Adam, let not the devil tempt you as he removed your parents from Paradise﴾ [Al-A'raf: 27]. And in the story of Adam here is what did not occur in the story of the cow, from the elaboration of what was summarized there, such as the explicit statement of the accursed regarding envy and his perception of his superiority by being created from fire, and his request for respite and dominance over the offspring of Adam, and the permission granted to him in that, and his threat and the threat of his followers. Then his whispering to Adam - peace be upon him - and his swearing to him: ﴿And he swore to them, 'Indeed, I am to you from among the sincere advisors'﴾ [Al-A'raf: 21]. And all of this is what was summarized in Surah Al-Baqarah, and no story has been repeated except that this is its nature, meaning: that it conveys whatever has not been previously obtained from it. Then the verses flowed into the beginning of the story of Noah - peace be upon him - and the stories continued to the stories of the Children of Israel. Here, He elaborated on their condition and news similar to what He elaborated in the story of Adam and what transpired from the trial of Iblis. And He detailed much here and mentioned what was not mentioned in Al-Baqarah until it did not repeat in reality or address the stories of a specific group only. And among the amazing wisdom is that the occurrences in both surahs from both stories are independent and sufficient, and when some of that is combined with some, its generality is elevated and its completeness becomes clear. So blessed is He whose words are this and who made it a decisive proof and a clear sign.

And when Allah, glorified and exalted is He, concluded their stories in Al-Baqarah with His command to His Prophet and the believers to forgive and overlook, He said: "So forgive and overlook" [Al-Baqarah: 109]. Allah, glorified and exalted is He, also concluded here with His saying to His Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - "Take what is given freely, and enjoin what is good, and turn away from the ignorant" [Al-A'raf: 199]. We have deviated from the intended topic, so let us return to it. The end.