Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:7
It is He who has sent down to you, [O Muhammad], the Book; in it are verses [that are] precise - they are the foundation of the Book - and others unspecific. As for those in whose hearts is deviation [from truth], they will follow that of it which is unspecific, seeking discord and seeking an interpretation [suitable to them]. And no one knows its [true] interpretation except Allah. But those firm in knowledge say, "We believe in it. All [of it] is from our Lord." And no one will be reminded except those of understanding.
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.
It is He who has sent down the Book to you
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: It is He who has sent down the Book to you. By His saying, exalted be His praise: It is He who has sent down the Book to you, it is meant that Allah, from whom nothing is hidden, neither on the earth nor in the heaven, is the one who has sent down the Book to you. By "the Book" is meant: the Qurʾān. We have already previously set forth the reason why the Qurʾān is called "kitāb" (a book), in a manner that relieves us from repeating it here.
Among them are unambiguous verses (muḥkamāt), which are the mother of the Book, and others which are ambiguous (mutashābihāt)
As for His saying: among them are unambiguous verses, by it He means: of the Book there are verses, and by "the verses" the verses of the Qurʾān are meant. As for the muḥkamāt (unambiguous verses): they are those which have been made unambiguous through clarification and detailed exposition, whose proofs and indications have been established for that to which they have been made an indication — of the permitted and the forbidden, promise and threat, reward and punishment, command and prohibition, report and parable, admonition and instruction, and what resembles that. Then He, exalted be His praise, described these unambiguous verses as being "the mother of the Book," by which He means that they are the foundation of the Book, in which lies the mainstay of the religion, the obligations and the prescribed punishments (ḥudūd), and all the rest of what creation has need of concerning their religion, and that which has been imposed upon them of obligations, in their near and their distant future. He called them "the mother of the Book" only because they are the principal part of the Book, and the place of refuge for its adherents at [their] need for it. So too do the Arabs act: they call the binding element, the principal part of a thing, its "mother." Thus they call the standard of a people, which binds them together within the armies, their "mother," and the one who is the head of the affairs of a village or a city, its "mother." We have already previously set this forth in a manner that relieves us from repeating it. He used "mother of the Book" in the singular and did not put it in the plural by saying "they are the mothers of the Book," even though He did say "they" (hunna, plural), because He meant that the totality of the unambiguous verses is the mother of the Book — not that each individual verse of them is the mother of the Book. Had the meaning of it been that each individual verse of them is the mother of the Book, then it would undoubtedly have been said: "they are the mothers of the Book." A comparable example to the saying of Allah, mighty and exalted: they are the mother of the Book, according to the explanation we gave concerning the singular of "mother" — while it is the predicate of "they" — is His saying, exalted be His mention: And We made the son of Maryam and his mother a sign (23:50). He did not say "two signs," because the meaning is: We made the two of them together a single sign, since the meaning was one in that in which the two of them were borne as an instruction for creation. Had His intention been the report about each of them individually, that He made him an instruction for creation, then it would have been said: "We made the son of Maryam and his mother two signs," because in each of them individually there was an instruction for them. That is because Maryam gave birth without a man, and her son spoke and uttered words in the cradle as a child, so that in each of them individually there was a sign for the people.
Some grammarians of Basra have said: it was said only they are the mother of the Book and not "they are the mothers of the Book" by way of literal rendering (ḥikāya), as a man says: "I have no helpers (anṣār)," whereupon you say: "I am your helpers"; or "I have no equal (naẓīr)," whereupon you say: "we are your equal." He said: and this resembles "leave me be over two dates (tamratān)." And in support he recited the verse of a man from Fuqʿas:
"She showed herself to me in a permitted place — the showing of the foal at the halter, a showing; she did not cease to (slay me), permitted to me" — that is to say: that it was permitted to him, by way of literal rendering, because it stood before in the accusative, as one says: "it was called out: the prayer, the prayer!" — by which the saying of the caller is rendered: "the prayer, the prayer!" And he said: some have said: it is in reality "anna qatlan lī" (that it is permitted to me to slay), but he made it "ʿan," because "anna" in his dialect takes the place of "ʿan," and the accusative stands here on the basis of the command, as if you said: "a striking for Zayd." But this is a saying without foundation, because all these testimonies which he adduced in support are undoubtedly renderings of their state according to what he renders of the saying of another and his wording which that one uttered. And it is known that Allah, exalted be His praise, has rendered from no one the saying "mother of the Book," such that one might say that this was uttered as a rendering of someone who said it thus.
As for His saying and others (ukhar): it is the plural of ukhrā (an other). The Arabists have differed over the reason why "ukhar" does not take the tanwīn (nunation). Some said: "ukhar" does not take the tanwīn because it is an adjectival qualifier whose singular is ukhrā, just as jumaʿ and kutaʿ do not take the tanwīn, because they are adjectival qualifiers. Others said: "ukhar" only fails to take the tanwīn because of the added yāʾ in its singular, and because its plural was formed after the singular in the omission of the tanwīn. They said: the tanwīn of ukhrā is omitted just as the tanwīn of ḥamrāʾ (red) and bayḍāʾ (white) is omitted in the indefinite and the definite, because of the added lengthening in it and the hamza that is joined with the wāw. Then the plural of ḥamrāʾ and that of ukhrā diverge: the plural of ukhrā is formed after its singular, and one says on the pattern fuʿal "ukhar," with the tanwīn omitted as with ukhrā; but the plural of ḥamrāʾ and bayḍāʾ is formed in deviation from the singular, and takes the tanwīn, and one says ḥumr and bīḍ. Because of the divergence of their two states in the plural their inflection in the tanwīn differs according to them, and because of the agreement of their two states in the singular their two states agree therein.
As for His saying ambiguous (mutashābihāt): the meaning of it is: ambiguous in recitation, differing in meaning, as He, exalted be His praise, said: and it was brought to them, resembling one another (2:25) — that is to say in appearance, differing in taste. And as He said, reporting about someone whom He reported about from the Children of Israel, that this one said: Verily, the cows resemble one another to us (2:70) — by it they mean: they resemble one another to us in characteristic, even though their kinds differ. The explanation of the words is therefore: Verily, the One from whom nothing is hidden on the earth nor in the heaven, He is the one who has sent down the Qurʾān to you, O Muḥammad. Among them are verses that are unambiguous through clarification, which are the foundation of the Book on which your mainstay and the mainstay of your community in the religion rests, and to which is your refuge and their refuge in that which I have imposed upon you and them of the ordinances of Islam; and other verses that are ambiguous in recitation, differing in meanings.
The exegetes have differed over the explanation of His saying: among them are unambiguous verses, which are the mother of the Book, and others which are ambiguous, and over what the unambiguous (muḥkam) of the verses of the Book is, and what the ambiguous (mutashābih) of them is.
Some said: the unambiguous of the verses of the Qurʾān are those which are put into practice, and these are the abrogating verses (nāsikhāt), that is, the verses which establish the rulings; and the ambiguous of the verses are those whose putting into practice has been omitted, the abrogated ones (mansūkhāt). Mention of who said that:
5163 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: al-ʿAwwām informed us, on the authority of someone who related it to him, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning His saying: among them are unambiguous verses. He said: they are the three verses that are here: Say: Come, I will recite what your Lord has forbidden you (6:151), up to three verses, and those in [Sūrat] Banī Isrāʾīl: And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him (17:23), to the end of the verses.
5164 — al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: It is He who has sent down the Book to you, among them are unambiguous verses, which are the mother of the Book. The muḥkamāt are: the abrogating of them, and the permitted of them, and the forbidden of them, and the prescribed punishments (ḥudūd) of them, and the obligations of them, and that in which one believes and according to which one acts. He said: and others which are ambiguous, and the mutashābihāt are: the abrogated of them, and the earlier-placed of them, and the later-placed of them, and the parables of them, and the oaths of them, and that in which one believes but according to which one does not act.
5165 — 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 saying: It is He who has sent down the Book to you up to and others which are ambiguous. The muḥkamāt, which are the mother of the Book, are: the abrogating to which one turns in the religion and according to which one acts; and the mutashābihāt: they are the abrogated verses, to which one does not turn in the religion.
5166 — Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī in a narration which he mentioned, on the authority of Abū Mālik, and on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, and on the authority of Murra al-Hamdānī, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, and on the authority of some people among the companions of the Prophet ﷺ: It is He who has sent down the Book to you, among them are unambiguous verses, which are the mother of the Book up to His saying: all is from our Lord. As for the unambiguous verses: they are the abrogating according to which one acts; and as for the ambiguous: they are the abrogated.
5167 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: It is He who has sent down the Book to you, among them are unambiguous verses, which are the mother of the Book. The muḥkamāt: the abrogating according to which one acts, in which Allah permitted the permitted and forbade the forbidden; and as for the mutashābihāt: the abrogated according to which one does not act, but in which one believes.
5168 — al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda concerning His saying: unambiguous verses. He said: the unambiguous: that according to which one acts.
5169 — al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: It is He who has sent down the Book to you, among them are unambiguous verses, which are the mother of the Book, and others which are ambiguous. He said: the muḥkamāt: the abrogating according to which one acts; and the mutashābihāt: the abrogated according to which one does not act, but in which one believes.
5170 — al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk concerning His saying: unambiguous verses, which are the mother of the Book. He said: the abrogating. and others which are ambiguous. He said: that which is abrogated and left to be recited.
* — Ibn Wakīʿ related to me, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Salama ibn Nubayṭ, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim, he said: the unambiguous is what is not abrogated, and the ambiguous of them: what is abrogated.
* — Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to me, saying: Yazīd informed us, saying: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk concerning His saying: unambiguous verses, which are the mother of the Book. He said: the abrogating. and others which are ambiguous. He said: the abrogated.
5171 — al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: It is He who has sent down the Book to you, among them are unambiguous verses, which are the mother of the Book, and others which are ambiguous. He said: the muḥkamāt: that according to which one acts.
* — It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh relate, saying: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His saying: among them are unambiguous verses, he means: the abrogating according to which one acts; and others which are ambiguous, he means the abrogated, in which one believes but according to which one does not act.
* — Aḥmad ibn Ḥāzim related to me, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: among them are unambiguous verses. He said: what is not abrogated. and others which are ambiguous. He said: what is already abrogated.
Others said: the muḥkamāt of the verses of the Book are those in which Allah has made unambiguous the clarification of the permitted and the forbidden; and the ambiguous of them: that of which one part resembles the other in meanings, even though their wordings differ. Mention of who said that:
5172 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning His saying: among them are unambiguous verses: that which is in it of the permitted and the forbidden; and what falls outside that is ambiguous, one part of it confirming the other. And this is like His saying: And He does not lead astray by it any but the wicked (fāsiqīn) (2:26), and like His saying: Thus Allah lays the abomination upon those who do not believe (6:125), and like His saying: And those who let themselves be guided, He increases them in guidance and gives them their godliness (47:17).
* — al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
Others said: the muḥkamāt of the verses of the Book are those which admit of no interpretation other than a single mode; and the ambiguous of them: that which admits of multiple modes of interpretation. Mention of who said that:
5173 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr related to me: It is He who has sent down the Book to you, among them are unambiguous verses: in them lie the proof of the Lord, and the protection of the servants, and the repelling of the adversaries and falsehood; they have no distortion and no falsification away from that for which they have been established. And others, ambiguous in truth, which do admit of distortion, falsification and interpretation; Allah tested the servants by them just as He tested them with the permitted and the forbidden — they may not be turned aside toward falsehood and not be distorted away from the truth.
Others said: the meaning of the unambiguous is: that which Allah has made unambiguous of the verses of the Qurʾān and the stories of the nations and their messengers who were sent to them, and He has set it forth in detail by clarifying it for Muḥammad and his community. And the ambiguous: it is that whose wordings resemble one another in their stories upon their repetition in the sūras; so there is a story with agreeing wordings but differing meanings, and a story with differing wordings but agreeing meanings. Mention of who said that:
5174 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, and he recited: Alif Lām Rāʾ. A Book whose verses have been made unambiguous and then set forth in detail, from a Wise One, a Well-Informed One (11:1). He said: and he mentioned the story of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in twenty-four of its verses, and the story of Nūḥ in twenty-four of its verses. Then He said: That belongs to the tidings of the unseen (11:49). Then He mentioned: And to ʿĀd, and he recited until he came to: and ask forgiveness of your Lord (11:90). Then he went on and mentioned Ṣāliḥ, Ibrāhīm, Lūṭ and Shuʿayb, and with that he completed it. And this is certainty; that is certainty: its verses are made unambiguous and then set forth in detail. He said: and the ambiguous: the mention of Mūsā in many places, and it is ambiguous, and it is all one meaning and resembling one another: Enter into it (23:27); Carry in it (11:40); Insert your hand (28:32); Insert your hand into it (27:12); a serpent crawling along (20:20); a clear serpent (7:107). He said: then he mentioned Hūd in ten of its verses, and Ṣāliḥ in eight of its verses, and Ibrāhīm in eight other verses, and Lūṭ in eight of its verses, and Shuʿayb in thirteen verses, and Mūsā in four verses; all this judges between the prophets and their peoples in this sūra. That continued up to a hundred verses of Sūrat Hūd, then He said: That belongs to the tidings of the towns, which We recount to you; some of them are still standing and others are mown down (11:100). And he said concerning the ambiguous of the Qurʾān: whoever Allah wishes thereby to afflict with trial and going astray says: how is it that this is not thus, and how is it that that is not so?
Others said: no, the unambiguous of the verses of the Qurʾān is that whose explanation the scholars know, and whose meaning and interpretation they have understood; and the ambiguous: that to which no one has any way of knowing it, of that of which Allah has reserved the knowledge for Himself, to the exclusion of His creation. That is, for example, the report about the time when ʿĪsā the son of Maryam will appear, and the time of the rising of the sun from its place of setting, and the coming of the Hour, and the perishing of the world, and what resembles that; for no one knows that. And they said: Allah called of the verses of the Book only the disjoined letters that stand at the beginning of some sūras of the Qurʾān "ambiguous," such as Alif Lām Mīm, and Alif Lām Mīm Ṣād, and Alif Lām Mīm Rāʾ, and Alif Lām Rāʾ, and what resembles that, because they resemble one another in the wordings and agree with the letters of the jummal reckoning (the numerical value of the letters). A group of the Jews in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ desired by means of them to ascertain the duration of Islam and its adherents, and to know the final limit of the rule of Muḥammad and his community. But Allah belied their fabrication concerning that, and informed them that what they desired to know by means of these ambiguous letters, they would not attain — neither by means of them, nor by means of anything else — and that no one knows that but Allah. This is a saying that is narrated on the authority of Jābir ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn Riʾāb, that this verse was sent down concerning him, and we have already mentioned the narration concerning that on his authority, and on the authority of others who said something similar to his saying in the explanation of it, in the explanation of His saying: Alif Lām Mīm. That is the Book, about which there is no doubt (2:1-2).
And this saying which we mentioned on the authority of Jābir ibn ʿAbdallāh most closely agrees with the explanation of the verse. That is because all that Allah, mighty and exalted, sent down of the verses of the Qurʾān to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, He sent down only as a clarification for him and for his community, and as guidance for the worlds. It is not permissible that there should be in it anything of which they have no need, nor that there should be in it anything of which they have need while they then have no way to know the explanation of it. If that is so, then all that is in it is something of which His creation has need, even though in a part of it there is that of which they may dispense with some meanings, even though need compels them to it in many meanings. That is like the saying of Allah, mighty and exalted: On the day that some signs of your Lord come, a soul's faith will not benefit it if it had not believed beforehand, or had acquired some good in its faith (6:158). The Prophet ﷺ informed his community that that sign, of which Allah, exalted be His praise, informed His servants that when it comes a soul's faith will not benefit it if it had not believed beforehand, is the rising of the sun from its place of setting. That which the servants had need to know is the knowing of the time at which repentance benefits, according to its characteristic, without further delimiting it by years, months and days; that Allah has clarified for them by the indication of the Book, and made clear to them through the tongue of His Messenger ﷺ, set forth. And that of which they have no need to know is the knowing of the extent of the span of time between the time of the sending down of this verse and the time of the occurrence of that sign; for that belongs to that of which they have no need to know, neither in religion nor in the worldly matter, and that is the knowledge which Allah, exalted be His praise, has reserved for Himself, to the exclusion of His creation, and has hidden it from them. That, and what resembles it, is the meaning that the Jews desired to know concerning the duration of Muḥammad ﷺ and his community, by means of His saying: Alif Lām Mīm, and Alif Lām Mīm Ṣād, and Alif Lām Rāʾ, and Alif Lām Mīm Rāʾ, and such disjoined, ambiguous letters, of which Allah, exalted be His praise, informed that they would not attain the explanation of them by means of them, and that no one knows the explanation of them but Allah. If the ambiguous is what we have described, then all the rest is unambiguous, because it cannot be otherwise than either unambiguous by having a single meaning, which admits of no interpretation other than a single interpretation, and upon hearing of which one already needs no further clarification that explains it; or unambiguous even though it has multiple modes, interpretations and ramifications in many meanings, where the indication to the intended meaning comes either from the clarification of Allah, exalted be His mention, of it, or from the clarification of His Messenger ﷺ for his community; and the knowledge of it will not escape the scholars of the community, for what we have set forth.
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: which are the mother of the Book
We have already set forth its explanation with the indication that testifies to the correctness of what we said about it, and we shall mention the disagreement of the exegetes about it. For they differed over the explanation of it. Some said: the meaning of His saying which are the mother of the Book is: they are those in which lie the obligations, the prescribed punishments (ḥudūd) and the rulings, in accordance with what we said about it. Mention of who said that:
5175 — ʿImrān ibn Mūsā al-Qazzāz related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wārith ibn Saʿīd related to us, saying: Isḥāq ibn Suwayd related to us, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Yaʿmar, that he said concerning this verse: unambiguous verses, which are the mother of the Book. Yaḥyā said: they are those in which lie the obligations, the prescribed punishments (ḥudūd) and the mainstay of the religion. And he gave a parable for it and said: the mother (umm) of the towns is Mecca, and the mother of Khurāsān is Marw, and the mother of the travelers is the one to whom they entrust their affair and on whom they rely during their journey; he said: that is their mother.
5176 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: which are the mother of the Book. He said: they are the binding element of the Book.
Others said: no, by it are meant the opening letters of the sūras, from which the Qurʾān is brought forth. Mention of who said that:
5177 — ʿImrān ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wārith ibn Saʿīd related to us, saying: Isḥāq ibn Suwayd related to us, on the authority of Abū Fākhita, that he said concerning this verse: among them are unambiguous verses, which are the mother of the Book. He said: the mother of the Book: the opening letters of the sūras, from them the Qurʾān is brought forth; Alif Lām Mīm. That is the Book (2:1-2), from it [Sūrat] al-Baqara was brought forth, and Alif Lām Mīm. Allah, there is no god but He, from it [Sūrat] Āl ʿImrān was brought forth.
As for those in whose hearts there is deviation
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: As for those in whose hearts there is deviation. By it He means, exalted be His praise: as for those in whose hearts there is an inclination away from the truth, and a straying from it. One says of that: zāgha fulān ʿan al-ḥaqq (so-and-so deviated from the truth), he deviates from it, zaygh, zaygharān, zuyūgha and zuyūgh; and azāghahu Allāh (Allah made him deviate), when He made him incline, He makes him deviate. To that belongs His saying, exalted be His praise: Our Lord, do not let our hearts deviate — do not let them incline away from the truth — after You have guided us (3:8). And in accordance with what we said about it, the exegetes have spoken. Mention of who said that:
5178 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq related to me, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr: As for those in whose hearts there is deviation: that is to say an inclination away from the guidance.
5179 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning the saying of Allah: in whose hearts there is deviation. He said: doubt.
* — al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
5180 — al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: As for those in whose hearts there is deviation. He said: of the people of doubt.
5181 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī in a narration which he mentioned on the authority of Abū Mālik, and on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, and on the authority of Murra al-Hamdānī, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, and on the authority of some people among the companions of the Prophet ﷺ: As for those in whose hearts there is deviation. As for the deviation: it is the doubt.
5182 — 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, he said: deviation: doubt. Ibn Jurayj said: those in whose hearts there is deviation: the hypocrites (munāfiqūn).
So they follow what is ambiguous of it
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: So they follow what is ambiguous of it. By His saying, exalted be His praise: So they follow what is ambiguous of it, He means: that whose wordings resemble one another and whose meanings branch into different modes of interpretation, so that by their claim upon the false interpretations therein they may realize that upon which they stand of error and deviation from the way of the truth, as a misleading by them thereby toward the one whose knowledge of the modes of interpretation of it and the ramifications of its meanings is weak. As [in the report]:
5183 — al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: So they follow what is ambiguous of it: they apply the unambiguous to the ambiguous, and the ambiguous to the unambiguous, and they stir up confusion; therefore Allah has brought them into confusion.
5184 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr: So they follow what is ambiguous of it: that is to say that which is distorted and twisted of it, so that they may thereby confirm what they have fabricated and introduced, so that they may have a proof and a pretext for what they said.
5185 — 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 concerning His saying: So they follow what is ambiguous of it. He said: the door through which they went astray and in which they perished, in their striving after the interpretation of it.
Others said about it that which [is in the report]:
5186 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī concerning His saying: So they follow what is ambiguous of it: they follow the abrogated and the abrogating, and they say: how is it that this verse was acted upon thus and so, [while] this verse is the import of it, and the first was left aside and this later one was acted upon? Why was this verse not acted upon before the first, which was abrogated, came? And how is it that He holds out the punishment for one who commits a deed for which the Fire is held out, while in another place of His word the Fire is not made obligatory for it?
The exegetes differed over who is meant by this verse. Some said: by it is meant the delegation of the Christians of Najrān, who came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and pressed him with that with which they pressed him, and disputed with him by saying: do you not claim that ʿĪsā is the spirit of Allah and His word? And they interpreted therein that which they say about it of disbelief (kufr). Mention of who said that:
5187 — al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, saying: they — that is to say the delegation that came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from the Christians of Najrān — proceeded and disputed with the Prophet ﷺ; they said: do you not claim that he is the word of Allah and a spirit from Him? He said: "Indeed." They said: that is enough for us! Then Allah, mighty and exalted, sent down: As for those in whose hearts there is deviation, so they follow what is ambiguous of it, in the striving after trial. Then Allah, exalted be His praise, sent down: Verily, the likeness of ʿĪsā with Allah is as the likeness of Ādam ... the verse (3:59).
Others said: no, this verse was sent down concerning Abū Yāsir ibn Akhṭab and his brother Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab, and the group of men who disputed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ over the extent of the duration of his rule and that of his community and who wanted to know that by means of His saying: Alif Lām Mīm, and Alif Lām Mīm Ṣād, and Alif Lām Mīm Rāʾ, and Alif Lām Rāʾ. Then Allah, exalted be His praise, said concerning them: As for those in whose hearts there is deviation — by it He means these Jews, whose hearts incline away from the guidance and the truth — so they follow what is ambiguous of it — by it He means the meanings of these disjoined letters, which admit of inflection in the different modes of interpretation — in the striving after trial. We have already previously mentioned the narration concerning that at the beginning of the sūra in which [Sūrat] al-Baqara is mentioned.
Others said: no, Allah, mighty and exalted, meant by it every innovator (mubtadiʿ) in his religion who introduces an innovation that contradicts that with which He sent His Messenger Muḥammad ﷺ, through an interpretation that he gives to some of the verses of the Qurʾān that admit of interpretations, even though Allah has made unambiguous the clarification of them, whether in His Book or through the tongue of His Messenger. Mention of who said that:
5188 — al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda concerning His saying: As for those in whose hearts there is deviation, so they follow what is ambiguous of it, in the striving after trial. Qatāda used to say, when he recited this verse: As for those in whose hearts there is deviation: if they are not the Ḥarūriyya and the Sabaʾiyya, then I do not know who they are. And by my life, there was truly in the people of Badr and al-Ḥudaybiya, who sealed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ the pledge of good pleasure (bayʿat al-riḍwān) among the Emigrants (muhājirūn) and the Helpers (anṣār), a tiding for whoever lets himself be told, and an instruction for whoever lets himself be taught, for whoever has understanding or insight. The Khawārij rose up while the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at that time were numerous in Medina, Syria and Iraq, and his wives at that time were still alive; and by Allah, there came forth among them no man nor woman as a Ḥarūrī, and they were not content with that upon which these stood, and they did not support them in it; rather, they used to relate the defect that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ reported about them [the Khawārij], and the description with which he described them, and they detested them with their hearts, and fought them with their tongues, and their hands were, by Allah, hard against them when they met them. And by my life, had the affair of the Khawārij been guidance, it would have united; but it was error, and therefore it became divided. So too is the affair: when something is from someone other than Allah, you find in it much discord. They have been striving after this affair for a long time — have they had in it even a single day of prosperity or success? O glory be to Allah, how is it that the later ones of these people take no instruction from the earlier ones of them? Had they been upon guidance, Allah would have made it appear, made it prevail and made it triumph; but they stood upon falsehood, which Allah belied and brought to naught. They are, as you see them: every time a generation of them comes forth, Allah refutes their proof, belies their fabrication and causes their blood to flow. And if they keep it hidden, it is a festering abscess in their hearts and a torment for them; and if they make it public, Allah causes their blood to flow. That, by Allah, is an evil religion; so shun it. And by Allah, Judaism is truly an innovation (bidʿa), and Christianity is truly an innovation, and the Ḥarūriyya is truly an innovation, and the Sabaʾiyya is truly an innovation; no Book has been sent down for it, and no prophet has instituted them.
* — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: As for those in whose hearts there is deviation, so they follow what is ambiguous of it, in the striving after trial and in the striving after the interpretation of it: the people sought the interpretation, and they missed the interpretation and met with the trial; they followed what is ambiguous of it and thereby perished. By my life, there was truly in the people of Badr and al-Ḥudaybiya, who sealed the pledge of good pleasure, [an instruction]. And he mentioned something similar to the narration of ʿAbd al-Razzāq, on the authority of Maʿmar, on his authority.
5189 — Muḥammad ibn Khālid ibn Khidāsh and Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, both of them saying: Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Ayyūb, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn Abī Mulayka, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, she said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited: It is He who has sent down the Book to you up to His saying: And none lets himself be admonished but those who have understanding, and he said: "When you see those who dispute about it, then they are the ones whom Allah has meant; so beware of them."
* — Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard Ayyūb, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn Abī Mulayka, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, that she said: the Prophet of Allah ﷺ recited this verse: It is He who has sent down the Book to you up to And none lets himself be admonished but those who have understanding. She said: then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "When you see those who dispute about it" — or he said: and dispute with one another about it — "then they are the ones whom Allah has meant; so beware of them." Maṭar said, on the authority of Ayyūb, that he said: "Then do not sit with them, for they are the ones whom Allah has meant; so beware of them."
* — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, saying: Ayyūb related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Mulayka, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, with a similar meaning.
* — al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Ayyūb, on the authority of Ibn Abī Mulayka, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, something similar.
5190 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: al-Ḥārith informed us, on the authority of Ayyūb, on the authority of Ibn Abī Mulayka, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ, she said: the Messenger of Allah recited this verse: It is He who has sent down the Book to you, among them are unambiguous verses, which are the mother of the Book, and others which are ambiguous ... the whole verse. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "When you see those who follow what is ambiguous of it, and those who dispute about it, then they are the ones whom Allah has meant; they are the ones about whom Allah said: then do not sit with them."
5191 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Ibrāhīm, on the authority of Ibn Abī Mulayka, he said: I heard al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad relate on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, she said: the Prophet ﷺ recited this verse: It is He who has sent down the Book to you, among them are unambiguous verses, which are the mother of the Book, then he recited to the end of the verses, and he said: "When you see those who follow what is ambiguous of it, then those are the ones whom Allah has named; so beware of them."
5192 — ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, on the authority of Ḥammād ibn Salama, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Qāsim, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, she said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited: they follow what is ambiguous of it, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Allah has already warned you; when you see them, recognize them."
5193 — ʿAlī related to us, saying: al-Walīd related to us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of ʿUmar, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, she said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "When you see them, beware of them!" Then he recited: As for those in whose hearts there is deviation, so they follow what is ambiguous of it, "and they do not know the unambiguous of it."
* — Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Wahb related to me, saying: my uncle informed us, saying: Shabīb ibn Saʿīd informed me, on the authority of Rawḥ ibn al-Qāsim, on the authority of Ibn Abī Mulayka, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was questioned about this verse: As for those in whose hearts there is deviation, so they follow what is ambiguous of it, in the striving after trial and in the striving after the interpretation of it, while none knows the interpretation of it but Allah, and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge. He said: "When you see those who dispute about it, then they are the ones whom Allah has meant; so beware of them."
* — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to me, saying: Khālid ibn Nizār related to us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Mulayka, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha concerning this verse: It is He who has sent down the Book to you ... the verse. He follows it up: he recites it, and then he says: "When you see those who dispute about it, then beware of them, for they are the ones whom Allah has meant."
* — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Hārūn related to us, on the authority of Ḥammād ibn Salama, on the authority of Ibn Abī Mulayka, on the authority of al-Qāsim, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ concerning this verse: It is He who has sent down the Book to you, among them are unambiguous verses, which are the mother of the Book to the end of the verse. He said: "They are the ones whom Allah has named; when you see them, then beware of them."
Abū Jaʿfar said: that which the outward import of this verse indicates is that it was sent down concerning those who disputed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ by means of the ambiguous of what was sent down to him of the Book of Allah, whether in the matter of ʿĪsā, or in the duration of his rule and that of his community. And that it is concerning those who disputed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ by means of the ambiguous of it about his duration and the duration of his community, is the most probable, because His saying while none knows the interpretation of it but Allah indicates that this is a report about the duration of which they wanted to acquire the knowledge by means of the ambiguous, which none knows but Allah. As for the matter of ʿĪsā and the circumstances of it: that Allah has already made known to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ and his community and clarified for them; so it is known that He meant nothing other than that which was hidden from the individuals.
In the striving after trial
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: in the striving after trial (fitna). The exegetes differed over the explanation of it. Some said: the meaning of it is: in the striving after the ascribing of associates to Allah (shirk). Mention of who said that:
5194 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: in the striving after trial. He said: the desire for shirk.
5195 — al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ concerning His saying: in the striving after trial: by it shirk is meant.
Others said: the meaning of it is: in the striving after ambiguities (shubuhāt). Mention of who said that:
5196 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: in the striving after trial. He said: the ambiguities through which they perished.
* — al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning His saying: in the striving after trial: the ambiguities, he said: they perished through them.
* — 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: in the striving after trial. He said: the ambiguities, he said: and the ambiguities are that through which they perished.
5197 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr: in the striving after trial: that is to say the misleading (labs).
And the most correct of the two sayings about it is the saying of the one who said: the meaning of it is: the desire for the ambiguities and the misleading. The meaning of the words is therefore: as for those in whose hearts there is an inclination away from the truth and a straying from it, so they follow of the verses of the Book that whose wordings resemble one another and whose inflection is possible in different modes of interpretation, by its admitting of different meanings, with the desire to mislead themselves and others, by invoking thereby their falsehood toward which their heart inclined, instead of the truth which Allah has clarified and made plain by means of the unambiguous verses of His Book. And this verse, even though it was sent down concerning those of whom we mentioned that it was sent down concerning them, of the people of shirk, it is nonetheless applicable to every innovator in the religion of Allah who introduces an innovation and whose heart inclined to it, through an interpretation that he gives to a part of the ambiguous of the verses of the Qurʾān, and who then disputed and quarreled with it against the people of the truth, and turned away from the clearness of the indications of its unambiguous verses, with the desire thereby to mislead the people of the truth among the believers, and in the striving after the knowledge of the interpretation of that which was ambiguous of it for him — whoever he may be, and of whatever kind of innovation he may be: whether of the Christians, or of the Jews, or of the Magians, or whether he is a Sabaʾī, a Ḥarūrī, a Qadarī or a Jahmī, as he ﷺ said: "When you see those who dispute about it, then they are the ones whom Allah has meant; so beware of them." And as [in the report]:
5198 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Sufyān informed us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Ibn Ṭāwūs, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — and the Khawārij were mentioned in his presence, and what befalls them at the flight — then he said: they believe in the unambiguous of it, and they perish at the ambiguous of it. And Ibn ʿAbbās recited: while none knows the interpretation of it but Allah ... the verse.
We have said only: the saying which we mentioned is the most correct of the two interpretations of His saying in the striving after trial, because those concerning whom this verse was sent down were people of shirk, and they, by the seeking after the interpretation of that whose interpretation they sought, intended only the misleading of the Muslims and the invoking of it against them, in order to turn them away from that upon which they stand of truth. So it makes no sense to say: they did that with the desire for shirk, while they were already polytheists (mushrikūn).
And in the striving after the interpretation of it
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: and in the striving after the interpretation of it. The exegetes differed over the meaning of the interpretation (taʾwīl) that Allah, exalted be His praise, meant by His saying: and in the striving after the interpretation of it. Some said: the meaning of it is: the term that the Jews wanted to know concerning the elapsing of the duration of the affair of Muḥammad ﷺ and the affair of his community, by means of the disjoined letters according to the jummal reckoning — "Alif Lām Mīm," and "Alif Lām Mīm Ṣād," and "Alif Lām Rāʾ," and "Alif Lām Mīm Rāʾ," and what resembles that of terms. Mention of who said that:
5199 — al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: as for His saying while none knows the interpretation of it but Allah: by it is meant the interpretation of it on the Day of Resurrection [none knows] but Allah.
Others said: no, the meaning of it is: the outcomes of the Qurʾān. And they said: they wanted only to know when the abrogating would come of the rulings that Allah, exalted be His praise, had prescribed for the people of Islam before it came, so that it abrogated what He had prescribed before it. Mention of who said that:
5200 — Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: and in the striving after the interpretation of it: they wanted to know the interpretation of the Qurʾān, and that is the outcomes of it. Allah said: while none knows the interpretation of it but Allah, and the interpretation of it is the outcomes of it: when the abrogating of it will come and abrogate the abrogated.
Others said: the meaning of it is: and in the striving after the interpretation of that which is ambiguous of the verses of the Qurʾān, which they interpret — since it has multiple modes and inflections in the interpretations — in accordance with what is in their hearts of deviation, and the error upon which they have stepped. Mention of who said that:
5201 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr: and in the striving after the interpretation of it: and that is in accordance with the error upon which they have stepped in their saying "we have created and we have decreed."
And the saying which Ibn ʿAbbās made, namely that the striving after the interpretation that the people sought from the ambiguous is the knowing of the elapsing of the term and the time of the coming of the Hour, and that which we mentioned on the authority of al-Suddī, namely that they sought and wanted to know a time that would come before its coming — that is the most correct, even though al-Suddī neglected the meaning of it from the standpoint that he restricted it to the interpretation that the meaning of it is: that the people sought the knowledge of the time of the coming of the abrogating for that which was already unambiguously established before it. We have said only: the striving of the people after the knowledge of the time that would come before its coming, the knowledge of which is hidden from them and from others by means of the ambiguous of the verses of the Qurʾān, is the most probable in the explanation of His saying and in the striving after the interpretation of it, for what we have already previously demonstrated from the report of Allah, exalted be His praise, that that interpretation none knows but Allah. And there is no doubt that the meaning of His saying "we have decreed" and "we have done" is already known, in its interpretation, to many of the ignorant among the people of shirk, let alone to the people of faith and to those who are firmly rooted in knowledge among them.
While none knows the interpretation of it but Allah
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: while none knows the interpretation of it but Allah. By it He means, exalted be His praise: and none knows the time of the coming of the Hour and the elapsing of the duration of the rule of Muḥammad and his community, and what will come to pass, but Allah, to the exclusion of all others among the people, who hoped to acquire the knowledge of it by means of reckoning, astrology and soothsaying. As for those who are firmly rooted in knowledge: they say: we believe in it, all is from our Lord. They do not know that, but the excellence of their knowledge therein above others is the knowing that it is Allah who knows that, to the exclusion of all others of His creation.
The exegetes differed over the explanation of it, and over the question of whether "those who are firmly rooted" is conjoined to the name of Allah, with the meaning that the knowledge of the interpretation of the ambiguous is granted to them, or whether they are a newly begun mention, with the meaning of the report about them that they say: we believe in the ambiguous, and we affirm that the knowledge of it none knows but Allah. Some said: the meaning of it is: and none knows the interpretation of it but Allah alone, singular in His knowledge of it. As for those who are firmly rooted in knowledge: with them the report is begun, that they say: we believe in the ambiguous and the unambiguous, and that all that is from Allah. Mention of who said that:
5202 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to me, saying: Khālid ibn Nizār related to us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Mulayka, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, [concerning] His saying: And those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say: we believe in it. She said: it belonged to their firm rooting in knowledge that they believed in the unambiguous of it and the ambiguous of it, while they did not know the interpretation of it.
5203 — al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Ibn Ṭāwūs, on the authority of his father, he said: Ibn ʿAbbās used to say: while none knows the interpretation of it but Allah, [and] those who are firmly rooted say: we believe in it.
5204 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Abī al-Zinād informed me, saying: Hishām ibn ʿUrwa said: my father used to say about this verse: while none knows the interpretation of it but Allah, and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge — that those who are firmly rooted in knowledge do not know the interpretation of it, but that they say: we believe in it, all is from our Lord.
5205 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: ʿUbaydallāh related to us, on the authority of Abū Nahīk al-Asadī, [concerning] his saying: while none knows the interpretation of it but Allah, and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge; and he says: verily, you connect this verse, but it is broken off: while none knows the interpretation of it but Allah, and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say: we believe in it, all is from our Lord, so that their knowledge ended at their saying which they made.
5206 — al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ibn Dukayn related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿUthmān ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn Mawhab related to us, saying: I heard ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz say: those who are firmly rooted in knowledge: the knowledge of those who are firmly rooted in knowledge concerning the interpretation of the Qurʾān ended at the point that they said: we believe in it, all is from our Lord.
5207 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ashhab informed us, on the authority of Mālik concerning His saying: while none knows the interpretation of it but Allah. He said: then He began anew and said: and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say: we believe in it, all is from our Lord, while they do not know the interpretation of it.
Others said: no, the meaning of it is: and none knows the interpretation of it but Allah and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge; and they, despite their knowledge of it and their firm rooting in knowledge, say: we believe in it, all is from our Lord. Mention of who said that:
5208 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he said: I am among those who know the interpretation of it.
5209 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge: they know the interpretation of it and say: we believe in it.
al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge: they know the interpretation of it and say: we believe in it.
5210 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge: they know the interpretation of it and say: we believe in it.
5211 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr: while none knows the interpretation of it — that which He meant by it — but Allah and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge; they say: we believe in it. (How would it diverge, while it is one saying from one Lord?) Then they brought back the interpretation of the ambiguous to what they knew of the interpretation of the unambiguous, which has for no one any interpretation other than a single one; thus by their saying the Book became coherent, and one part of it confirmed the other, and thereby the proof became effective, and the excuse was lifted, and thereby falsehood was driven off, and disbelief crushed.
Whoever made the first saying about it and said: those who are firmly rooted do not know the interpretation of it, but Allah reported about them concerning their faith and their affirmation that it is from Allah, places "those who are firmly rooted in knowledge" in the nominative as a subject (mubtadaʾ) according to the saying of the Basrites, and makes its predicate "they say: we believe in it." According to the saying of some of the Kufans, however, [the nominative is] through the referential pronoun that refers to them in "they say," and according to the saying of some of them through the entire clause of the report about them, namely "and they say." And whoever made the second saying, and claimed that those who are firmly rooted know the interpretation of it, conjoins "those who are firmly rooted" to the name of Allah, and therefore places them in the nominative by the conjoining to it.
The correct view about it according to us is that they stand in the nominative through the entire clause of their report that follows them, namely "they say," for what we have already previously set forth, namely that they do not know the interpretation of the ambiguous which Allah, mighty and exalted, mentioned in this verse. And that is, according to what has reached me, supported by that in the recitation of Ubayy it is: "and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say," as we mentioned on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās that he recited it thus; and in the recitation of ʿAbdallāh: "verily, the interpretation of it is only with Allah; and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say."
As for the meaning of taʾwīl in the language of the Arabs: it is the explanation (tafsīr), the return (marjiʿ) and the destination (maṣīr). Some narrators recited the verse of al-Aʿshā:
"Except that her love used to issue [into something great], the issuing of the spring camel-foal until it grew up." Its origin is from āla al-shayʾ ilā kadhā, when a thing returns to something and reverts thither; yaʾūl awlan; and awwaltuhu anā: I made it return thither. And it has been said: His saying and the best interpretation (taʾwīl) (4:59) means: the best recompense, because the recompense is that upon which the affair of the people issues and to which it returns. And by his saying "the issuing of her love" he means: the explanation of her love and the return of it; by it he means only that her love was small in his heart, and then issued from smallness to greatness, and did not cease to grow until it grew up, and grew old, like the small camel-foal that did not cease to grow up until it grew up and became great, like its mother. And one also recites this verse:
"Except that the consequences of her love used to follow on, the following on of the spring camel-foal until it grew up."
And those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say: we believe in it
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say: we believe in it. By "those who are firmly rooted in knowledge" are meant: the scholars who have thoroughly acquired their knowledge and have taken it in and preserved it, with such a preservation that into their knowledge and their understanding of that which they know there enters no doubt and no confusion. The origin of it is from the firm rooting (rusūkh) of the one in the other, which is the firmness and the penetration of it therein. One says of that: rasakha al-īmān (the faith took firm root) in the heart of so-and-so, it takes firm root, rusūkhan. And about their description there is a report narrated on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, namely what [is in the report]:
5212 — Mūsā ibn Sahl al-Ramlī related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdallāh related to us, saying: Fayyāḍ ibn Muḥammad al-Raqqī related to us, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Yazīd ibn Ādam related to us, on the authority of Abū al-Dardāʾ and Abū Umāma, both of them saying: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked who the one is who is firmly rooted in knowledge. He said: "He whose oath is truthful, whose tongue speaks the truth, whose heart stands upright for him, and whose belly is chaste — that is the one who is firmly rooted in knowledge."
5213 — al-Muthannā and Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Tirmidhī related to me, both of them saying: Nuʿaym ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Fayyāḍ al-Raqqī related to us, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Yazīd al-Awdī related to us — and he said: and he had reached the companions of the Messenger of Allah — he said: Anas ibn Mālik, Abū Umāma and Abū al-Dardāʾ related to us: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked about those who are firmly rooted in knowledge, and he said: "He whose oath is truthful, whose tongue speaks the truth, whose heart stands upright through him, and whose belly and private part are chaste — that is the one who is firmly rooted in knowledge."
A group of the exegetes have said: Allah, mighty and exalted, called these people "those who are firmly rooted in knowledge" only because of their saying: we believe in it, all is from our Lord. Mention of who said that:
5214 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say: we believe in it. He said: those who are firmly rooted are those who say: we believe in it, all is from our Lord.
5215 — Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge: they are the believers, for they say: we believe in it — in the abrogating of it and the abrogated of it — all is from our Lord.
5216 — al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: ʿAbdallāh ibn Salām said: those who are firmly rooted in knowledge: and their knowledge is their saying. Ibn Jurayj said: those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say: we believe in it: and they are those who say: Our Lord, do not let our hearts deviate, and who say: Our Lord, verily, You are the one who gathers the people on a day about which there is no doubt ... the verse.
As for the explanation of His saying they say: we believe in it: it means that those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say: we affirm that which is ambiguous of the verses of the Book, and that it is truth, even though we do not know the interpretation of it. And [in the report]:
5217 — Aḥmad ibn Ḥāzim related to me, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Salama ibn Nubayṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say: we believe in it. He said: in the unambiguous and the ambiguous.
All is from our Lord
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: all is from our Lord. By His saying, exalted be His praise: all is from our Lord, He means: all the unambiguous of the Book and the ambiguous of it is from our Lord, and it is His sending down and His revelation to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ. As [in the report]:
5218 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning His saying: all is from our Lord. He said: by it is meant what is abrogated of it, and what is not abrogated of it.
5219 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda [concerning] His saying: while none knows the interpretation of it but Allah, and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge: they said: all is from our Lord; they believed in the ambiguous of it, and acted according to the unambiguous of it.
5220 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ concerning His saying: all is from our Lord: they say: the unambiguous and the ambiguous are from our Lord.
5221 — 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: and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say: we believe in it, all is from our Lord: one believes in the unambiguous and turns to it in the religion, and one believes in the ambiguous but does not turn to it in the religion, while it is in its entirety from Allah.
5222 — Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk concerning His saying: and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge: they act according to it, they say: we act according to the unambiguous and believe in it, and we believe in the ambiguous but do not act according to it, and all is from our Lord.
The Arabists differed over the status of "kull" (all) when that which was annexed to it is omitted. Some Basran grammarians said: the omission of the intended [genitive] that was joined with it, to which "al-kull" here was annexed, is permissible because it is a noun, as He said: Verily, we are all in it (40:48), with the meaning: verily, we are all in it. He said: and "kull" cannot contain [something] within it [as an implicit pronoun] while it is an adjectival qualifier; one does not say: marartu bi-l-qawmi kull (I passed by the people, all). It contains an implicit [pronoun] only when you make it a noun; were it "innā kullan fīhā" as an adjectival qualifier, then it would not be permissible, because the implicit element therein is weak and does not hold in every position. Some Kufan grammarians, however, held that the implicit element therein, whether it is an adjectival qualifier or a noun, is the same, because according to him it is not permissible that that which comes after it should be omitted unless the [word] is by itself sufficient as a substitute for that to which it was annexed of the implicit element; and it is not permissible that it should be sufficient in one state and not in another. He said: the way of "al-kull" and "al-baʿḍ" in indicating that which comes after them, by themselves and their being sufficient as a substitute for it, is one and the same in every state, whether it is an adjectival qualifier or a noun. And this second saying is the most in accordance with analogy, for when it is by itself sufficient in one state as a substitute for that which has been omitted of it, because of its reference to it, then the rule for it is that every time it is found referring to that which comes after it, it is sufficient for it.
And none lets himself be admonished but those who have understanding
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: And none lets himself be admonished but those who have understanding. By it He means, exalted be His praise: and none lets himself be admonished, takes instruction and lets himself be restrained from saying, concerning the ambiguous of the verses of the Book of Allah, that of which he has no knowledge, but those who possess understanding and insight. And [in the report]:
5223 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr: And none lets himself be admonished but those who have understanding: He says: and none lets himself be admonished concerning anything of the like — that is to say concerning the bringing back of the interpretation of the ambiguous to what is already known of the interpretation of the unambiguous, until the two of them come together upon a single meaning — but those who have understanding.
