Tafseer of The Star · An-Najm · 53:10
And he revealed to His Servant what he revealed.
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.
His statement: فَأَوْحَى إِلَى عَبْدِهِ مَا أَوْحَى "Then He revealed to His servant what He revealed." The exegetes differed regarding its interpretation. Some of them said: Its meaning is: Then Allah revealed to His servant Muḥammad His revelation. They understood His statement مَا أَوْحَى "what He revealed" in the sense of the verbal noun (maṣdar).
* The mention of who said that:
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʿādh ibn Hishām related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: فَأَوْحَى إِلَى عَبْدِهِ مَا أَوْحَى "Then He revealed to His servant what He revealed" — he said: His servant Muḥammad ﷺ — what his Lord revealed to him.
According to this interpretation, "mā" can go in two directions: one is that it has the meaning of "that which," so that the meaning of the words is: Then He revealed to His servant that which his Lord revealed to him. The other is that it has the meaning of the verbal noun.
* The mention of who said that:
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʿādh ibn Hishām related to us, saying: My father related to me, on the authority of Qatāda: فَأَوْحَى إِلَى عَبْدِهِ مَا أَوْحَى "Then He revealed to His servant what He revealed" — al-Ḥasan said: Jibrīl.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: فَأَوْحَى إِلَى عَبْدِهِ مَا أَوْحَى "Then He revealed to His servant what He revealed" — he said: by the tongue of Jibrīl.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, the like of it.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: فَأَوْحَى إِلَى عَبْدِهِ مَا أَوْحَى "Then He revealed to His servant what He revealed" — he said: Jibrīl revealed to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ what Allah revealed to him.
And the correct of the two statements concerning this, in our view, is the statement of the one who said: its meaning is: Then Jibrīl revealed to His servant Muḥammad ﷺ what his Lord revealed to him. For the opening of the words proceeded at the beginning of the sūra with the report about the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and about Jibrīl, peace be upon him; and His statement فَأَوْحَى إِلَى عَبْدِهِ مَا أَوْحَى "Then He revealed to His servant what He revealed" stands in that context, and nothing has come that indicates that the report about the two of them has been turned away, such that one would direct it toward that to which it would have been turned.
