Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:52
And We had certainly brought them a Book which We detailed by knowledge - as guidance and mercy to a people who believe.
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: وَلَقَدْ جِئْنَاهُم بِكِتَابٍ فَصَّلْنَاهُ عَلَىٰ عِلْمٍ هُدًى وَرَحْمَةً لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ (7:52).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: I swear, O Muḥammad, that We have come to these unbelievers with a Book — that is, the Qurʾān which He sent down to him. He says: We have sent down to them this Qurʾān, set forth in detail and made clear, in which the true is distinguished from the false — "with knowledge", that is: with knowledge from Our side concerning the true of what is set forth therein, as opposed to the false from which He has distinguished it between the one and the other, the true and the false — "as guidance and mercy", that is: We have made it clear so that thereby may be guided and shown mercy a people who believe in it, and who believe in what it contains of Allah's command and prohibition, His reports, His promise and His threat, so that He may thereby save them from error unto guidance.
This verse refers back to His word: كِتَابٌ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ فَلَا يَكُن فِي صَدْرِكَ حَرَجٌ مِّنْهُ لِتُنذِرَ بِهِ وَذِكْرَىٰ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ [Sūrat al-Aʿrāf 7:2] — "and indeed, We have come to them with a Book that We have set forth in detail with knowledge".
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And "al-hudā" (the guidance) is in the accusative as a ḥāl (circumstantial qualifier), detached from the "hā" in His word "faṣṣalnāhu" (which We have set forth in detail). And if it were in the accusative on the basis of the verb "faṣṣalnāhu" — so that the meaning is: We have set forth the Book in this manner — that would be correct.
And if one were to read: "hudan wa-raḥmatin" (in the genitive), that would be eloquent in the inflection, that genitive resting upon its attachment to "the Book".
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Footnotes:
(1) See the explanation of "al-tafṣīl" earlier, p. 402, note 1, and the references mentioned there.
(2) "al-qaṭʿ" is the ḥāl (circumstantial qualifier); see the indices of terms.
(3) The placing in the accusative on the basis of "the verb", that is: it is an absolute object (mafʿūl muṭlaq), without its own verb, as though he said: faṣṣalnāhu tafṣīlan (We have set it forth in thorough detail).
(4) See Maʿānī al-Qurʾān of al-Farrāʾ 1:380.
