Tafseer of The Cattle · Al-An'aam · 6:92
And this is a Book which We have sent down, blessed and confirming what was before it, that you may warn the Mother of Cities and those around it. Those who believe in the Hereafter believe in it, and they are maintaining their prayers.
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 His word: وَهَذَا كِتَابٌ أَنْزَلْنَاهُ مُبَارَكٌ مُصَدِّقُ الَّذِي بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَلِتُنْذِرَ أُمَّ الْقُرَى وَمَنْ حَوْلَهَا (And this is a Book which We have sent down, blessed, confirming what preceded it, that you may warn the Mother of Cities [Mecca] and those who dwell around it.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: And this Qurʾān, O Muḥammad, is a "Book" (kitāb).
This is one of the appellations of the Qurʾān. I have already clarified it and expounded its meaning earlier, in a manner that makes it unnecessary to repeat it. Its meaning is "that which is written" (maktūb); here "the Book" (al-kitāb) has been put in place of "that which is written" (al-maktūb).
"We have sent it down" (anzalnāhu), that is to say: We have revealed it to you. "Blessed" (mubārak), this is a word of the form "mufāʿal," derived from "the blessing" (al-baraka). "Confirming what preceded it" (muṣaddiq alladhī bayna yadayhi), that is to say: this Book confirms what preceded it of the Books of Allah, which He sent down before you upon His prophets; it does not contradict them [in indication and meaning]. نُورًا وَهُدًى لِلنَّاسِ (a light and a guidance for mankind), that is to say: He it is who has sent down this Book to you, O Muḥammad, blessed, as a confirmation of the Book of Mūsā and ʿĪsā and the rest of the Books of Allah. But He, exalted is His praise, recommenced the report concerning it, because a report had already preceded which demonstrates that it [the Book] is connected with that [which preceded]. Thus He said: "And this is a Book which We have sent down to you, blessed," and its meaning is: And thus have I sent down to you this My Book, blessed, just as I sent down the Tawrāh to Mūsā as a guidance and a light.
As for His word: "that you may warn the Mother of Cities and those who dwell around it" (wa-li-tundhira umma al-qurā wa-man ḥawlahā), He says: We have sent down to you, O Muḥammad, this Book as a confirmation of the Books that preceded it, and that you may thereby warn of the punishment of Allah and His violence: those who are in the Mother of Cities — and that is Mecca — "and those who dwell around it" (wa-man ḥawlahā), in the east and the west, of those who set up alongside their Lord other gods and equals, and of those who deny His messengers, and the rest among the various kinds of unbelievers.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have also spoken.
Mention of who said that:
13550 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū 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, concerning His word: "that you may warn the Mother of Cities and those who dwell around it" — by "the Mother of Cities" (umm al-qurā) He means Mecca, "and those who dwell around it," of the cities in the east and the west.
13551 — 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: "that you may warn the Mother of Cities and those who dwell around it" — and "the Mother of Cities" is Mecca, "and those who dwell around it," is the entire earth.
13552 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, saying: Maʿmar related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "that you may warn the Mother of Cities," he said: that is Mecca. And through the same chain, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: it has reached me that the earth was spread out from Mecca.
13553 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "that you may warn the Mother of Cities and those who dwell around it" — we were taught that the Mother of Cities is Mecca, and we were taught that from it the earth was spread out.
13554 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "that you may warn the Mother of Cities and those who dwell around it" — as for "the Mother of Cities," that is Mecca. It was called only "the Mother of Cities" because it is the first house that was erected there.
And we have already expounded earlier the reason why Mecca was called "the Mother of Cities," in a manner that makes it unnecessary to repeat it in this place.
The explanation of His word: وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالآخِرَةِ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِ وَهُمْ عَلَى صَلاتِهِمْ يُحَافِظُونَ (92) (And those who believe in the Hereafter believe in it, and they guard their prayer.) (92)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: And whoever believes in the coming of the Hour and the return in the Hereafter to Allah, and whoever holds the reward and the punishment to be true, that one believes in this Book which We have sent down to you, O Muḥammad, and holds it to be true, and acknowledges that Allah sent it down, and guards the prescribed prayers (ṣalāh) which Allah has commanded him to perform — for it is a warning to whoever the threat of Allah has reached, directed against unbelief in it and against acts of disobedience to it. And only those deny it and what it contains and hold it to be a lie who deny the return to Allah and reject the coming of the Hour, because they expect no reward from Allah if they act according to what it contains, and because they fear no punishment if they do not avoid what it commands them to avoid.
