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

Tafsir of Surah Ibrahim, peace be upon him.

This surah is Meccan except for two verses, which are His saying, exalted is He: "Did you not see those who exchanged..." [Ibrahim: 28] to the end of the two verses. This was mentioned by a Meccan and al-Naqqash.

His saying, exalted is He:

"Alif Lam Ra. This is a Book that We have sent down to you so that you may bring people out of darkness into light by the permission of their Lord to the path of the Mighty, the Praiseworthy. Allah, to whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth. And woe to the disbelievers from a severe punishment." "Those who prefer the life of this world over the Hereafter and hinder [others] from the way of Allah and seek to make it crooked. Those are in a far astray."

The saying about the disjointed letters at the beginning of the surahs has been previously discussed. "Book" is raised on an implied beginning news, its estimation being: This is a Book. This is the most common opinion regarding the disjointed letters. As for those who said: "They are a metaphor for the letters of the alphabet," then "Book" is raised by His saying: "Alif Lam Ra," meaning: These letters are a Book that We have sent down to you. And His saying: "We have sent it down" is in the position of a description for "the Book." Al-Qadi Ibn al-Tayyib, Abu al-Ma'ali, and others have said: The sending down is not related to the ancient speech which is a description of the essence, but rather to the meanings that Allah, glorified and exalted is He, made Gabriel, peace be upon him, understand from the speech.

And His saying, exalted is He: "so that you may bring out" attributes the bringing out to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, in that he has a share in the calling and warning. Its reality is that it is for Allah, glorified and exalted is He, by creation and guidance. In this expression, there is an honor for the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and concerning "the people" since he is sent to all of creation. This is established by the verses of the Qur'an that are associated with what has been transmitted in a continuous manner from his calling, blessings and peace be upon him, to the entire world, and from his sending to the red and the black. This was known by the companions through witnessing, and it has been transmitted from them in a continuous manner, so it is known with certainty, and all praise is due to Allah. The darkness has been borrowed for disbelief and the light for faith as a metaphor. And His saying: "by the permission of their Lord" means by His knowledge and decree and His enabling them. And "to" in His saying: "to the path" is a substitute for the first in His saying: "to the light," meaning to the clear path leading to obedience to Allah and faith in Him and His mercy. Thus, He attributed it to Allah with these related matters, and "the Mighty, the Praiseworthy" are two attributes suitable for this position. The might is from the aspect of sending down the Books and what is included in that from the power, and the deserving of praise is from the aspect of spreading these blessings upon the world in establishing their guidance.

Nafi' and Ibn 'Amir read: "Allah, to whom belongs..." with the name of Allah raised on the cutting and beginning, and its news is "who." It is correct to raise it on the estimation of: "He is Allah, who." The others read with a kasra on the 'h' as a substitute for His saying: "the Mighty, the Praiseworthy." Al-Asma'i alone narrated this reading from Nafi', and some people expressed this by saying: the estimation is: "to the path of Allah, the Mighty, the Praiseworthy," then he advanced the attributes and substituted them for the described.

Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And if it is like this, then it is not yet attributes in the manner of the craft of grammar, even if they are mentioned with the meaning of His attributes or not mentioned.

(p-220) And His saying: "And woe" means: and severity and calamity and similar to it. That is, they will encounter it from a severe punishment that Allah will inflict upon them on the Day of Resurrection. It is possible that He means: in this world. This is the meaning of His saying: "And woe." And some have said: "Woe" is the name of a valley in Hell that flows with the pus of the people of the Fire.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this report needs a chain of narration that cuts off the excuse. Then, if this were the case, the interpretation of this verse would be difficult due to His saying: ﴿From a punishment﴾. Rather, it is appropriate to interpret it in His saying: ﴿Woe to those who give less﴾ [Al-Mutaffifin: 1] and what is similar to it. As for here, it is only appropriate for "woe" to be a source, and its raising is like the raising of their saying: "Peace be upon you" and similar to it.

And "those" is a substitute for "the disbelievers," and His saying: "They prefer" is from the attributes of the disbelievers whom He threatened before. The meaning is: they favor their worldly life and their disbelief and abandoning submission to the command of Allah, the Exalted, and dwelling in His Paradise. And His saying: "They hinder" may be transitive or intransitive, and the meaning on both sides is independent. You say: "Zayd hindered" and "he hindered others." And from its transitive use is the poet's saying:

I hindered the cup from us, O Mother of Amr, ∗∗∗ and the cup was flowing to the right.

And ﴿The way of Allah﴾ is the path of His guidance and His law that He brought with His Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him.

And His saying: ﴿And they seek to make it crooked﴾ has three possible interpretations: the most apparent is that He means: and they request it in a state of crookedness from them. And it does not matter if they claim to be on a path of reasoning and by a way of striving and following what is best. Allah, the Exalted, has described their state as crookedness, as if He said: And they hinder from the way of Allah, which is in reality noble, and they seek it in a crooked manner in reasoning.

The second interpretation is that the meaning is: and they seek for it a crookedness that appears in it, meaning: they strive against the law with their words and actions. So "crookedness" is the object.

The third interpretation is that the word is from the meaning of transgression, meaning: and they seek for it or in it a crookedness, then the preposition is omitted, and in this there is some uncertainty.

And many of the people of language have said: Crookedness - with a kasra on the 'ain - is in religion and matters, and in general in meanings, and Awaj - with a fatha on the 'ain - is in physical objects.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this principle is contradicted by His saying: ﴿So He leaves it level, smooth﴾ [Ta-Ha: 106] ﴿You will not see in it any crookedness or elevation﴾ [Ta-Ha: 107], and the word may overlap with the other. And the description of misguidance as distance is an expression of their deep involvement in it and the difficulty of their exit from it.