(Makki, [except for verses 40, 94, 95, and 96, which are Madani] and it consists of one hundred and nine verses [revealed after the Isra]) 'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Alif Lam Ra is a counting of the letters as a challenge. And those are the verses of the Book, indicating what the surah contains of verses and the Book. And the Wise One is the One who possesses wisdom, as it encompasses them and speaks them.

Or it is described by a newly attributed quality. Al-A'sha said:

'And a strange one comes to the kings, wise... I have said it so that it may be said, who said it' [[for Al-A'sha. That is: By the Lord, a strange wise poem that speaks of wisdom and indicates it, or a wise one who said it. This is from the attribution to the cause, as it is the reason for describing its speaker with wisdom. I have said it so that people may be astonished and say, who is this eloquent poet who said it. And 'that' is a demonstrative pronoun in the language of Hijaz, and a relative pronoun in the language of Tayy. It is closer here, so the phrase 'he said it' is the relative clause.]]

The hamzah is for denying astonishment and the amazement from it. And 'that We revealed' is the name of the verb, and 'a wonder' is its news. Ibn Mas'ud read: 'a wonder', making it a noun while it is indefinite, and 'that We revealed' is news and it is definite, as in His saying:

'Its mixture is honey and water' [[as if the first flowing of grape water... its mixture is honey and water.

On its fangs or the taste of a branch... of apples, plucked from its harvest.

For Hassan ibn Thabit before the prohibition of wine. And 'the first flowing' is what first flows from grape water. It is narrated as 'Sabe'ah', meaning purchased. It is said:

'He bought the wine like Nasr', if he bought it. It is narrated as 'Khabiyyah', meaning preserved in the jar. And 'Bayt Ras' is a village in Sham. And it is said:

What is meant by 'the head' is the chief, and its drink is better than others, and 'its mixture' is the news of 'it is', although it is definite. And 'honey' is its name although it is indefinite, and the norm was the opposite, so it is inverted for necessity. Ibn Malik permitted it in the governed of 'was' and 'if', so there is no inversion. Al-Farsi said:

The raising of the three words is on the basis that the subject of 'was' is the pronoun of the matter. And the saying of Ibn Al-Sayyid: The addition of 'was' here is not pleasing, because the addition of the present tense is only committed in necessity, and it is narrated by only raising 'honey', so it is news and raising 'water', with the estimation: and it mixed with water. And the phrase 'to be' is an adjective of 'the first flowing'. And 'on its fangs' is the news of 'as if' the intensity. And 'the mixture' is what is mixed with another. And what is meant by 'fangs' is the entire mouth. And 'the fresh' is the moist and tender. And 'the plucking' is the bending of the branch and tilting it towards you without detaching it to harvest its fruit. And 'the exaggeration of plucking' is an emphasis in it. And it is narrated as 'the harvesting' instead of 'the plucking'.

And it is in the shortened form a source. But it was prolonged here for necessity. And attributing the plucking to that is a mental metaphor, from the attribution to the cause.

And its occurrence on the apples is in the sense of an addition, meaning: the branch was pressed. It is narrated: or the taste of a branch, so it is not permissible in its pressing. But the addition of taste to it is in the sense of an addition, meaning the taste of the fruit of the branch. Its juice is likened to good wine, and its taste to the taste of the apples of the branch that the harvester bends to gather. This indicates that it is now being harvested, and no time has passed since then. It also hints at comparing his beloved to branches in their softness, tenderness, and inclination. It is preferable that 'was' is complete, and that 'We revealed' is in place of 'wonder.' If you say: What is the meaning of the 'lam' in His saying: 'Was it a wonder to the people?' And what is the difference between it and saying: 'Was there a wonder among the people?' I say: Its meaning is that they made it a marvel for themselves to wonder at, and they set it up as a sign towards which they direct their mockery and denial. And there is no such meaning in 'among the people.' What they wondered at was that revelation was sent to a human, and that he was a man from among their common people, not a great one from their dignitaries. They used to say: The wonder is that Allah did not find a messenger to send to the people except for the orphan of Abu Talib, and that he mentions resurrection, warns of the Fire, and gives glad tidings of Paradise. Each of these matters is not a wonder, for the messengers sent to nations were nothing but humans like them. And Allah, the Exalted, said: 'Say: If there were angels walking securely on the earth, We would have sent down to them from the heavens an angel as a messenger.' The sending of the poor or the orphan is also not a wonder, for Allah chooses whom He wills for selection, as He gathers the causes of independence for what He has chosen for prophethood. Wealth and advancement in this world are not among those causes at all. 'And your wealth and your children are not that which brings you nearer to Us in position.' And resurrection for recompense for good and evil is the greatest wisdom, so how can it be a wonder? The only true wonder, the strange and incomprehensible in minds, is the suspension of recompense. 'To warn the people' is the explanation, for the revelation contains the meaning of saying. And it may be that it is the lighter form of the heavy, and its origin is: that He warned the people, meaning: the matter is our saying: 'Warn the people.' And 'that they have' the 'ba' with it is omitted. 'A position of truth with their Lord' means a precedence, a favor, and a high status. If you say: Why is the precedence called 'qadam'? I say: Because striving and precedence are by the foot, the good striving and precedence are called 'qadam,' just as a blessing is called 'hand' because it is given by hand, and 'arm' because its owner uses it. It is said: So-and-so has a foot in good. Its addition to truth indicates an increase in virtue, and that it is from the great precedents. And it is said: 'A position of truth.' 'Indeed, this book and what Muhammad has brought is certainly magic.' And whoever reads: 'is magic,' this refers to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and it is evidence of their inability and their acknowledgment of him, even though they are lying in calling it magic. And in the reading of Ubayy: 'This is nothing but magic.'