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

Tafsir of Surah As-Sajdah

This surah is Meccan except for three verses that were revealed in Medina, which are His words: "Is he who is a believer like him who is a transgressor? They are not equal" [As-Sajdah: 18] until the completion of three verses, and their interpretation will come. And Jabir ibn Abdullah said: "The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, would not sleep until he recited: 'Alif Lam Meem' 'The revelation of the Book, there is no doubt in it, from the Lord of the worlds' and 'Blessed is He in whose hand is the dominion' [Al-Mulk: 1].

His saying, exalted is He:

"Alif Lam Meem" "The revelation of the Book, there is no doubt in it, from the Lord of the worlds" "Or do they say, 'He has fabricated it'? Rather, it is the truth from your Lord, that you may warn a people to whom no warner has come before you, perhaps they will be guided" "Allah, who created the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them in six days, then He established Himself above the Throne. You have not besides Him any protector or any intercessor. Will you not be reminded?"

The word "revelation" can be raised as a subject, and the predicate is "there is no doubt." It can also be raised as it is a predicate of the subject, and it is either the letters referred to according to some opinions at the beginning of the surah, or it is: "That is a revelation," or something similar to this in estimation according to the saying regarding the letters.

And His saying, exalted is He: "There is no doubt in it" means: it is thus in itself, and the doubt of the disbelievers is not taken into account. And His saying, exalted is He: "from the Lord of the worlds" is related to "revelation," so there is a precedence and delay in the speech. It is permissible that it relates to His saying: "There is no doubt," meaning: there is no doubt in it from the perspective of Allah, exalted is He, and if doubt occurs for the disbelievers, that is not taken into account. And doubt is: uncertainty, and so it is in all of the Qur'an except for His saying: "the doubt of death" [At-Tur: 30].

And His saying, exalted is He: "Or do they say" is a disjunction, and its estimation is that He said: "Rather, do they say, 'He has fabricated it'?" And "He has fabricated it" means: he created it. Then He, exalted is He, responded to their statement and informed that it is the truth from Allah, exalted is He. The 'lam' in His saying: "that you may warn" can be related to an implied action whose estimation is: He revealed it to warn, so it would then stop at His saying: "from your Lord," and His saying, exalted is He: "no warner has come to them" means: they did not directly encounter him nor did their forefathers, the Arabs, see him. And His saying, exalted is He: "And there is no nation but that there has passed within it a warner" [Fatir: 24] encompasses those who were directly warned and those who heard of it. The Arabs are among the nations that had passed within them warners in this regard, because they knew of Ibrahim and his sons, peace be upon them, and their call, and they are among those to whom no direct warner came except Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. And Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, and Muqatil said: the meaning is: no warner came to them during the interval between Isa and Muhammad, peace be upon them.

And His saying, exalted is He: "In six days" indicates that one day of the days of Friday remained in which nothing was created. The authentic hadiths have confirmed that "creation began on Sunday, and Adam was created on Friday, the last of the creations." This is consistent with this verse. It has been reported in a Muslim book that "creation began on Saturday," and this contradicts the verse, unless it is intended in the verse that all things other than Adam, peace be upon him, were created, and then Friday would be the day in which nothing was created of what is between the heavens and the earth; because Adam was not among them at that time. The statement regarding His saying, exalted is He: "He rose over the Throne" has been previously discussed with sufficient detail, and "then" in this context is for the arrangement of the sentences, not because the rising occurred after there was nothing. This is according to the preferred interpretation of the meaning of "rose."

And the negation of intercession is understood in one of two ways: either a negation for the disbelievers, or a negation of the intercessors from themselves in the manner of the intercession of this world; because the intercession of the Hereafter is only after permission from Allah, exalted is He.