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

Tafsir of Surah Taha

This surah is Meccan, and its verses are three hundred and thirty-five.

His saying, exalted is He:

﴿Taha﴾ ﴿We did not send down the Qur'an upon you to cause you distress﴾ ﴿but only as a reminder for those who fear﴾ ﴿a revelation from He who created the earth and the highest heavens﴾ ﴿the Most Gracious, who rose above the Throne﴾ ﴿To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth and whatever is between them and whatever is beneath the soil﴾ ﴿And if you speak aloud, then indeed, He knows the secret and what is even more hidden﴾ ﴿Allah, there is no deity except Him; to Him belong the best names﴾

People have differed in the meaning of His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Taha﴾ according to their differences regarding all the letters that precede it at the beginnings of the surahs, except for the saying of those who said that the letters are a reference to the letters of the alphabet, as you say: 'A, B, C', for it does not follow that here; because what follows 'Taha' in the speech cannot be a statement about 'Taha'.

'Taha' has specific sayings that do not follow in the beginnings of the mentioned surahs. Among them is the saying of those who said: 'Taha' is a name from the names of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and the saying of those who said: 'Taha' means: 'O man' in Syriac, and it was said: in other languages of the non-Arabs. It has been reported that it is a Yemeni language in 'Akk'. Al-Tabari recited in this:

I called upon Taha in battle, but he did not respond, so I feared for him that he might be retreating.

And it is narrated: 'Muzayilan'. And another said:

Indeed, foolishness is Taha from your creation ∗∗∗ May Allah not bless the accursed people.

And a group said: The reason for the revelation of the verse is that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was enduring hardship in prayer until his feet would swell, and he needed to rest. It was said to him: 'Taha the earth', meaning: do not tire yourself until you need to rest. Thus, the pronoun in 'Taha' refers to the earth, and the hamzah was softened so that it became a silent alif.

And a group read: 'Taha', and its origin is: Ta'a, so the hamzah was omitted and a ha of silence was introduced. Ibn Kathir and Ibn Amir read: 'Taha' with the opening of the ta and ha, and this was narrated from Qalon from Nafi. Ya'qub narrated from him with a kasrah, and it was narrated from him with both the opening and the kasrah. A group tilted it, and another group pronounced it emphatically, and the emphasis is the language of Hijaz and the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. And Asim, Hamzah, and Al-Kisai read: 'Taha' with a kasrah on the ta and ha. Abu Amr read: 'Taha' with the opening of the ta and a kasrah on the ha. It was narrated from Al-Dahhak and Amr ibn Faid that they both read: 'Tawi'.

And His saying, exalted is He: 'to cause you distress' means to convey from yourself in worship and standing in prayer. A group said: The reason for the verse is that Quraysh looked at the life of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and his hardship and the multitude of his dependents, and they said: Indeed, Muhammad is with his Lord in distress. So the verse was revealed in response to them, meaning: Indeed, Allah, exalted is He, did not send down the Qur'an to make Muhammad distressed, but rather to make him the happiest of the children of Adam in the eternal bliss in the highest ranks. So the distress that you see is the enjoyment of the soul, and there is no distress with that.

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

This interpretation is broader than the first in the wording of distress.

And His saying, exalted is He: "Except as a reminder for one who fears" can be correctly understood as an alternative to the position of "to be in distress." It is also correct to interpret it as being governed by an implied verb, the meaning of which is: But We sent it down as a reminder. And "fears" includes faith and righteous deeds; for fear is a motivator for that. And His saying: "A revelation" is understood as a verbal noun, and His saying: "From Him who created the earth and the high heavens" is an attribute that stands in place of the described, and this conveys a lesson and a reminder, belittling idols and urging souls to reflect. And "the high heavens" is the plural of "the high one," which is "the highest."

And His saying: "The Most Merciful" is raised by way of beginning, and it is correct that it could be an alternative to the pronoun that is settled in "created." And His saying: "Established" has been interpreted by one group as meaning: took control. Abu al-Ma'ali and others among the scholars said: It means the establishment of dominance and power. Sufyan al-Thawri said: He performed an action on the Throne that he called establishment. Al-Shabi and a group of others said: This is among the ambiguous verses of the Qur'an; we believe in it and do not delve into its meaning. Malik ibn Anas was asked by a man about this establishment, and Malik said to him: The establishment is known, the how is unknown, and asking about this is an innovation. I suspect you are a man of evil; take him away from me. The questioner turned away while saying: O Abu Abdullah, I have asked the people of Sham and the people of Iraq, and no one has been guided in it as you have been guided.

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

Abu al-Ma'ali weakened the statement of those who said: It should not be discussed in its interpretation. For if he said: Every believer agrees that the term establishment is not in accordance with its known meaning in the context of noble speech, then if he does this, he has interpreted a necessity, and there is no benefit in delaying it from seeking the clear face and exit. Rather, in that is a confusion for the people and an illusion for the common folk. The statement regarding the matter of establishment has already been mentioned.

And His saying, exalted is He: "To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth" is an extension of the mentioned attribute that alerts to the Creator, the Bestower. And in His saying: "And whatever is beneath the soil" is a narrative concerning the matter of the fish and similar things, which I have abbreviated due to its lack of authenticity. The verse implies that every existing created thing belongs to Allah in ownership and creation, and there is nothing eternal besides Him, exalted is He. And "the soil" is the moist earth.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And if you speak aloud" in the verse means: And if you, O people, when you wish to inform someone of a matter or address your idols and others, you speak aloud, then indeed Allah, who has these attributes, knows the secret and what is even more hidden. The address with "speak aloud" is directed to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and it is intended for all people as it is a verse of consideration.

People have differed regarding the arrangement of the secret and what is more concealed than it. One group said: The secret is the hidden, quiet speech, like the recitation of the secret in prayer. The more concealed is what is in the soul, obtained. Another group said: The secret is what is in the souls of humans and everything that can be in them in the future according to the possibilities of human knowledge. The more concealed is what is from the knowledge of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, and humans cannot know it at all.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: All of this is known to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic. It has been interpreted by some of the predecessors that He made 'and more concealed' a past action, and this is weak.

The 'most beautiful names' refers to the named entities that contain meanings that are of the utmost goodness. He unified the attribute with the plural of the described because the named entities do not comprehend. This is similar to 'other needs' [Ta-Ha: 18] and 'O mountains, respond' [Saba: 10] and others. The mention of the people of knowledge that these names are what the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'Indeed, Allah has ninety-nine names, one hundred except one. Whoever counts them will enter Paradise.'