His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And with the truth We sent it down, and with the truth it descended. And We did not send you except as a giver of good news and a warner." "And a Qur'an that We have divided so that you may recite it to the people at intervals, and We sent it down in a gradual manner." "Say: Believe in it or do not believe. Indeed, those who were given knowledge before it, when it is recited to them, fall upon their faces in prostration." "And they say: Glory be to our Lord! Indeed, the promise of our Lord is certainly fulfilled." The pronoun in His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "We sent it down" refers to the Qur'an mentioned in His saying, glorified is He: "And We have certainly diversified for the people in this Qur'an every example." [Al-Isra: 89] It is permissible that the speech is earlier, and he referred by the pronoun to the Qur'an due to its prior mention for its fame, as He said, exalted is He: "Until it was hidden by the veil." [Sad: 32] This is common. Al-Zahrawi said: Its meaning is: With the obligation which is the benefit and rectification for the people with the truth in itself. And His saying, glorified is He: "And with the truth it descended" means: With the truth in His commands and prohibitions and His news. Thus, with this interpretation, the repetition of the word has a meaning different from the first. Al-Tabari held that they have one meaning, that is: With His news and commands, and with that it descended. And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And a Qur'an." Sibawayh's opinion is that its accusative case is due to an implied verb that is explained by the apparent one afterwards, that is: And We divided a Qur'an. It is correct that it could be conjoined to the 'kaf' in "We sent you," since the sending of this and the sending down of this have one meaning. The majority of the people read: "We divided it" with the lightening of the 'ra'. Its meaning is: We clarified it and made it a criterion. Ibn Abbas, Qatadah, Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, Ibn Mas'ud, Ubayy ibn Kab, Al-Shabi, and Al-Hasan read differently - and Hamid and Amr ibn Faid: "We divided it" with the strengthening of the 'ra', except that in the reading of Ibn Mas'ud and Ubayy ibn Kab: "We divided it upon it to recite it to you," meaning: We sent it down gradually, not all at once. This meaning corresponds with His saying, exalted is He: "So that you may recite it to the people at intervals." This was among what Allah intended with its descent due to circumstances that occur on earth from sayings and actions in limited specified times. The scholars differed regarding the duration of the Qur'an's revelation. It was said: twenty-five years. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: twenty-three years. Qatadah said: twenty years. Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is according to the disagreement regarding the age of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, since the revelation came when he was forty years old, and it was completed with his death. Al-Tabari narrated from Al-Hasan Al-Basri that he said: The Qur'an was revealed in eighteen years. Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This statement is contradictory: it is not authentic from Al-Hasan, and Allah knows best.

'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' A group interprets His saying, the Most High: ﴿on prolonged stay﴾, meaning: with deliberation in recitation and with proper pacing. This is the saying of Mujahid, Ibn Abbas, Ibn Jurayj, and Ibn Zayd. The other interpretation is: on prolonged stay and extending over time, bit by bit. And His saying, the Most High: ﴿And We sent it down in stages﴾ is an exaggeration and emphasis by the source for the previously mentioned meaning in the words of the verse. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The readers unanimously agree on the pronunciation of the 'm' in 'مُكْثٍ'. It is said: 'مَكْثٌ' and 'مُكْثٌ' with the 'm' pronounced, and 'مِكْثٌ' with it broken. And His saying, the Most High: ﴿Say, 'Believe in it'﴾, this verse is a belittlement of the disbelievers, and within it is a form of threat. The meaning is: You are not a proof, so it is the same for us whether you believe or disbelieve. The harm of that is upon yourselves, and the proof is with the people of knowledge from before you; they are in the mentioned description. People have differed regarding the intended meaning of ﴿those who were given knowledge before it﴾. A group said: They are the believers among the people of the Book. Another group said: They are Waraka ibn Nawfal, Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufail, and those who followed their path. It is said that a group from the people of the Book sat while they were on their religion and discussed the matter of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and what was revealed to him. Some of it was recited to them, and they humbled themselves and glorified Allah and prostrated to Him. They said: This is the time of the prophecy mentioned in the Torah, and this is his description, and Allah's promise regarding him is certain to happen. They inclined towards Islam in this manner, so the verse was revealed about them. A group said: The intended meaning of ﴿those who were given knowledge before it﴾ is Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and the pronoun in 'before it' refers back to the Qur'an, according to the pronoun in 'in it'. This is clarified by His saying: ﴿when it is recited to them﴾. It is said that both pronouns refer to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and the mention of the Qur'an is resumed in His saying: ﴿when it is recited to them﴾. And His saying, the Most High: ﴿they fall upon their faces﴾, means: to its sides. This is as you say: falling for the hand and mouth, meaning: to their sides and upon them. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: The meaning is: to the faces. Al-Hasan said: To the beards. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The chins are the lower parts of the faces where the two beards meet, and they are the closest part of a person's head to the ground, especially during his prostration. The poet said: (p-٥٥٧) 'They fell upon the chins of the faces, while wild birds swoop down upon them and pluck them away.'

'And' in His saying, the Most High: 'If the promise of our Lord is true,' is, according to Sibawayh, the lightened form of the heavy one. The 'lam' after it is the lam of emphasis, and it is, according to al-Farra, the negating one, and the 'lam' means: except. And there is another meaning directed in this verse, which is that His saying: 'Say, believe in it or do not believe' is a release from the warning without belittling it. The meaning is: you will see what you will be rewarded with. Then He gave them an example - in the context of reprimand - of those who preceded from the people of the Book, meaning: indeed, the people were not as you are in disbelief, but those who were given the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms, and the revealed books in general, when what was revealed to them was recited, they humbled themselves and believed.