Tafseer of The Bee · An-Nahl · 16:89
And [mention] the Day when We will resurrect among every nation a witness over them from themselves. And We will bring you, [O Muhammad], as a witness over your nation. And We have sent down to you the Book as clarification for all things and as guidance and mercy and good tidings for the Muslims.
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 Exalted says in His remembrance: وَيَوْمَ نَبْعَثُ فِي كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ شَهِيدًا عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ (And the day on which We shall raise up in every community a witness over them from among themselves) — that is to say: We shall question their prophet whom We had sent to them to summon them to obedience to Us. He said مِنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ (from among themselves) because the Exalted, in His remembrance, always sent forth prophets from among the communities themselves, and asked them: "What did they answer you, and what did they cast back at you?" وَجِئْنَا بِكَ شَهِيدًا عَلَى هَؤُلاءِ (And We brought you as a witness over these) — He says to His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: We brought you, O Muḥammad, as a witness over your people and your community to whom We have sent you, concerning what they answered you and what they did with that which We sent you to bring them.
His word وَنَزَلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ تِبْيَانًا لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ (And We sent down upon you the Scripture as a clarification of all things) — that is to say: We sent down upon you, O Muḥammad, this Qurʾān as a clarification of all that people need of the knowledge of the permitted (ḥalāl) and the forbidden (ḥarām), the reward and the punishment. وَهُدًى (And a guidance) — from error. وَرَحْمَةً (And a mercy) — for whoever believes in it and acts according to what it contains of the prescribed punishments (ḥudūd) of Allāh, His commands and His prohibitions, so that he regards as permitted that which is permitted therein and regards as forbidden that which is forbidden therein. وَبُشْرَى لِلْمُسْلِمِينَ (And glad tidings for the Muslims) — that is to say: glad tidings for whoever obeys Allāh and submits to Him by professing the oneness of Allāh (tawḥīd), and surrenders himself to Him in obedience — He gives them the glad tidings of His abundant reward in the Hereafter and His mighty honor.
This which we have said concerning it is also what the exegetes say.
* Mention of those who said that:
Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿUyayna, who said: Abān ibn Taghlub related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning تِبْيَانًا لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ — he said: "Of what He has permitted and forbidden."
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, on the authority of Ibn ʿUyayna, on the authority of Abān ibn Taghlub, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word تِبْيَانًا لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ — "Of what is permitted to them and what is forbidden to them."
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word تِبْيَانًا لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ — he said: "What He has commanded thereby and what He has forbidden."
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning the word وَنَزَلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ تِبْيَانًا لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ — he said: "What is commanded and forbidden to them."
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of a man, who said: Ibn Masʿūd said: "In this Qurʾān all knowledge has been sent down, and everything has been made clear to us in the Qurʾān." Then he recited this verse.
