Tafseer of Jonas · Yunus · 10:1
Alif, Lam, Ra. These are the verses of the wise Book
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the meaning of the word of the Exalted: الر
Abū Jaʿfar said: The exegetes of the Qurʾān differ concerning this.
Some say that its meaning is: "I am Allah, I see."
* Mention of those who said this:
17518 — Yaḥyā ibn Dāwūd ibn Maymūn al-Wāsiṭī related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Abū Rawq, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His word الر , that it means: "I am Allah, I see."
17519 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Abū al-Ḍuḥā, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning His word الر , who said: "I am Allah, I see."
Others say: they are letters from the name of Allah, namely "al-Raḥmān."
* Mention of those who said this:
17520 — ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Shabawayh related to me, saying: ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of Yazīd, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: الر and حم and نون are the letters of "al-Raḥmān" spelled out separately.
17521 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: ʿĪsā ibn ʿUbayd related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿUthmān, who said: Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh mentioned الر and حم and نون , and said: "The name 'al-Raḥmān' spelled out separately," and then continued: "al-Raḥmān."
17522 — Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Ḥammād related to us, saying: Mandal related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: الر and حم and نون — that is the name "al-Raḥmān."
17523 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Suwayd ibn ʿAmr al-Kalbī related to us, on the authority of Abū ʿAwāna, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Sālim, on the authority of ʿĀmir, that he was asked about الر and حم and ص . He said: "They are names belonging to the names of Allah, spelled out separately in the manner of the alphabet; when you join them together they form a name from the names of Allah the Exalted."
* * *
Others say: it is a name from the names of the Qurʾān.
* Mention of those who said this:
17524 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: الر — a name from the names of the Qurʾān.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: We have already mentioned the disagreements among the people and what each speaker intended by what he said, as well as what in our view is the correct position on this matter, and that in its equivalent — namely at the beginning of Surat al-Baqara — which makes repetition here unnecessary.
We have mentioned in this place only as much as we have mentioned on account of those whose opinion concerning this differs from their opinion concerning الم . As for those who reconciled the meanings of all of this with one another, their opinion we have mentioned there, and that makes repetition here unnecessary.
* * *
The explanation of the meaning of His word: تِلْكَ آيَاتُ الْكِتَابِ الْحَكِيمِ (verse 1)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Concerning the explanation of this there is disagreement.
Some say: "Those are the signs of the Torah."
* Mention of those who said this:
17525 — Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning تِلْكَ آيَاتُ الْكِتَابِ الْحَكِيمِ , who said: "The Torah and the Gospel."
17526 — ... he said: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Hishām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda concerning تِلْكَ آيَاتُ الْكِتَابِ , who said: "The Books that existed before the Qurʾān."
* * *
Others say: the meaning of this is: "These are the signs of the Qurʾān."
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The more fitting of the two explanations is that of the one who explains it as: "These are the signs of the Qurʾān," and who takes the meaning of تِلْكَ in the sense of "these." We have already set forth the manner in which تِلْكَ is traced back to this meaning in Surat al-Baqara, in a manner that makes repetition unnecessary.
* * *
الآيَات are the signs, الْكِتَابِ is a name from the names of the Qurʾān, and we have already set forth all of this earlier.
* * *
The reason why we say that this explanation is the most fitting is that the Torah and the Gospel had not previously been mentioned and had not been cited, so that the statement could be directed toward them.
Since the matter stands thus, the meaning of the text is: "Al-Raḥmān — these are the signs of the wise Qurʾān."
* * *
The meaning of الْحَكِيمِ in this place is "al-muḥkam" (the firmly grounded, the carefully arranged), whereby the form "mufʿal" is converted into the form "faʿīl," as one also says: عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ in the meaning of "muʾlim" (causing pain), and as the poet — namely ʿAmr ibn Maʿdīkarib al-Zubaydī — said:
"Is it from Rayḥāna the audible caller..."
And we have already set this forth in several places in the book.
The meaning is therefore: "These are the signs of the firmly grounded Book, which Allah has carefully arranged and expounded for His servants," as He the Exalted said: الر كِتَابٌ أُحْكِمَتْ آيَاتُهُ ثُمَّ فُصِّلَتْ مِنْ لَدُنْ حَكِيمٍ خَبِيرٍ (Surat Hūd: 1).
