'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Tafsir of Surah [Al-Ikhlas]

This surah is Makki, as stated by Mujahid - with a disagreement from him - and 'Ata and Qatadah. Ibn Abbas, Al-Qurtubi, and Abu Al-Aliyah said it is Madani.

His saying, exalted is He:

﴿Say, He is Allah, One﴾ ﴿Allah, the Eternal Refuge﴾ ﴿He neither begets nor is born﴾ ﴿Nor is there to Him any equivalent﴾

Umar ibn Al-Khattab, Ibn Mas'ud, and Al-Rabi' ibn Khaytham read: "Say, He is Allah, One, Allah, the Eternal Refuge." Ubayy ibn Ka'b narrated that the polytheists asked the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, about the lineage of his Lord - exalted is He above what the ignorant say - so this surah was revealed. Ibn Abbas narrated that the Jews came to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and said to him: O Muhammad, describe to us your Lord and relate His lineage, for He described Himself in the Torah and related it. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, trembled until he fell unconscious, and Gabriel, peace be upon him, descended with this surah. Abu Al-Aliyah and Qatadah said: The factions said to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: Relate to us your Lord, so revelation came to him with this surah.

And "One" means: One, unique in every aspect of oneness, nothing is like Him. And "He" is the beginning, and "Allah" is a second beginning, and "One" is its news, and the sentence is the news of the first. It is said: "He" is the beginning, and "Allah" is its news, and "One" is an alternative to it. Abu Amr omitted the tanween from "One" due to the meeting of two consonants, so he read "Allah, One Allah," while the others maintained it broken for the meeting. As for their stopping, all of them stop with the consonant of the dal. It has been narrated from Abu Amr that he connected with the consonant of the dal, and it has also been narrated from him that it is with tanween.

And "the Eternal Refuge" in the speech of the Arabs means: the master to whom one turns in affairs and who is independent in them. They recited:

"Alas, the herald did not arrive early with the good news of the two best of Banu Asad, with Amr ibn Mas'ud and the master, the Eternal Refuge."

With this, this verse is explained; for Allah, exalted is He, is the existent of all existents, to whom they turn, and by Him is their sustenance. No one is self-sufficient except Him, glorified and exalted is He. Many of the interpreters said: The Eternal Refuge is one who has no cavity, as if it means solid. Al-Shabi said: He is one who does not eat or drink. In this entire interpretation, there is consideration; for the body is far removed from Allah, exalted is He, and from His attributes. So what gives us these expressions? And "Allah, the Eternal Refuge" is a beginning and news, and it is said: "the Eternal Refuge" is an adjective and the news is in what follows.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿He neither begets nor is born﴾ is a refutation of the indication of the disbelievers regarding the lineage they asked about. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "Reflect on everything but do not reflect on the essence of Allah, exalted and majestic is He."

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

Because the understandings fall short of that, and the believers know Allah, glorified and exalted is He, by the necessity of His existence, and the need of everything to Him, and His independence from everything. The intellect negates from Him all that is not befitting of Him, glorified and exalted is He, and that there is nothing like Him. All that I have mentioned is within this concise and eloquent surah. And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿And there is none comparable to Him﴾ means: He has no opposite, nor peer, nor similar. The word 'kufuwan' - with a damm on the kaf and a simplified hamzah - is a reading of Nafi', Al-A'raj, Abu Ja'far, and Shaiba. The reading with the hamzah is by Asim and Abu Amr - with a difference from him. Hamza and Abu Amr read: 'kufuwan' with the hamzah and the fā' being silent. It has been narrated from Nafi' as 'kaf' with the fā' opened and without hamzah. Sulayman ibn Ali ibn Abdullah ibn Abbas read: 'And there is none equal to Him' with a kasrah on the kaf and an opened fā', and with elongation. 'Kufuwan' is the news of 'kan', and its subject is 'ahad', and the adverbial phrase is omitted. Sibawayh, may Allah have mercy on him, prefers that the adverbial phrase - if it precedes - be the news, but it may come omitted in places where the meaning requires it, like in this verse. And as the poet said: - Sibawayh recited -: - As long as there is a living branch among them. It is possible that 'kufuwan' is a state for what has preceded from being a description of an indefinite noun, as he said: - For the honor of a solitary ruin. Sibawayh said: And this is rare in speech, and its place is poetry. And he, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'Indeed, ﴿Say, He is Allah, One﴾ is equivalent to one third of the Qur'an.' Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Because it contains the oneness of Allah. The interpretation of Surah [Al-Ikhlas] is complete, and all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.