Tafsir of Al-Hijr 15:9

Then, the Exalted refuted their denial of the revelation and their mockery of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), consoling him (upon him be peace and prayer) with His saying: "Indeed, it is We who have sent down the Reminder." That is, We, by the greatness of Our affair and the loftiness of Our status, have sent down the Reminder which they have denied, along with denying its descent upon you. They spoke regarding you, claiming what they claimed, and acted accordingly by framing the verb in the passive voice [as if to say: "It was sent down"]—an allusion to it being a matter without an origin, or an action without an agent.

"And indeed, We are its guardians."

That is, from any harm that would detract from it, such as distortion, addition, subtraction, or other things. To the extent that if even a venerable scholar were to change a single diacritical mark, the children would correct him, saying: "It is not so; the correct reading is such-and-such." Included in this—by primary implication—is the mockery of those mockers and their denial of it. The meaning of its preservation from such things is the lack of any effect [from those attempts] and the repulsion of them away from it. Al-Hasan said: "Its preservation is by keeping its Shari'ah until the Day of Resurrection." Many others have suggested that the intended meaning is its preservation through its inimitability at every time—as the nominal sentence structure indicates—from any addition, subtraction, distortion, or alteration. Allah, the Exalted, did not preserve any of the previous books in this manner; rather, He entrusted their preservation to the rabbis and the learned men, and consequently, what happened to them, happened. However, He took charge of the preservation of the Quran by His own Self, so it has remained preserved from beginning to end.

Al-Kashshaf pointed to this, then raised a point, the substance of which is: since the speech was directed at refuting them and the answer was completed by the first clause, what is the benefit of appending the second? This only holds if the speech was aimed at proving the preserved status of the Reminder from start to finish. He answered that it was brought for a valid purpose, in which the aforementioned meaning is integrated: namely, that it serves as evidence that it was sent down from Allah, the Exalted. The first clause, even if it was a refutation, was merely a claim; thus, it was said: "And were the Reminder not from Us, it would not have remained preserved from addition and subtraction as other speech has." This is because its structure, being miraculous, precludes any addition or subtraction, as that would invalidate its inimitability. This is how it is in al-Kashf, and it contains an indication of the nature of the conjunction, which is apparent.

You know that inimitability is not a cause for its preservation from the omission of some surahs, because that would not impair the inimitability, as is not hidden. Therefore, the preferred view is that the preservation and maintenance of the Quran—just as it was revealed until the command of Allah comes—is by inimitability and other means as Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, wills. Among this is the granting of success to the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) to compile it as you have learned at the beginning of the book.

The Judge used this verse as an argument against the corruption of the view held by some of the Imamiyyah—who are not to be heeded—that the Quran has been subjected to addition and subtraction. The Imam weakened this argument by saying it follows the path of proving a thing by itself, for those who hold such a view could say: "This verse is itself among the additions." The claim of inimitability for this portion [the verse itself] would require proof. Those who believe in the uncreated nature of spoken speech have used it as an argument, and it is apparent in that regard.

It is strange what he [the Imam] reported from his companions, where he said: "Our companions have said that this verse is proof that the Basmalah is a verse of every surah; for Allah, the Exalted, has promised to preserve the Quran, and preservation has no meaning other than it remaining guarded from addition and subtraction. If the Basmalah were not a verse of the Quran, it would not be guarded from alteration, nor would it be preserved from addition. If it were permissible to suspect the Companions of adding, it would be permissible to suspect them of subtracting, and that would necessitate the Quran ceasing to be a proof." By my life, calling such a thing "nonsense" is more appropriate than calling it "deduction."

It is not hidden what the construction of the two sentences contains regarding the indication of perfect pride and majesty, and the grandeur of the status of the revelation. They contain several aspects of emphasis. "And We" is not a separator because it did not occur between two nouns; rather, it is either an incipit (mubtada') or an emphasis for the noun of Inna.

It is known from what we have established that the pronoun in "for it" (lahu) refers to the Reminder—and to this went Mujahid, Qatadah, and the majority, and it is the apparent meaning. Al-Farra' suggested, and a minority followed him, that it refers to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace); meaning: "And as for the Prophet to whom the Reminder was sent down, We are guardians [of him] against the plotting of the mockers," like His saying: "And Allah will protect you from the people." The first view is the one relied upon. This answer was placed last—even though it refutes the beginning of their false speech—due to what we have indicated previously and because of its connection to what follows it of His saying: [The subsequent verses].