Tafseer of The Thunder · Ar-Ra'd · 13:39
Allah eliminates what He wills or confirms, and with Him is the Mother of the 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.
Abū Jaʿfar said: the exegetes differed over the interpretation of this.
Some said: Allah erases what He wills of the affairs of His servants, and alters that — except wretchedness and felicity, for those are not altered.
An account of who said that:
20461 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Baḥr b. ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of Al-Minhāl, on the authority of Saʿīd b. Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾ wa-yuthibit wa-ʿindahu umm al-kitāb) — he said: Allah decrees the affair of the servants and erases what He wills, except wretchedness and felicity [and life] and death.
20462 — Ibn Bišār related to us, saying: [Ibn Abī Laylā], on the authority of Al-Minhāl b. ʿAmr, on the authority of Saʿīd b. Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾ wa-yuthibit wa-ʿindahu umm al-kitāb) — he said: everything except felicity and wretchedness, for those are already decided.
20463 — ʿAlī b. Sahl related to me, saying: Yazīd related to us; and Aḥmad related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of Al-Minhāl, on the authority of Saʿīd b. Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — he said: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾ wa-yuthibit wa-ʿindahu umm al-kitāb) — he said: except wretchedness and felicity, and death and life.
20464 — Al-Mutannā related to me, saying: Abū Nuʿaym al-Faḍl b. Dukayn and Qabīṣa related to us, they said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of Al-Minhāl b. ʿAmr, on the authority of Saʿīd b. Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — something similar.
20465 — ʿAmr b. ʿAlī related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Laylā related to us, on the authority of Al-Minhāl b. ʿAmr, on the authority of Saʿīd b. Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾ wa-yuthibit wa-ʿindahu umm al-kitāb) — he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: except life and death, and wretchedness and felicity.
20466 — Al-Mutannā related to me, saying: ʿAmr b. ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hušaym informed us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of Al-Minhāl b. ʿAmr, on the authority of Saʿīd b. Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾ wa-yuthibit wa-ʿindahu al-kitāb) — he said: Allah determines the affair of the year on the Night of Power (Laylat al-Qadr), except wretchedness and felicity, and death and life.
20467 — ʿAmr b. ʿAlī related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾ wa-yuthibit) — he said: except life and death, and felicity and wretchedness, for those do not change.
20468 — ʿAmr related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Muʿāḏ b. ʿUqba related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid — something similar.
20469 — Ibn Bišār related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid — something similar.
20470 — [Ibn Bišār related to us], saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr — he said: I said to Mujāhid: if you have written me down as one of the felicitous, then inscribe me, and if you have written me down as one of the wretched, then erase me. He said: wretchedness and felicity are already decided.
20471 — Aḥmad related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid — he said; Saʿīd b. Sulaymān related to us, saying: Šarīk related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾu wa-yuthibit) — he said: each year on the Night of Power Allah sends down what He wills of the appointed terms (ājāl), the daily provisions (arzāq) and the decrees (maqādīr), except wretchedness and felicity, for those are immutable.
20472 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr — he said: I asked Mujāhid and said: what do you say about the supplication of one of us who says: O Allah, if my name is among the felicitous, confirm it therein, and if it is among the wretched, then erase it and place it among the felicitous? He said: that is fine. Then when I visited him after a year or more and asked him that, he said: Indeed, We sent it down on a blessed night, We are the warners. Therein every wise affair is decided [Sūra 44:3-4]. He said: On the Night of Power is decided what will be in the year of daily provision (rizq) or calamity (muṣība); then He brings forward what He wills and defers what He wills. But the book of wretchedness and felicity is immutable.
* * *
Others said: the meaning of this is that Allah erases and confirms from a book other than umm al-kitāb, from which nothing is changed.
An account of who said that:
20473 — Al-Mutannā related to me, saying: Al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of Sulaymān al-Taymī, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he said concerning this verse: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾu wa-yuthibit wa-ʿindahu umm al-kitāb) — he said: there are two books: a book from which He erases what He wills and confirms, and with Him is umm al-kitāb.
20474 — ʿAmr b. ʿAlī related to us, saying: Sahl b. Yūsuf related to us, saying: Sulaymān al-Taymī related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His word: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾu wa-yuthibit wa-ʿindahu umm al-kitāb) — he said: the book is two books: a book from which Allah erases what He wills and confirms, and with Him is umm al-kitāb.
20475 — [ʿAmr] related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀmir related to us, saying: Ḥammād b. Salama related to us, on the authority of Sulaymān al-Taymī, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — something similar.
20475m — Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Al-Muʿtamir b. Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿIkrima — he said: the book is two books; (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾu wa-yuthibit wa-ʿindahu umm al-kitāb).
* * *
Others said: rather the meaning of this is that He erases all that He wills and confirms all that He wills.
An account of who said that:
20476 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿUttām related to us, on the authority of Al-Aʿmaš, on the authority of Šaqīq — that he used to say: O Allah, if You have written me down as one of the wretched, then erase me and write me among the felicitous; and if You have written me down as one of the felicitous, then confirm me therein, for You erase what You will and confirm, and with You is umm al-kitāb.
20477 — ʿAmr related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Al-Aʿmaš related to us, on the authority of Abū Wāʾil — he said: it was his custom to pray often with these words: O Allah, if You have written me down as one of the wretched, then erase me and write me among the felicitous; and if You have written me down as one of the felicitous, then confirm me therein, for You erase what You will and confirm, and with You is umm al-kitāb.
20478 — [ʿAmr] related to us, saying: Muʿāḏ b. Hišām related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥakīma, on the authority of Abū ʿUthmān al-Nahdī — that ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb said while circumambulating the House and weeping: O Allah, if You have written down for me wretchedness or a sin, then erase it, for You erase what You will and confirm. With You is umm al-kitāb; make it felicity and forgiveness.
20479 — [ʿAmr] related to us, saying: Al-Muʿtamir related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū Ḥakīma, on the authority of Abū ʿUthmān — he said: I think I heard it from Abū ʿUthmān himself — something similar.
20480 — [ʿAmr] related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀmir related to us, saying: Qurra b. Khālid related to us, on the authority of ʿIṣma Abū Ḥakīma, on the authority of Abū ʿUthmān al-Nahdī, on the authority of ʿUmar — may Allah have mercy on him — something similar.
20481 — Al-Mutannā related to me, saying: Al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, saying: Abū Ḥakīma related to us — he said: I heard Abū ʿUthmān al-Nahdī say: I heard ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb — may Allah be pleased with him — say while circumambulating the Kaʿba: O Allah, if You have written me down among the felicitous, confirm me therein; and if You have written down for me sin and wretchedness, then erase me and confirm me among the felicitous, for You erase what You will and confirm, and with You is umm al-kitāb.
20482 — [ʿAmr] related to us, saying: Al-Ḥajjāj b. al-Minhāl related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of Khālid al-Ḥaḏḏāʾ, on the authority of Abū Qilāba, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd — that he used to say: O Allah, if You have written me down among [the people of] wretchedness, then erase me and confirm me among the people of felicity.
20483 — Muḥammad b. Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾu wa-yuthibit wa-ʿindahu umm al-kitāb) — he says: it is the man who works for a long time in obedience to Allah, then relapses into disobedience to Allah, and dies in his straying — he is the one who is erased; and the one who is confirmed: the man who works in disobedience to Allah, but for whom good was nonetheless previously decreed until he dies in obedience to Allah — he is the one who is confirmed.
20484 — Aḥmad related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Šarīk related to us, on the authority of Hilāl b. Ḥumayd, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿUkaym, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh — that he used to say: O Allah, if You have written me down among the felicitous, then confirm me among the felicitous, for You erase what You will and confirm, and with You is umm al-kitāb.
20485 — Al-Mutannā related to me, saying: Al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥamza, on the authority of Ibrāhīm — that Kaʿb said to ʿUmar — may Allah have mercy on him: O Commander of the Faithful (Amīr al-Muʾminīn), were it not for a verse in the book of Allah, I would inform you of what will come to pass until the Day of Resurrection. He said: and what is that? He said: the word of Allah: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾu wa-yuthibit wa-ʿindahu umm al-kitāb).
20486 — It was related to me from Al-Ḥusayn — he said: I heard Abū Muʿāḏ say: ʿUbayd related to us — he said: I heard Al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word: li-kulli ajalin kitāb — the passage — he says: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾu) — he says: I delete what I will, and do of the deeds what I will; if I will I add to it, and if I will I diminish.
20487 — Al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad related to us, saying: ʿAffān related to us, saying: Hammām related to us, saying: Al-Kalbī related to us — he said: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾu wa-yuthibit) — he said: He erases of the provision (rizq) and adds to it, and He erases of the appointed term (ajal) and adds to it. — I asked: who related that to you? He said: Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Jābir b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Riʾāb al-Anṣārī, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ. Then Al-Kalbī returned and was asked about this verse: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾu wa-yuthibit) — he said: all utterances are written down; when Thursday comes, there is removed from them everything to which no reward is attached and on which no punishment rests, such as your saying: I ate, I drank, I went in, I went out — that and what resembles it of words, while he speaks the truth; and there is confirmed what has reward in it and invokes punishment.
20488 — Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us — he said: I heard Al-Kalbī, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ — something similar, and he did not go beyond Abū Ṣāliḥ.
* * *
Others said: rather the meaning of this is that Allah abrogates what He wills of the rulings of His Book, and confirms what He wills of them without revising it.
An account of who said that:
20489 — Al-Mutannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh b. Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾu) — he said: from the Qurʾān. He says: Allah changes what He wills and abrogates it (naskh), and confirms what He wills and does not change it; (wa-ʿindahu umm al-kitāb) — he says: and the totality of it is with Him in umm al-kitāb: the abrogating and the abrogated, what is changed and what is confirmed — all of that is in one book.
20490 — Bišr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾu wa-yuthibit) — it is like His word: Whatever verse We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring something better than it or similar to it [Sūra 2:106]; and His word: (wa-ʿindahu umm al-kitāb): that is, the totality of the Book and its origin.
20491 — Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad b. Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾu wa-yuthibit) what He wills, and He is the Wise; (wa-ʿindahu umm al-kitāb) and its origin.
20492 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾu) — concerning what is sent down to the prophets; (wa-yuthibit) what He wills of what is sent down to the prophets; he said: (wa-ʿindahu umm al-kitāb) — that is neither changed nor exchanged.
20493 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us — he said: Ibn Jurayj said: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾu) — he said: He abrogates (naskh). He said: (wa-ʿinda umm al-kitāb) — he said: the Remembrance (al-Dhikr).
* * *
Others said: the meaning of this is that He erases the one whose appointed term (ajal) has come, and confirms the one whose appointed term has not yet come until his appointed term.
An account of who said that:
20494 — Muḥammad b. Bišār related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of ʿAwf, on the authority of Al-Ḥasan, concerning His word: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾu wa-yuthibit wa-ʿindahu umm al-kitāb) — he says: the one whose appointed term has come and passed is erased; and the confirmed is the one who is alive and proceeding toward his appointed term.
20495 — ʿAmr b. ʿAlī related to us, saying: Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAwf related to us — he said: I heard Al-Ḥasan say: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾu) — he said: the one whose appointed term has come; (wa-yuthibit) — he said: the one whose appointed term has not yet come, until his appointed term.
20496 — Al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad related to us, saying: Hawḏa related to us, saying: ʿAwf related to us, on the authority of Al-Ḥasan — something similar to the narration of Ibn Bišār.
20497 — [ʿAmr] related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb b. ʿAṭāʾ related to us, saying: Saʿīd informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Al-Ḥasan, concerning His word: li-kulli ajalin kitābun — he said: the appointed terms of the children of Adam are in a book; (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾu) of his appointed term; (wa-yuthibit wa-ʿindahu umm al-kitāb).
20498 — [ʿAmr] related to us, saying: Šabāba related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾu wa-yuthibit) — Qurayš said when there was sent down: And it is not for a messenger to bring a sign except by the permission of Allah [Sūra 13:38]: we see, O Muḥammad, that you have power over nothing, and the matter is already decided! Then this verse was sent down as a threat and a warning to them: if We willed, We would bring forth for him new things of Our affair as We will, and in every Ramadan We renew what We will — We erase and confirm what We will of the daily provisions of the people, their calamities, what We give them and what We apportion for them.
20499 — Al-Mutannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — something similar.
20500 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — something similar.
* * *
Others said: the meaning of this is: and He forgives what He wills of the sins of His servants, and leaves what He wills to remain without forgiving it.
An account of who said that:
20501 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Saʿīd, concerning His word: (yumḥu Llāh mā yašāʾu wa-yuthibit) — he said: He confirms in the womb wretchedness and felicity and everything; then He forgives of it what He wills and defers what He wills.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: the most correct of the mentioned statements concerning the interpretation of the verse, and the most consonant with correctness, is the statement which we have cited from Al-Ḥasan and Mujāhid. That is because Allah the Exalted threatened with punishment the polytheists (mushrikīn) who asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for signs, and warned them, and said to them: And it is not for a messenger to bring a sign except by the permission of Allah — for every appointed term there is a book — in order to inform them that His decree concerning them has an appointed term recorded in a book, and that they are granted respite until the time of the arrival of that appointed term. Then He said to them: when that appointed term arrives, Allah brings forth what He wills of those whose appointed term draws near and whose daily provision (rizq) is constricted, or whose downfall or humiliation after elevation, or destruction of wealth, is near — He decrees this for His creation; that is His erasing. And He confirms what He wills of those whose appointed term and daily provision and lot have not yet passed, and leaves them in the state in which they are without erasing them.
With this meaning the narration has come from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, namely:
20502 — Muḥammad b. Sahl b. ʿAskar related to me, saying: Ibn Abī Maryam related to us, saying: Al-Layth b. Saʿd related to us, on the authority of Ziyādat b. Muḥammad, on the authority of Muḥammad b. Kaʿb al-Quraẓī, on the authority of Faḍāla b. ʿUbayd, on the authority of Abū al-Dardāʾ — he said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: indeed Allah opens the Remembrance (al-Dhikr) in three hours that remain of the night; in the first of them He looks into the Book that none other than He looks into, and He erases what He wills and confirms. Then he mentioned what [takes place] in the two remaining hours.
20503 — Mūsā b. Sahl al-Ramlī related to us, saying: Ādam related to us, saying: Al-Layth related to us, saying: Ziyādat b. Muḥammad related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad b. Kaʿb al-Quraẓī, on the authority of Faḍāla b. ʿUbayd, on the authority of Abū al-Dardāʾ — he said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: indeed Allah descends in three hours that remain of the night; in the first hour He opens the Remembrance that none other than He has seen, and He erases what He wills and confirms what He wills.
20504 — Muḥammad b. Sahl b. ʿAskar related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj informed us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — he said: indeed Allah has a Preserved Tablet (Lawḥ Maḥfūẓ) the size of a journey of five hundred years, of a white pearl with two bands of ruby; the two bands are two boards of Allah — each day three hundred and sixty glances: He erases what He wills and confirms, and with Him is umm al-kitāb.
20505 — Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad b. Thawr related to us, saying: Al-Muʿtamir b. Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of his father — he said: a man related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Qays b. ʿUbād — that he said: the tenth of Rajab is the day on which Allah erases what He wills.
* * *
The interpretation of the meaning of the words of Allah the Exalted: وَعِنْدَهُ أُمُّ الْكِتَابِ
Abū Jaʿfar said: the exegetes differed over the interpretation of His word: (wa-ʿindahu umm al-kitāb). Some said: the meaning is: and with Him are the permitted (ḥalāl) and the forbidden (ḥarām).
An account of who said that:
20506 — Al-Mutannā related to me, saying: Muslim b. Ibrāhīm related to us, saying: Muḥammad b. ʿUqba related to us, saying: Mālik b. Dīnār related to us — he said: I asked Al-Ḥasan: (umm al-kitāb) — he said: the permitted (ḥalāl) and the forbidden (ḥarām). I said to him: and what is (al-ḥamdu li-Llāh rabb al-ʿālamīn)? He said: that is umm al-Qurʾān.
* * *
Others said: the meaning is: and with Him is the totality of the Book and its origin.
An account of who said that:
20507 — Bišr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: (wa-ʿindahu umm al-kitāb) — he said: the totality of the Book and its origin.
20508 — Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad b. Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda — something similar.
20509 — It was related to me from Al-Ḥusayn — he said: I heard Abū Muʿāḏ say: ʿUbayd related to us — he said: I heard Al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word: (wa-ʿindahu umm al-kitāb) — he said: a Book with the Lord of the Worlds.
20510 — Al-Mutannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq b. Yūsuf related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of Al-Ḍaḥḥāk: (wa-ʿindahu umm al-kitāb) — he said: the totality of the Book and the knowledge of it. By that he means what is abrogated of it and what is confirmed.
20511 — Al-Mutannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: (wa-ʿindahu umm al-kitāb) — he says: and the totality of it is with Him in umm al-kitāb: the abrogating and the abrogated, what is changed and what is confirmed — all of that is in one book.
* * *
Others said concerning it:
20512 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Al-Muʿtamir b. Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Sayyār, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — that he asked Kaʿb about umm al-kitāb. He said: the knowledge of Allah concerning what He is going to create and what His creatures will do; then He said to His knowledge: be a book! And it became a book.
* * *
Others said: it is the Remembrance (al-Dhikr).
An account of who said that:
20513 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us — Abū Jaʿfar said: I do not know whether it is Ibn Jurayj or not — he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: (wa-ʿindahu umm al-kitāb) — he said: the Remembrance (al-Dhikr).
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Abū Jaʿfar said: the most correct statement concerning this with regard to correctness is the statement of the one who said: and with Him is the origin of the Book and the totality of it. That is because Allah the Exalted made known that He erases what He wills and confirms what He wills, then He joined to this His word: (wa-ʿindahu umm al-kitāb) — so that it was clear that its meaning is: and with Him is the origin of the confirmed and the erased, and the totality of it in one book with Him.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: the Qurʾān reciters differed over the reading of His word: wa-yuthibbit. Most of the reciters of Medina and Kufa read it as: wa-yuthabbit — with tashdīd of the bāʾ — with the meaning: and He leaves it standing and leaves it in its state, so that He does not erase it.
Some of the Meccans and some of the Basrans and some of the Kufans read it as: wa-yuthibit — with takhfīf — with the meaning: He writes it down.
We have previously clarified that the meaning of this in our view is: the leaving standing in a written state and not erasing it as we have set forth. If that is so, then the tashdīd is preferable for it, and the tashdīd is more correct than the takhfīf — even though the takhfīf admits in its direction in meaning of being directed toward the tashdīd, and the tashdīd toward the takhfīf — because of the closeness of the meanings of the two.
As for the "erasing" (al-maḥw) — concerning it there are among the Arabs two dialects. Muḍar says: maḥawtu al-kitāb amḥūhu maḥwan — and with that the revelation comes; and: maḥaytuh amḥāh maḥwan. And from some of the tribes of Rabīʿa it is related that they say: maḥaytu amḥā.
