Tafseer of Hud · Hud · 11:1
Alif, Lam, Ra. [This is] a Book whose verses are perfected and then presented in detail from [one who is] Wise and Acquainted.
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 words of Allah the Exalted: الر كِتَابٌ أُحْكِمَتْ آيَاتُهُ ثُمَّ فُصِّلَتْ مِنْ لَدُنْ حَكِيمٍ خَبِيرٍ (Alif Lām Rā. A Book whose verses are firmly established, then expounded in detail, from One who is All-Wise, All-Aware.) (11:1)
Abū Jaʿfar said: We have already discussed the disagreements of the exegetes concerning the explanation of His words الر, and the most correct opinion regarding it has already been set forth with its proofs, so that there is no need to repeat this again here.
His words: كِتَابٌ أُحْكِمَتْ آيَاتُهُ — that is to say: this Book which Allah sent down upon His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, and that is the Qurʾān.
The word "Book" is in the nominative case on the basis of the implied construction: "This is a Book."
As for the one who claimed that by الر are meant the remaining letters of the alphabet with which the Qurʾān was sent down, and that these letters are an indication of all the other letters, and that the meaning of the sentence would be: "These letters are a Book whose verses are firmly established" — then, according to his view, the word "Book" should be in the nominative case as the noun governed by الر.
His words: أُحْكِمَتْ آيَاتُهُ ثُمَّ فُصِّلَتْ — the exegetes differed concerning the explanation of this. Some said: the meaning is: its verses are firmly established by command and prohibition, then expounded in detail by reward and punishment.
*Mention of who said this:*
17915 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Abū Muḥammad al-Thaqafī informed me, on the authority of al-Ḥasan concerning His words: كِتَابٌ أُحْكِمَتْ آيَاتُهُ ثُمَّ فُصِّلَتْ, he said: "Firmly established by command and prohibition, expounded in detail by reward and punishment."
17916 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Muḥammad al-Jurjānī related to us, on the authority of Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī, on the authority of al-Ḥasan concerning الر كِتَابٌ أُحْكِمَتْ آيَاتُهُ, he said: "Firmly established as regards the command and the prohibition, expounded in detail by the warning of punishment."
17917 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿUyayna, on the authority of a man, on the authority of al-Ḥasan concerning الر كِتَابٌ أُحْكِمَتْ آيَاتُهُ, he said: "By command and prohibition," and ثُمَّ فُصِّلَتْ, he said: "By reward and punishment."
From al-Ḥasan another opinion has also been transmitted, namely the following:
17918 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Abū Bakr, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said — and ʿAbbād ibn al-ʿAwwām related to us on the authority of a man, on the authority of al-Ḥasan — he said: أُحْكِمَتْ by reward and punishment, ثُمَّ فُصِّلَتْ by command and prohibition.
Others said: the meaning of this is that its verses are firmly established and safeguarded from falsehood, then expounded in detail, whereby the permitted and the forbidden have been made clear from it.
*Mention of who said this:*
17919 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda concerning His words: الر كِتَابٌ أُحْكِمَتْ آيَاتُهُ ثُمَّ فُصِّلَتْ مِنْ لَدُنْ حَكِيمٍ خَبِيرٍ: "Allah has firmly established it and safeguarded it from falsehood, then He expounded it in detail through His knowledge, and He made clear its permitted and its forbidden, and obedience to Him and disobedience to Him."
17920 — 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 concerning أُحْكِمَتْ آيَاتُهُ ثُمَّ فُصِّلَتْ: "Allah has firmly established it and safeguarded it from falsehood, then He expounded it in detail, that is to say, made it clear."
Abū Jaʿfar said: The most correct of the two opinions is that of the one who says: its meaning is that Allah has firmly established its verses and safeguarded them from creeping errors, defects, and falsehood, then He expounded them in detail by command and prohibition.
The reason for this is that "the firm establishment of a thing" means: making it sound and free of fault. And "the firm establishment of the verses of the Qurʾān" means: safeguarding them from defects that might be in them, or from falsehoods on the basis of which a deviator might direct attacks against it.
"The expounding of its verses in detail," on the other hand, is the distinguishing of one thing from another by means of the explanation of what is in it of the permitted and the forbidden, of command and prohibition.
Some of the exegetes explained His words فُصِّلَتْ with the meaning: "expounded in detail, clarified," and that comes close to what we have said.
*Mention of who said this:*
17921 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Najīḥ related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning the word of Allah: ثُمَّ فُصِّلَتْ, he said: "Clarified."
17922 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn Numayr related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning فُصِّلَتْ, he said: "Clarified."
17923 — [chain of narration], he said: Muḥammad ibn Bakr related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: It reached me, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning ثُمَّ فُصِّلَتْ, he said: "Clarified."
17924 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfah related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
17925 — [chain of narration], he said: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbdullāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
17926 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
Qatāda said: its meaning is "made clear," and we have already mentioned the report concerning it earlier; this resembles in meaning the opinion of Mujāhid.
His words: مِنْ لَدُنْ حَكِيمٍ خَبِيرٍ — the meaning of this is: حَكِيمٍ (the All-Wise) in the governing and ordaining of affairs, خَبِيرٍ (the All-Aware) of the ultimate outcomes to which they lead.
17927 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda concerning His words: مِنْ لَدُنْ حَكِيمٍ خَبِيرٍ: "From One who is All-Wise, All-Aware."
