Tafseer of The Forgiver · Ghafir · 40:15
[He is] the Exalted above [all] degrees, Owner of the Throne; He places the inspiration of His command upon whom He wills of His servants to warn of the Day of Meeting.
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: رَفِيعُ الدَّرَجَاتِ ذُو الْعَرْشِ يُلْقِي الرُّوحَ مِنْ أَمْرِهِ عَلَى مَنْ يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ لِيُنْذِرَ يَوْمَ التَّلاقِ (Exalter of ranks, Lord of the Throne; He sends down the Spirit by His command upon whom He wills of His servants, that he may warn of the Day of Meeting) (40:15).
The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: He is the one who exalts the ranks. The nominative case in His word رَفِيعُ الدَّرَجَاتِ (Exalter of ranks) stands because it is intended as an independent subject (ibtidāʾ); and had it come in the accusative, in agreement with His word "So call upon Allah," that too would have been correct. ذُو الْعَرْشِ (Lord of the Throne) means: the Possessor of the Throne, which encompasses everything beneath it.
And His word: يُلْقِي الرُّوحَ مِنْ أَمْرِهِ عَلَى مَنْ يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ (He sends down the Spirit by His command upon whom He wills of His servants) means: He causes the revelation (waḥy) to descend by His command upon whom He wills of His servants.
The scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the meaning of "the Spirit" (al-rūḥ) in this place. Some of them said: by it the revelation is intended.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to me, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word يُلْقِي الرُّوحَ مِنْ أَمْرِهِ (He sends down the Spirit by His command), he said: the revelation by His command.
Others said: by it the Qurʾān and the Book are intended.
* Mention of who said that:
Hārūn ibn Idrīs al-Aṣamm related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His word يُلْقِي الرُّوحَ مِنْ أَمْرِهِ عَلَى مَنْ يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ (He sends down the Spirit by His command upon whom He wills of His servants), he said: by "the Spirit" is intended: the Book, which He sends down upon whom He wills.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word يُلْقِي الرُّوحَ مِنْ أَمْرِهِ عَلَى مَنْ يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ (He sends down the Spirit by His command upon whom He wills of His servants), and he recited: وَكَذَلِكَ أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ رُوحًا مِنْ أَمْرِنَا (And thus We have revealed to you a Spirit by Our command), he said: this Qurʾān is the Spirit; Allah revealed it to Jibrīl, and Jibrīl is a spirit who descended with it upon the Prophet ﷺ. And he recited: نَزَلَ بِهِ الرُّوحُ الأَمِينُ (The trustworthy Spirit has descended with it), he said: the Books which Allah sent down to His prophets are the Spirit, that he may warn by it; that is what Allah said "the Day of Meeting," يَوْمَ يَقُومُ الرُّوحُ وَالْمَلائِكَةُ صَفًّا (the Day when the Spirit and the angels stand in rows), he said: the Spirit is the Qurʾān — my father used to say it. Ibn Zayd said: they stand before it in a row between the heaven and the earth when He, mighty is His majesty, descends.
Others said: by it prophethood (al-nubuwwa) is intended.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning the word of Allah يُلْقِي الرُّوحَ مِنْ أَمْرِهِ عَلَى مَنْ يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ (He sends down the Spirit by His command upon whom He wills of His servants), he said: prophethood, upon whom He wills.
These statements are close to one another in meaning, even if the wordings of their proponents differ.
And His word: لِيُنْذِرَ يَوْمَ التَّلاقِ (that he may warn of the Day of Meeting) means: that the one upon whom He sends down the Spirit, of His servants, whom Allah has commanded to warn His creatures, may warn them of the punishment of the Day on which the inhabitants of the heaven and the inhabitants of the earth meet one another; and that is the Day of Meeting, and that is the Day of Resurrection.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the scholars of interpretation spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word يَوْمَ التَّلاقِ (the Day of Meeting): it is one of the names of the Day of Resurrection; Allah made it tremendous and warned His servants of it.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word يَوْمَ التَّلاقِ (the Day of Meeting): the Day on which the inhabitants of the heaven and the inhabitants of the earth meet one another, and the Creator and the creation.
Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, يَوْمَ التَّلاقِ (the Day of Meeting): the meeting of the inhabitants of the heaven and the inhabitants of the earth.
Yūnus related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning يَوْمَ التَّلاقِ (the Day of Meeting): he said: the Day of Resurrection. He said: the Day on which the servants meet one another.
