His saying, exalted is He: "Indeed, We have revealed to you as We revealed to Noah and the prophets after him. And We revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the tribes, and Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon. And We gave David the Psalms." "And messengers We have mentioned to you before, and messengers We have not mentioned to you. And Allah spoke to Moses with a speech." It has been narrated from Abdullah ibn Abbas that the reason for this verse is that Sukayna the scholar and Adi ibn Zayd said: "O Muhammad, we do not know that Allah has revealed anything to a human after Moses, nor has He revealed to him." So this verse was revealed to refute their saying. And Muhammad ibn Kab al-Qurazi said: When Allah revealed: "The people of the Book ask you to bring down to them a book from the heaven" [An-Nisa: 153]; until the end of the verses; it was recited to them, and they heard the news of their evil deeds; they said: "Allah has not revealed anything to a human, nor to Moses, nor to Jesus; and they denied all of that." So Allah revealed: "And they did not measure Allah with true measure when they said: 'Allah has not revealed anything to a human'" [Al-An'am: 91]. And revelation is the conveying of meaning in secrecy; and it is known in the prophets through Gabriel - peace be upon him -; and that is what is meant by His saying: "As We revealed"; meaning: by an angel descending from Allah. And Noah is the first of the messengers on earth to a disbelieving nation; and "Noah" is mentioned with the definite article and the noun due to its lightness. And Abraham - peace be upon him - is the friend; and Ishmael - peace be upon him - is his eldest son; and he is the one who was sacrificed, according to the scholars; and he is the father of the Arabs; and Isaac is his younger son; and Jacob is the son of Isaac; and he is Israel; and the tribes are the sons of Jacob; Joseph and his brothers; and Jesus is the Messiah; and Job is the patient afflicted one; and Jonah is the son of Mattah; and Ibn Jammaz narrated from Nafi': "Jonah"; with a kasra on the noon; and Ibn Wathab and Al-Nakha'i read it with a fatha; and all of these are languages. And Aaron is the son of Imran; and Solomon is the prophet king; and David is his father; and the majority of the people read: "the Psalms"; with a fatha on the zay; and it is the name of the book of David, specifically; and every book in the language is "Zabur"; as you say: "I wrote the book"; and Hamzah - alone - read: "Zubur"; with a damma on the zay; Abu Ali said: It is possible that it is the plural of "Zabr"; the name of the written is given the name of the writing; as they said: "the strike of the prince"; and "the weaving of Yemen"; and as the written is called "a book"; and it is possible that it is the plural of "Zabur"; by omitting the addition; as they said: "Zarif"; and "Zuroof"; and "Karwan"; and "Kirwan"; and "Warshan"; and "Wirshan"; and similar to that of what was pluralized by omitting the addition; and this view is supported by the fact that the broken plural is like the diminutive; and this meaning has been consistent in the diminutive of the abbreviation; such as: "Azhar"; and "Zuhair"; and "Harith"; and "Hurayth"; and "Thabit"; and "Thubayt"; so the plural is like it in analogy; if it is less than it in usage.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "And messengers We have mentioned to you"; the verse; "messengers" is in the accusative case; based on the meaning; because the meaning is: "Indeed, We have sent you as We sent Noah"; and it is possible that "messengers" is in the accusative case due to an implied verb; its estimation is: We sent messengers; because the response to the Jews is indeed in their denial of the sending of messengers; and the continuity of revelation; and in the reading of Ubayy ibn Ka'b: "And messengers"; in both instances in the nominative case; based on the estimation: "they are messengers"; and "We have mentioned them"; its meaning is: We have mentioned their names; and their news; and His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "And messengers We have not mentioned to you"; implies the multitude of prophets; without specifying a number; and indeed, He, glorified and exalted is He, said: "And there is no nation but that there has passed within it a warner" [Fatir: 24]; and He, glorified and exalted is He, said: "And generations between that many" [Al-Furqan: 38]; and what is mentioned regarding the number of prophets is not correct; Allah knows best their count - blessings and peace be upon them.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "And Allah spoke to Moses, a speech"; is news about the special status of Moses; and that Allah, glorified and exalted is He, honored him with His speech; then He, glorified and exalted is He, confirmed the action with the source; and that indicates in most cases the realization of the action; and its occurrence; and that it is outside the realms of metaphor; and analogy; it is not permissible for the Arabs to say: "The pond filled and said a cottony saying"; for indeed, the truths are confirmed by the sources; and among what is strange is the saying of Hind bint Al-Nu'man ibn Bashir:

............... ∗∗∗ And it surged with a roaring from the tribes of the Matarif

And the speech of Allah to the Prophet Moses - peace be upon him - is without how; nor limitation; nor allowance for occurrence; nor letters; nor sounds; and what is held by those firmly rooted in knowledge is that the speech is the meaning that exists in the soul; and Allah creates for Moses or Gabriel an understanding from the direction of hearing; by which the speech is obtained; and just as Allah, glorified and exalted is He, exists not like the existents; known not like the known; so likewise is His speech not like speech; and what has been narrated from Ka'b Al-Ahbar; and from Muhammad ibn Ka'b Al-Qurazi; and others like them; that what Moses heard was like the most intense sound heard from thunderclaps; and in another narration: like the still thunder; all of that is not accepted by the scholars of principles.

And the majority of the community read: "And Allah spoke to Moses, a speech"; in the nominative case in the name of Allah; and Yahya ibn Thabitat; and Ibrahim Al-Nakha'i read: "And Allah spoke to"; in the accusative case; on the basis that Moses is the one being spoken to; and this reading is weak in terms of its popularity; but it leads to several interpretations.