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

Tafsir of Surah Ar-Rahman

It is Makki according to what the majority of the Companions and the Followers said. Nafi' ibn Abi Na'im, 'Ata', Qatadah, Kuraib, and 'Ata' al-Khurasani narrated from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, that it is Madani and was revealed at the time of the pledge of Suhail ibn Amr and others to write in the peace treaty: 'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.' The first opinion is more correct. It was revealed when the Quraysh said in Mecca: 'And what is Ar-Rahman? Shall we prostrate to that which you command us?' [Al-Furqan: 60]. In the Sirah, it is mentioned that Ibn Mas'ud recited it aloud in the mosque until the leaders of Quraysh came to him and beat him, and that was before the Hijrah.

His saying, exalted is He:

'Ar-Rahman' 'taught the Quran' 'created man' 'taught him the expression' 'the sun and the moon are in calculation' 'and the stars and the trees prostrate' 'and the heaven He raised and set the balance' 'do not transgress in the balance' 'and establish weight in justice and do not make the balance deficient' 'and the earth He laid out for creatures' 'in it are fruits and the palm trees having sheaths' 'and grain with husk and fragrant plants' 'so which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?'

'Ar-Rahman' is a form of exaggeration from mercy, and it is a name that Allah, exalted is He, has specifically chosen for Himself. Ibn Fawrk reported from a group that they consider 'Ar-Rahman' to be a complete verse, as if the meaning is: 'Ar-Rahman is our Lord.' Al-Rummani said that the meaning is: 'Allah is Ar-Rahman.' The majority said that the verse is 'Ar-Rahman taught the Quran,' so it is part of a verse.

And His saying, exalted is He: 'taught the Quran' is a recounting of a favor, meaning: He bestowed it, and He taught it to the people, and He specifically favored its memorizers and its understanders. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'The best of you are those who learn the Quran and teach it.' And as evidence that the Quran is uncreated, Allah, exalted is He, mentioned the Quran in His Book in forty-five places, none of which explicitly stated the word 'creation' nor hinted at it. And 'man' was mentioned in a third of that in eighteen places, none of which explicitly stated the word 'creation' nor hinted at it. And 'man' was mentioned in a third of that in eighteen places, all of which stated his creation, and the mention of both of them in this Surah is in this manner.

And 'man' here is a generic name, as reported by Al-Zahrawi and others. And 'the expression' refers to speech, understanding, and clarification of that by words, as said by Ibn Zayd and the majority. This is what has distinguished man from other animals. Qatadah said: It is the clarification of the lawful and the unlawful and the laws. This is part of the general expression. Qatadah said: 'man' refers to Adam, peace be upon him. Ibn Kaysan said: 'man' refers to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. This specification has no evidence. All knowledge is included in the expression that man has been taught. It is as if Allah, exalted is He, said: From that expression, and in it is the consideration of the sun and the moon being in calculation. He omitted all of this and began with 'the sun,' and this is the beginning of recounting favors.

And the people have differed in the saying of Him, the Most High: "by Hisban." Makkī and al-Zahrāwī, from Qatādah, said: It is a source like al-hisāb in meaning, like al-ghufrān and al-ṭughiyān in weight. Abu ʿUbaydah said: There are calculations for its rising and setting, and for its cutting through the constellations and other than that. This is the view of Ibn ʿAbbās and Abū Mālik and Qatādah. Ibn Zayd said: If it were not for night and day, no one would know how to calculate anything from the measures of time. Mujāhid said: Al-ḥisban is the circular ship, likened to al-ḥisban of the mill, which is the circular stick by which the millstone turns.

His saying, the Most High: "And the star and the tree prostrate," Ibn ʿAbbās, al-Suddī, and Sufyān said: "The star" is the plant that has no stem, and it is called a star because it has emerged and risen. It is suitable for the tree, which is likened to it. Mujāhid, Qatādah, and al-Ḥasan said: The star is the name of the genus from the stars of the sky, and the relation it has to the sky is like that of the tree to the earth, for they are similar in their appearance. The tree is named from the intertwining of its branches, which is their intermingling. The people have differed regarding this prostration. Mujāhid and al-Ḥasan said: This is in the star at sunset and similar, and in the tree by its shade and its turning. Likewise, in the star according to the other saying. Mujāhid also said, in meaning: That the prostration in all of this is a metaphor, and it is an expression of submission and humility and the like. From this is the saying of the poet:

................. You see the hillocks in it prostrating to the hooves.

And He, the Most High, said: "They prostrate," and they are two plural forms, because He considered the wording, for it is a singular noun, a name for the type. This is like the saying of the poet:

Did it not sadden you that the ropes of my people and your people have distinctly separated?

And the majority read: "And the heaven He raised" with the accusative, as an addition to the small sentence which is "They both prostrate"; because this is a sentence of verb and subject, and this is likewise. And Abu al-Samal read: "And the heaven He raised" with the nominative, as an addition to the large sentence which is His saying, the Exalted: ﴿And the stars and the trees prostrate﴾; because this sentence is of subject and predicate, and the other is likewise. In the Mushaf of Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, it is: "And He set the balance." And the meaning of "And He set": He established and affirmed, and "the balance": justice, as said by al-Tabari, Mujahid, and most of the people. Ibn Abbas, al-Hasan, and Qatadah said: It is the known balance, which is a part of the balance that expresses justice. It appears to me that His saying, the Exalted: ﴿And He set the balance﴾ means justice, and that His saying, the Exalted: ﴿Do not transgress in the balance﴾, and His saying: ﴿And establish weight in justice﴾, and His saying: ﴿And do not diminish the balance﴾ refers to the known balance. All that has been said is plausible and acceptable. His saying, the Exalted: "Do not transgress" is a prohibition against the intentional transgression which is tyranny in the balance. As for what people cannot do of liberating by the balance, that is exempted from the people. And "Do not" is to be understood as: "So that you do not" or as a purpose for it. And "transgress" is in the accusative, and it is possible that "to" is explanatory, so that "transgress" would be in the jussive due to the prohibition. In the Mushaf of Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, it is: "Do not transgress" without "to." And the majority of people read: "And do not diminish" from the root of diminishing and corrupting. And Bilal ibn Abi Burdah said: "And you diminish" with the opening of the 'ta' and the kasra of the 'sin' from the root of losing. It is said: He lost meaning he diminished and corrupted, like he compelled and forced. Bilal also read - as narrated by Ibn Jinni -: "You will lose" with the opening of the 'ta' and the 'sin' from the root of losing with the kasra of the 'sin.'

And people differed regarding "the creatures." Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said in some of what was narrated from him: They are the children of Adam only. And al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan said: They are the two heavy ones, the jinn and mankind. And Ibn Abbas also said, and Qatadah, and Ibn Zayd, and al-Sha'bi: They are all animals. And "the sheaths" in the palm trees are present in both places: so the total branches of the palm tree are in sheaths of its fibers, and the palm tree's sprout is in a sheath from one side. And Qatadah said: The sheaths of the palm trees are their necks.

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

And the sheath from the plants is everything that wraps around something and covers it, and among it are the sheaths of flowers, and by it the sheath of the garment is likened.

﴿And the grain with husk and the fragrant herb﴾, the grain with husk is wheat and barley and what follows its path from the grain that has ears and branching leaves on its stalk. It is the husk when it dries. Among it is the saying of Alqamah ibn Abadah:

The tails are watered, having tilted its husk, Its edges from the water's approach are submerged.

Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: 'Aasf' means 'straw'. The Arabs say: 'We went out to 'ta'asaf', meaning: they hasten to the harvest of the crops. Ibn Amir and Abu Al-Barhasm read: 'and the grain' - with the accusative, as an addition to 'the earth' - 'of the straw and the fragrant herbs', except that Abu Al-Barhasm lowered the noon. They disagreed about 'the fragrant herbs'. Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, and Al-Dhahhak said: Its meaning is 'provision', and from it is the saying of the poet, who is Al-Namir ibn Tawlab: 'The peace of God and its fragrance, and His garden and the sky of pearls.' Al-Hasan said: 'It is this fragrant herb of yours.' Ibn Jubair said: 'It is everything that stands on a stalk.' Ibn Zayd and Qatadah said: 'The fragrant herbs are every pleasant-smelling plant.' In this type, there is a great blessing, for it includes flowers, incense, medicinal herbs, and others. Al-Farra said: 'Aasf' refers to what is eaten, and 'the fragrant herbs' refers to everything that is not eaten. The majority of the people read: 'and the grain, of the straw and the fragrant herbs' (p-163). This reading in meaning is like the first, in grammar it is a good connection as an addition to 'fruit'. Hamzah, Al-Kisai, and Ibn Muhaysin read: 'and the grain' in the nominative, 'of the straw and the fragrant herbs' with the lowering of 'the fragrant herbs' as an addition to 'the straw', as if 'the grain' is for it, on the basis that 'the straw' includes the leaves and everything that is threshed by hand and wind, and it is the provision of animals, and 'the fragrant herbs' from it is the grain, which is the provision of humans. The fragrant herbs - according to this reading - do not include the fragrant ones with effort. 'Rayhan' is from the ones with a waw. Abu Ali said: It could be that 'rayhan' is a name placed in the place of the source, or it could be that it is a source in the form of 'fi'lan', like 'liyan' and what follows its example. Its origin is 'rawhan', the waw was changed to a ya as they changed the ya to a waw in 'ashawiy', or it could be a source from what is irregular in the defective as 'kaynoona' and 'baynoona', so its origin is 'raywahan', the waw was changed to a ya and the ya was assimilated into the ya, so it came 'rayhan' and was softened, as they said: 'mayyit' and 'mayyit' and 'hayyin' and 'hayyin'. And 'the blessings' are the favors, one of them is like 'mi'a' and 'ul' is like 'naqa', Abu Ubaidah narrated these two. And 'ily' is like 'amn', and 'ily' is like 'hisn', Al-Zahrawi narrated these two. And the pronoun in His saying: 'Your Lord' refers to the jinn and mankind. This is permissible and He did not specify it with mention in one of two ways: either that they were mentioned in His saying: 'for mankind' as previously stated that what is meant by it is the two heavy ones, or that their matter is explained in His saying: 'He created man' and 'He created the jinn', so it is permissible to precede them in the pronoun for the sake of expansion. Al-Tabari said: It can be said that this is from the category of 'throw them into Hell', (p-164) 'And O boy, strike his neck.' And Mundhir ibn Sa'id said: 'He addressed those who understand, for the address in the entire Quran is for mankind and the jinn.' It is narrated that 'when the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, recited this verse, his companions, may Allah be pleased with them, were silent, and he said: 'Indeed, the response of the jinn is better than your silence. When I recited it to the jinn, they said: We do not deny the blessings of our Lord.'