Tafseer of Consultation · Ash-Shura · 42:52
And thus We have revealed to you an inspiration of Our command. You did not know what is the Book or [what is] faith, but We have made it a light by which We guide whom We will of Our servants. And indeed, [O Muhammad], you guide to a straight path -
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 word of the Exalted: وَكَذَلِكَ أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ رُوحًا مِنْ أَمْرِنَا مَا كُنْتَ تَدْرِي مَا الْكِتَابُ وَلا الإِيمَانُ وَلَكِنْ جَعَلْنَاهُ نُورًا نَهْدِي بِهِ مَنْ نَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا وَإِنَّكَ لَتَهْدِي إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ (52) ("And thus We have revealed to you a spirit of Our command. You did not know what the Book was, nor the faith, but We have made it a light by which We guide whom We will of Our servants. And indeed, you surely guide to a straight path" (52)).
The Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, means by His word وَكَذَلِكَ أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ رُوحًا مِنْ أَمْرِنَا ("And thus We have revealed to you a spirit of Our command"): and just as We revealed to the rest of Our messengers, so have We revealed to you, O Muḥammad, this Qurʾān, a spirit of Our command. He says: a revelation and a mercy of Our command.
The people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the meaning of "the spirit" (al-rūḥ) in this place. Some of them said: by it the mercy is meant.
Mention of who said that:
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His word: رُوحًا مِنْ أَمْرِنَا ("a spirit of Our command"). He said: a mercy of Our command.
And others said: its meaning is: a revelation of Our command.
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 His word: وَكَذَلِكَ أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ رُوحًا مِنْ أَمْرِنَا ("And thus We have revealed to you a spirit of Our command"). He said: a revelation of Our command.
And we have already set forth the meaning of "the spirit" earlier, with mention of the disagreement of the people of interpretation about it, in a manner that makes it unnecessary for us to repeat it in this place.
And His word: مَا كُنْتَ تَدْرِي مَا الْكِتَابُ وَلا الإِيمَانُ ("You did not know what the Book was, nor the faith"). He, whose praise is exalted, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: you did not know, O Muḥammad, what the Book and the faith (īmān) are, both of which We have given you.
وَلَكِنْ جَعَلْنَاهُ نُورًا ("but We have made it a light"). He says: but We have made this Qurʾān, and that is the Book, a light, that is to say an illumination for the people, by which they illuminate themselves with the light of it that Allah has set forth therein — and that is His exposition which He has set forth therein — of that wherein, when acting upon it, lies right guidance for them, and deliverance from the Fire. نَهْدِي بِهِ مَنْ نَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا ("by which We guide whom We will of Our servants"). He says: We guide by this Qurʾān. The pronoun (the hāʾ) in His word "bihi" ("by it") refers to the Book.
And He means by His word: نَهْدِي بِهِ مَنْ نَشَاءُ ("by which We guide whom We will"): We direct toward the way of what is right, and that is faith in Allah. مَنْ نَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا ("whom We will of Our servants"). He says: We guide by it whom We will to guide to the straight path, of Our servants.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation have spoken.
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: مَا كُنْتَ تَدْرِي مَا الْكِتَابُ وَلا الإِيمَانُ ("You did not know what the Book was, nor the faith") — by it Muḥammad ﷺ is meant — وَلَكِنْ جَعَلْنَاهُ نُورًا نَهْدِي بِهِ مَنْ نَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا ("but We have made it a light by which We guide whom We will of Our servants") — by it the Qurʾān is meant.
And He, whose praise is exalted, said وَلَكِنْ جَعَلْنَاهُ ("but We have made it") and used the singular pronoun (the hāʾ), even though He had mentioned before it the Book and the faith, because by it He intended the report about the Book. And some of them said: by it the faith and the Book were meant, but He used the singular pronoun, because the verbal nouns are all comprehended by the verb, as one says: "your coming and your going please me" (iqbāluka wa-idbāruka yuʿjibunī), where he puts them in the singular even though they are two.
And His word: وَإِنَّكَ لَتَهْدِي إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ ("And indeed, you surely guide to a straight path"). The Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: and indeed you, O Muḥammad, surely guide to a straight path Our servants, through the call to Allah and the exposition to them.
As Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: وَإِنَّكَ لَتَهْدِي إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ ("And indeed, you surely guide to a straight path"). He — blessed and exalted is He — said: وَلِكُلِّ قَوْمٍ هَادٍ ("And for every people there is a guide"), a caller who calls them to Allah, mighty and exalted is He.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: وَإِنَّكَ لَتَهْدِي إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ ("And indeed, you surely guide to a straight path"). He said: for every people there is a guide.
Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: وَإِنَّكَ لَتَهْدِي إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ ("And indeed, you surely guide to a straight path"). He says: you call to an upright religion.
He, whose praise is proclaimed, says: and indeed you surely guide to a straight path, and that is Islam, the way of Allah to which He has called His servants.
