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

Tafsir of Surah Q

It is a Makki surah by consensus of the interpreters. Ubayy ibn Ka'b, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: "Whoever recites Surah Q, Allah will ease death and its agonies for him."

Allah, the Exalted, said:

﴿Q and the Glorious Qur'an﴾ ﴿But they were astonished that a warner came to them from among themselves, and the disbelievers said, 'This is a strange thing.'﴾ ﴿Is it that when we have died and become dust, that is a distant return?﴾ ﴿We have certainly known what the earth diminishes of them, and with Us is a Book which preserves.﴾ ﴿But they denied the truth when it came to them, so they are in a confused matter.﴾ ﴿Have they not looked at the heaven above them, how We have built it and adorned it, and there are no cracks in it?﴾ ﴿And the earth We have spread out and cast therein firmly set mountains and caused to grow therein of every kind of beautiful species.﴾ ﴿A sight and a reminder for every servant who turns to Allah.﴾

Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, said: [Q] is a name among the names of the Qur'an. He also said: It is a name among the names of Allah, the Exalted. Qatadah and Al-Sha'bi said: It is the name of the surah. Ibn Zayd, Ikrimah, Mujahid, and Al-Dahhak said: It is the name of the mountain that surrounds the world, and it is, according to what they claim, of green emerald, from which is the greenness of the sky and the greenness of the sea. And "the Glorious" means the Generous in His attributes, who has gathered every excellence. And [Q] - according to these statements - is sworn by and by the Glorious Qur'an, and the answer to the oath is awaited, and people have differed about it. Ibn Kaysan said: Its answer is ﴿He does not utter any word﴾ [Q: 18]. It is said: The answer is ﴿Indeed, in that is a reminder﴾ [Q: 37]. Al-Zahrawi said, from Sa'id Al-Akhfash: The answer is ﴿We have certainly known what the earth diminishes of them﴾. Al-Nahhas weakened it. The Kufans among the grammarians said: The answer is "But they were astonished," and the meaning is: They were astonished. Munzir ibn Sa'id said: It has been said that the answer to the oath is in His saying, the Exalted: ﴿The saying cannot be changed before Me﴾ [Q: 29]. In these statements, there is a strain and an imposition on the tongue. Al-Zajjaj, Al-Mubarrid, and Al-Akhfash said: The answer is implied, its implication being: "Q and the Glorious Qur'an, you will surely be resurrected." This is a good statement, and better than it is that the answer which occurs after the interruption with "But" is as if He, the Exalted, said: And the Glorious Qur'an, they did not respond to your command with proof, nor did they deny you with evidence, and similar to this is what you must imply after what Al-Zajjaj has implied; for when you say, "The answer is 'you will surely be resurrected,'" it is necessary after that to imply a statement about which the interruption occurs, and this which we have made as an answer is shorter in the implied form.

A group of the interpreters said regarding His saying, the Exalted, [Q]: It is a letter indicating the word, similar to the saying of the poet:

I said to her, 'Stop,' and she said, 'Qaf...'

And they differed afterwards. Al-Qurtubi said: It indicates the names of Allah, glorified and exalted is He: All-Powerful, Dominant, Near, Judge, and Withholder. It was said: The meaning is: The matter has been decreed regarding your message and similar matters. "And the Glorious Qur'an," the answer to the oath is in the speech that indicates it [Q]. And some said: The meaning is: Stop at our command. It was also said: The meaning is: These disbelievers have been subdued. This also has been the subject of the oath. It is possible that the meaning is: Their rising from the graves is true. "And the Glorious Qur'an," thus the beginning of the surah is from the meaning that follows afterwards. Based on these statements, there is implicit speech that has been omitted, which is a report about them, as if He, glorified and exalted is He, said: They did not deny you with proof, or something similar that is appropriate to be revealed.

And a majority of the reciters read: "Q" with the letter 'fa' being silent. Abu Hatim said: No other reading is permissible except as a possibility of error.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This reading is good even if [Q] is a letter indicating a word. Al-Thaqafi and 'Isa read: "Qaf" with the 'fa' being opened. This is good with the saying that it is a name for the Qur'an or for Allah, glorified and exalted is He. Likewise, Al-Hasan and Ibn Abi Ishaq read: "Qaf" with the 'fa' being broken, and it is in the rank of the previous one in that the vowel is for the meeting, and that it is a name for the Qur'an, and "the Glorious" is the one with many good attributes.

And the people differed regarding the pronoun in "They were astonished," to whom it refers. A majority of the interpreters said: It refers to all people, both believers and disbelievers; because every creature was astonished by the sending of a human as a messenger from Allah. However, the believers looked and were guided, while the disbelievers remained in their blindness and deafness and argued with that astonishment. For this reason, Allah, glorified and exalted is He, said: "And the disbelievers said: This is a strange thing." Others said: Rather, the pronoun in "They were astonished" refers to the disbelievers, repeating the speech for emphasis and exaggeration. The reference with "this" may be to the very coming of the human, and it may be to the statement that the warning contains, which is the news of the resurrection, and what comes afterwards supports this statement.

And the majority read: "A'ida," and Al-A'raj, Shaiba, and Abu Ja'far read: "Idha" as a statement without questioning. The implied action in "Idha" is an implicit verb, as if He, glorified and exalted is He, said: Will we be resurrected then? And to this action their statement: "That is a distant return" refers. Ibn Jinni said: It is possible that the meaning is: Will we be resurrected after our return? Thus, "a distant return" indicates this action which is "after" and serves as a response to their statement: "If."

'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' And 'the return' is the source of 'she returned'. Their saying: 'far' means: far in understanding and thought, as it is. So Allah, the Exalted, informed - in response to their saying - that He, the Exalted, knows what the earth consumes of the son of Adam and what it leaves of him. And indeed, that is in the book. Likewise, it will return on the Day of Resurrection, all of that is known. And 'the Preserver' is the one who encompasses that nothing escapes him. And Al-Rummani said: 'Preserver' is the one who is protected from being lost or forgotten. It has been narrated in the authentic report that the earth consumes the son of Adam except for the tip of the tail, which is a bone like a mustard seed, from which the son of Adam will be resurrected. And the preservation of what the earth diminishes is only for it to return in its entirety on the Day of Resurrection. And this is the truth. Some of the scholars of principles have gone to the view that the resurrected bodies may be different from these. And this, in my opinion, contradicts the apparent meaning of the Book of Allah, the Exalted. If they were other than these, then how would the skins, hands, and feet testify against the disbelievers, and other than that, which necessitates that the bodies of this world are the ones that return? Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, and the majority said: the meaning is: what it diminishes of their flesh, skin, and bones. And Al-Suddi said: the meaning of His saying, the Exalted: 'Indeed, We have known what the earth consumes of them' is: what occurs in the belly of the earth from their dead. And this is a good saying, its implication being a warning. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, also said - as narrated by Al-Thalabi -: its meaning is: 'Indeed, We have known what the earth diminishes by way of faith from the disbelievers who enter into faith.' And this is a foreign saying from the meaning that preceded and followed. And before His saying, the Exalted: 'Rather, they have denied' there is an implied interruption, its estimation being: they did not excel in contemplation, or something like this. And what is implied by the interruption with 'rather' is most often negated, 'rather' necessitates its invalidation. And it may be a matter that necessitates 'rather' to abandon the saying about it, not by its invalidation. And the majority read: 'lamma' with a fatḥa on the lam and a shaddah on the meem. And Al-Jahdari read: 'lima' with a kasrah on the lam and a softened meem. Abu Al-Fath said: it is like their saying: 'I gave it to him for what he asked.' And as in history: 'for five that have passed.' And from it is His saying, the Exalted: 'None can reveal it at its time except Him.' And from it is the saying of the poet: (p-34) When the winds blew towards its neighbor. And 'the mingled' means: the mixed, as said by Ibn Zayd. That is: some of them say 'sorcerer', and some say 'soothsayer', and some say 'poet', and other than that from their confusion. Likewise, the thought of each one of them has become mixed within itself. And Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: 'the mingled' means: the denied. And Mujahid said: 'the confused'. And 'the mingled' also means: the disturbed, which is close to the first. And from it in the hadith: 'Their covenants have become mingled.' And from the first: 'He has let the two seas flow together.' And the poet said: The religion has become mingled, so I prepared for it a high place, woven tightly.

Then Allah, the Most High, indicated the lesson by His saying: "Do they not reflect?" The meaning of "We have adorned it" is: with the stars. And "the furooj" refers to the openings during and between them, as said by Mujahid and others. Al-Naqqash narrated that this verse implies that the sky is round, and the matter is not as it has been reported when the wording and what it necessitates are contemplated. And "the mountains" are the high places, and "the pair" refers to the type. And "the beautiful" was said by Ibn Abbas, Qatadah, and Ibn Zayd to be the goodly sight.

And His saying, the Most High, "a lesson and a reminder" is in the accusative case as a source with an implied verb. And "the one who turns back" is the one returning to the truth after contemplation and reflection. Qatadah said: It is the one who turns his heart to Allah. And He, the Most High, specifically mentioned this category with the reminder as an honor, as it is the one that benefits from the lesson and the reminder. Otherwise, these creations are a lesson and a reminder for every human. Some grammarians said: "a lesson and a reminder" are two objects for their sake, and this is possible, but the first is more likely.