Tafseer of The Stories · Al-Qasas · 28:51
And We have [repeatedly] conveyed to them the Qur'an that they might be reminded.
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 saying of the Exalted: وَلَقَدْ وَصَّلْنَا لَهُمُ الْقَوْلَ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَذَكَّرُونَ ("And indeed, We have conveyed to them the word in succession, that perchance they might take heed") (28:51).
The Exalted, whose praise is sublime, says: And indeed We have, O Muhammad, for your people of Quraysh and for the Jews of the Children of Israel, conveyed the word in succession — with the reports about the former peoples and the tidings of what We caused to descend upon them by Our power, when they denied Our messengers, and about what We shall do to whoever follows in their footsteps and imitates their example in disbelief in Allah and in denying His messengers — that perchance they might take heed and draw instruction and warning. Its origin comes from the knotting together of ropes, one to another; and from this comes the saying of the poet:
So say to the children of Marwān: what is the matter with a covenant and a feeble bond that is forever being knotted anew?
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken, even though their wordings differed in their explanation of its interpretation. Some of them said: the meaning is: We have made clear. And others said: the meaning is: We have set forth.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: وَلَقَدْ وَصَّلْنَا لَهُمُ الْقَوْلَ ("And indeed We have conveyed to them the word in succession") — he said: We have set forth for them the word.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَلَقَدْ وَصَّلْنَا لَهُمُ الْقَوْلَ — he said: Allah conveyed to them the word in succession in this Qurʾān, in which He informs them how He dealt with those who passed before, and how He will deal, لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَذَكَّرُونَ ("that perchance they might take heed").
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā Abū Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of Sufyān ibn ʿUyayna: "waṣṣalnā" means: We have made clear.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: وَلَقَدْ وَصَّلْنَا لَهُمُ ("And indeed We have conveyed to them in succession") — the tidings: the report about this world together with the report about the Hereafter, until it is as though they beheld the Hereafter with their own eyes and were present at it in this world, by means of the signs which We show them in this world and the like thereof. And he recited: إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَةً لِمَنْ خَافَ عَذَابَ الآخِرَةِ ("Indeed, in that is a sign for whoever fears the punishment of the Hereafter"), and he said: Indeed, We shall fulfill for them what We promised them in the Hereafter, just as We fulfilled for the prophets what We promised them; We shall judge between them and their people.
And the people of interpretation differed concerning who is meant by the "hum" and the "mīm" (the pronoun "them") in His word: وَلَقَدْ وَصَّلْنَا لَهُمُ ("And indeed We have conveyed to them in succession"). Some of them said: by it Quraysh is meant.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both of them — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: وَلَقَدْ وَصَّلْنَا لَهُمُ الْقَوْلَ — he said: Quraysh.
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: وَلَقَدْ وَصَّلْنَا لَهُمُ الْقَوْلَ — he said: for Quraysh.
Muḥammad ibn 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: وَلَقَدْ وَصَّلْنَا لَهُمُ الْقَوْلَ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَذَكَّرُونَ — he said: by it Muhammad ﷺ is meant.
And others said: by it the Jews are meant.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr ibn Ādam related to me, saying: ʿAffān ibn Muslim related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Salama related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Dīnār related to us, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Jaʿda, on the authority of Rifāʿa al-Quraẓī, who said: This verse was revealed concerning ten persons, of whom I am one: وَلَقَدْ وَصَّلْنَا لَهُمُ الْقَوْلَ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَذَكَّرُونَ.
Ibn Sinān related to us, saying: Ḥayyān related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Jaʿda, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya al-Quraẓī, who said: This verse was revealed, وَلَقَدْ وَصَّلْنَا لَهُمُ الْقَوْلَ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَذَكَّرُونَ, up to where it reaches: إِنَّا كُنَّا مِنْ قَبْلِهِ مُسْلِمِينَ ("indeed, we were Muslims [submitted to Allah] even before it"), concerning ten persons, of whom I am one. So it is as though Ibn ʿAbbās, by his saying "by it Muhammad is meant," intended: "that perchance they might take heed" of the covenant that Allah had imposed upon them concerning Muhammad, so that they would acknowledge his prophethood and hold him to be truthful.
