Surah Al-Alaq

And it is called 'Iqra'.

Its purpose is the command, especially for the one intended by preference in Surah At-Tin, which is the worship of the One who has creation and command. This is in gratitude for His kindness and avoidance of His ingratitude, and in hope of His gardens and fear of His fires. This is because it has been established that He will hold the servants accountable on the Day of Resurrection. Each of its names indicates this, as the Sustainer must be thanked, and His ingratitude is forbidden to the utmost degree. The word 'Iqra' refers to the command, while 'Al-Alaq' refers to creation. 'Iqra' indicates the beginning, which is worship in accordance, and the end, which is salvation on the Day of Judgment by necessity. 'Al-Alaq' indicates both the end and then the beginning by adherence. For whoever knows that he is created from blood knows that his Creator is capable of returning him from dust. Indeed, dust is more conducive to life than blood. Whoever believes in the resurrection works for it. 'Al-Alaq' is specified because it is the composition of life. Therefore, it is named 'In the name of Allah', who has the attributes of perfection and thus deserves to be singular in divinity. 'The Most Gracious' whose grace has encompassed all, thus deserving of gratitude from all of creation. 'The Most Merciful' who has guided whom He wills among His special ones to what He has granted them of noble gifts and ample bounties.

For what He commanded him, glorified and exalted is He, in the morning by mentioning His grace, and reminded him of its various aspects in ﴿Did We not expand﴾ [Al-Sharh: 1]. This resulted in his being singled out for what He commanded him at its conclusion, by specifying his desire towards Him. This indicated in the olive that he is worthy of that due to the completeness of His power, which necessitates that there is no power for anyone else except through Him. This resulted in the completeness of wisdom, thus certainly producing resurrection for recompense. The listener yearned for what necessitates good recompense on that day and by what means he stands before the Most High King on the Day of the Greatest Gathering from the characteristics of those who believed and did righteous deeds. He guided to that in this surah, beginning with the introduction of the original knowledge, mentioning the origin of the One who created him, glorified and exalted is He, in the best form and some of its good and bad stages, marveling at the completeness of His power, glorified and exalted is He, and alerting to recognizing it and reflecting upon it. He placed the acting verb in the genitive and the governed noun here because it impacted the soul, as it was the first to descend. Therefore, the command to read was more important: ﴿Read﴾. The object was omitted to indicate that there is no reading except by what He commanded him, which is the greatest gathering. The meaning is: He created the reading for what cannot be read other than it, which is the Qur'an that encompasses all good. And He made it clear to him that he cannot do that except with the help of Allah, who educated him and perfected his education, and raised him and perfected his upbringing. He said what guided the meaning to [that] his estimation is: the state of you beginning the reading ﴿In the name of your Lord﴾, meaning by saying Bismillah, or seeking help from the Benefactor towards you for what He has of the most beautiful names and the highest attributes, by what He specified for you in ﴿Did We not expand﴾ [Al-Sharh: 1] or by mentioning His name. The intended meaning here by the name is the highest attributes. He expressed it with this because it necessitates from the beauty of the name the beauty of its meaning, and from the greatness of the name the greatness of the named and all that which is attributed to Him. They said: And this indicates that the reading is not complete except with the naming. And because it is in the context of the command to obedience, the reminder of the blessings did not mention the greatest name that encompasses all, and mentioned the attribute of beneficence with the upbringing that encompasses all besides it, and comforting him, blessings and peace be upon him, since it was the first to descend when solitude was made beloved to him. He would seclude himself, worshipping his Lord in the cave of Hira. Then Gabriel, blessings and peace be upon him, came to him with five verses from the beginning of this surah until His saying ﴿What he did not know﴾ [Al-Alaq: 5]. For this reason, he presented it in the manner of the Basmala with a phrase that is more comforting at the beginning and simpler than it. He indicated the greatest name with what is in the entirety of the speech from attributes of perfection, and indicated the general favor of the Most Merciful with the attribute of creation, pointing to its generality by omitting the object, and to the specificity of the attribute of the Most Merciful with the nobility that is such that it reaches the end. And that cannot be without the pouring forth of action that pleases, thus becoming a cause for everlasting honor, and with the teaching that is such that it guides to the pleasure. And he indicated the seeking refuge with the command of the Qur'an for what His saying, glorified and exalted is He, made clear: ﴿And when you recite the Qur'an, We place between you and those who do not believe in the Hereafter﴾ [Al-Isra: 45] [meaning from the devils of mankind and jinn-] ﴿a concealed barrier﴾ [Al-Isra: 45] and His saying, exalted is He: ﴿So when you recite the Qur'an, seek refuge in Allah from the accursed devil﴾ [An-Nahl: 98].

And when He honored him by adding this noble description to him, He described him in general terms by creation and command, informing that He has the management and influence. He began with creation because it is perceived by the eye, so it is more connected to understanding, closer to conception, and more indicative of existence, great power, and perfect wisdom. Thus, the beginning with it in this surah, which is the first to be revealed, is the most appropriate of matters because the first obligation is the knowledge of Allah. This is in regard to His actions, which are in utmost clarity. So He said: ﴿The One Who created﴾. The omission of its object indicates that He has this description, which is the decree and creation according to the decree now and in what will be. Everything that enters into existence is from His creation and is fluctuating between His permission and prohibition, and His harm and benefit.