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

Tafsir of Surah Ash-Shura

This surah is Makki by consensus of most of the commentators. Muqatil said: In it is a Madani verse: [His saying] ﴿That is what Allah gives good tidings to His servants who have believed and done righteous deeds﴾ [Ash-Shura: 23] to His saying: ﴿of the hearts﴾ [Ash-Shura: 24], and His saying: ﴿And those who, when they are struck by aggression﴾ [Ash-Shura: 39] to His saying: ﴿from a way﴾ [Ash-Shura: 41]. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, said in the book of Al-Tha'labi: Indeed, ﴿Ha, Meem﴾ [Ghafir: 1] ﴿The revelation of the Book is from Allah, the Exalted in Might, the All-Wise﴾ [Ghafir: 2] these letters in their essence were revealed in all of Allah's revealed books sent down to every prophet to whom the Book was sent down. Therefore, He, the Exalted, said: ﴿Thus Allah reveals to you and to those before you﴾.

His saying, the Exalted:

﴿Ha, Meem﴾ ﴿Ayn, Seen, Qaf﴾ ﴿Thus Allah, the Exalted in Might, the Wise, reveals to you and to those before you﴾ ﴿To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth, and He is the Most High, the Most Great﴾ ﴿The heavens almost rupture from above them, and the angels glorify and praise their Lord and seek forgiveness for those on earth. Indeed, Allah is the Forgiving, the Merciful﴾.

﴿Ha﴾ was separated from ﴿Ayn, Seen, Qaf﴾ and He did not do that with ﴿Kaf, Ha, Ya, 'Ayn, Sad﴾ to make this follow the same course as the Ha, Meem sisters. The majority read: 'Ha, Meem, 'Ayn, Seen, Qaf', and Ibn Mas'ud and Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, read: 'Ha, Seen' with the dropping of 'Ayn'. The opinions on this are like the opinions on the beginnings of the surahs. Hudhayfah narrated a hadith regarding this, the essence of which is: 'There will be in this nation two cities divided by a river in the east. One of them will perish at night, then the other will be safe in the morning, and the tyrants of the two cities will gather in it, astonished by its safety, and it will perish the following night.' And that 'Ha' means: this matter has been confirmed, and 'Ayn' means: justice from Allah, and 'Seen': that will happen, and 'Qaf': means: that will occur with them. It was narrated that Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, used to gain knowledge of trials and wars from these letters that are at the beginnings of the surahs.

The 'Ka' in His saying, the Exalted: ﴿Thus﴾ is an adjective for a missing source, and the reference with 'that' varies according to the opinions on the letters. The majority of the reciters read: 'reveals' with the 'ya' attributing the action to Allah, the Exalted, and this is the reading of Al-Hasan, Al-A'raj, Abu Ja'far, Al-Jahdari, 'Isa, Talhah, and Al-Amash. Abu Haywah and Al-A'sha read from Abu Bakr from Asim: 'We reveal' with the 'noon' of greatness, and it could be that His saying, the Exalted: ﴿Allah﴾ is the subject and its predicate is ﴿the Exalted in Might﴾, and it is possible that its predicate is: ﴿To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens﴾. Ibn Kathir alone read: 'is revealed' with the 'ya' and the opening of the 'ha' on the form of the verb for the object, and this is the reading of Mujahid, and the estimation is: the Qur'an is revealed to you, revealed by Allah, the Exalted, as the poet said:

And among them is His saying, exalted is He: ﴿They glorify Him therein by morning and evening﴾ [An-Nur: 36] ﴿Men﴾ [An-Nur: 37]. And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And to those before you﴾ means: from the prophets to whom the books were revealed.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens﴾ means the dominion, creation, and invention. And "the Most High" is from the high status and authority, and "the Most Great" is likewise. It is not by high distance or great mass; glorified is Allah above that. Nafi' and Al-Kisai read: "Yakad" with a 'ya', while Ibn Kathir, Ibn 'Amir, Hamzah, Abu 'Amr, and Asim read: "Takad" with a 'ta'. Ibn Kathir, Ibn 'Amir, Hamzah, Al-Kisai, Nafi', Ibn 'Abbas, Abu Ja'far, Shaiba, and Qatadah read: "Yatafatarna" from "At-Tafatur", which is compliant with "Fattara". Abu 'Amr, Asim, Al-Hasan, Al-A'raj, Abu Rija', and Al-Jahdari read: [Yanfatarna] from "Al-Infitar", which is compliant with "Fattara". The meaning in both is: they crack and split from the speed of their running in submission and fear of the authority of Allah, exalted is He, and in glorification of Him and obedience. What has been mentioned by the interpreters here regarding heaviness and the like is rejected, because Allah, exalted is He, is not described by that. And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿From above them﴾ means: from their highest. Al-Akhfash Ali ibn Sulaiman said: the pronoun refers to the disbelievers.

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

And the meaning is: from above the sects and groups of the heretics, for whose sayings the heavens almost crack. This verse, on this, is like the verse in ﴿Kaf Ha Ya 'Ain Sad﴾ [Maryam: 1]. And a group said: its meaning is: from above the earths, since the mention of the earth has occurred. Al-Zajjaj mentioned that it was read: "Yatafatarna mimman fawqahunna".

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿They glorify with praise of their Lord﴾ it was said: its meaning is: they say: Subhan Allah. And it was said: its meaning is: they pray to their Lord. And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And they seek forgiveness for those on earth﴾, a group said: this is abrogated by His saying, exalted is He, in another verse: ﴿And they seek forgiveness for those who believe﴾ [Ghafir: 7].

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

And this is a weak statement; because abrogation cannot be imagined in reports.

Al-Suddi said: What we mean is that the apparent meaning of the verse is general, but its meaning is specific to the believers. It is as if he said: And they seek forgiveness for those on earth from the believers. For the disbelievers, upon them is the curse of Allah, the angels, and all the people. A group said: Rather, it is general, but the seeking of forgiveness by the angels is not a request for Allah, the Exalted, to forgive the disbelievers while they remain disbelievers. Rather, their seeking forgiveness for them means a request for guidance that leads to forgiveness for them. It is as if the angels are saying: O Allah, guide the people of the earth and forgive them. This interpretation is supported by the emphasis on the attribute of forgiveness and mercy for Himself at the beginning, and that is His saying, the Exalted: "Indeed, Allah is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful." This means that since seeking forgiveness for all those on earth is unlikely to be answered, the Mighty and Majestic has begun the speech to prepare the listener. So He, the Exalted, said: Indeed, Allah is the One who seeks this from Him, as these are His attributes, and He, glorified and exalted is He, is the One worthy of forgiveness.