Tafsir of Al-Isra 17:105

A return to explaining the state of the Noble Quran; it is linked to His saying (Most High): "If mankind and the jinn gathered together..." (v. 88). This is the method of the Arabs in their speech: they take up a subject, digress from it to another, then to another, and yet another, then return to what they mentioned first; for discourse has many branches.

The pronoun in the third person refers to the Quran. It is far-fetched for one to suggest it refers to Moses (peace be upon him), as the verse is linked to what is alongside it. The "sending down" (inzal) here is like His saying (Most High): "And We sent down iron," and some have applied it to this meaning previously, or to the nine signs, or to the promise mentioned just before.

It is apparent that the ba (particle) in both instances signifies accompaniment (mulabasa), and the prepositional phrase is in the position of a state (hal) pertaining to the pronoun of the Quran. The possibility that the first ba indicates a state pertaining to the pronoun of the Creator (Most High) is contrary to what is apparent. The meaning of the first "Truth" (al-haqq), according to what has been said, is the divine wisdom necessitating its revelation; and the second is what it contains of creeds, rulings, and the like. That is: We did not send it down except accompanied by the Truth that necessitated its revelation, and it did not descend except accompanied by the Truth which it contains.

It is also said that the first ba is for causality, linked to the verb that follows, and the second is for accompaniment. Others say both are for causality, linked to the verb. Abu Sulayman al-Dimashqi said: The first "Truth" is Monotheism (Tawhid), and the second is the promise and the threat, the command and the prohibition. It is also said that "Truth" in both places means the preserved, established matter; the meaning being: We did not send it down from the heaven except guarded by the observation of angels, and it did not descend upon the Messenger except guarded by them from the mixing in of devils. The conclusion is that it is guarded during the act of sending down, during the descent, and thereafter, so that falsehood cannot come to it from before it or from behind it.

It is far-fetched for one to permit the meaning of the second "Truth" to be the Prophet (peace be upon him), with the meaning of its descent "with him" being its descent "upon him"—i.e., its settling with him, derived from the saying "a guest descended (nazala) with such-and-such a person." According to all other interpretations, the benefit of mentioning the second clause after the first is not hidden, and any illusion of redundancy is repelled.

Al-Tabari leaned toward the view that the second clause is an emphasis of the first in terms of meaning, because it is said: "I sent it down, so it descended," and "I sent it down, but it did not descend" if an obstacle to its descent arose; thus, the second clause removes this possibility. Some avoided the term "emphasis" due to the distinction between "sending down" (inzal) and "descending" (nuzul), claiming that if the second were merely an emphasis of the first, the conjunction would not be permissible due to the perfect connection.

"...except as a bearer of glad tidings" to the obedient regarding the reward, "and a warner" to the disobedient regarding the punishment. Therefore, you are only responsible for bringing glad tidings and warning, not for guiding the stubborn disbelievers or compelling them into the religion. Perhaps this clause serves to verify the righteousness of his mission (peace be upon him) following the verification of the righteousness of the Quran. That which follows illa (except) is in the accusative case as a state (hal).