Tafsir of Al-Isra 17:55

(And of their apparent and hidden conditions, so He chooses from among them for His prophethood and guardianship whom He wills, from among those whom His wisdom deems worthy of it.) This is a rebuttal to them, for they said: "It is far-fetched that the orphan, the son of Abu Talib, would be a prophet, or that the naked and hungry—like Suhayb, Bilal, Khabbab, and others—would be his companions, rather than the elites and the chieftains."

Mentioning those in the heavens is to refute their saying: "Why were the angels not sent down to us?" And mentioning those in the earth is to refute their saying: "Why was this Quran not revealed to a great man from the two cities?" Therefore, the specific mention of these two and their connection to "most knowing" does not imply that His divine knowledge is restricted to what was mentioned. The statement of Abu Ali—that the prepositional phrase is connected to a suppressed object of knowledge and that it is not permissible to connect it to "most knowing" because it implies that He, glory be to Him, is not most knowing of other things—arises from a lack of knowledge regarding what we have mentioned. Furthermore, Abu Hayyan denied that the verb "to know" (‘alima) could take the preposition "bi" (with/of) directly, arguing that in such a position, it only takes a single object directly.

"And We have favored some of the prophets over others" through spiritual virtues and sanctified merits, and the revealing of heavenly books, not through the abundance of wealth and followers.

"And We gave David a scripture (Zabur)." This clarifies the aspect of his excellence—peace be upon him—that it was by being given the Zabur, not by being given kingship and sovereignty. Therein lies an indication of the excellence of our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace; for the fact that he is the Seal of the Prophets and his nation is the best of nations is something included in the Zabur. Allah, glory be to Him, informed us of that by saying: "And We have written in the Zabur after the Reminder that the earth shall be inherited by My righteous servants," meaning Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his nation.

Some asserted that this is a form of talmih (allusion), similar to the story of Al-Mansur. He had promised Al-Hudhali a promise but forgot it. When they performed Hajj and arrived in Medina, he said to him one day while walking alongside him: "O Commander of the Faithful, this is the house of Atikah, about which Al-Ahwas says: 'O house of Atikah, which I court...'" He understood his intent, as he said that without being asked, and knew he was signaling his words in this poem: "And I see you doing what you say." Some people are glib of tongue, saying what they do not do. Thus, he fulfilled his promise.

Al-Zabur is originally a passive participle like al-halub (the milked) or an infinitive like al-qabul (acceptance). Indeed, this pattern is rare in infinitives; the more frequent form is with a damma on the first letter (al-zubur), and Hamzah recited it as such. Some considered this recitation to be the plural of zabr (with a kasra on the zay), meaning "inscribed," which then became a proper name for the specific book. It contains no legal rulings. Ibn Abi Hatim recorded from Al-Rabi’ ibn Anas that he said: "The Zabur is praise for Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and invocation and glorification. It contains no lawful, no unlawful, no obligatory duties, and no limits."

The evidences indicated by some narrations suggest it contains some prohibitions and commands. Ibn Abi Shaybah narrated that it is written in it: "I am Allah; there is no deity but Me. I am the King of kings; the hearts of kings are in My hand. Whichever people are in obedience, I make the kings a mercy upon them, and whichever people are in disobedience, I make the kings a vengeance upon them. Do not occupy yourselves with the kings, and do not repent unto them; repent unto Me, and I will incline their hearts toward you." The Psalms, from which commands and prohibitions are understood, are numerous within it, as is not hidden to one who has seen it. Despite this, the distinction between it and the Torah is evident. The addition of the definite article al- to it in some verses is to preserve the root meaning, and that does not contradict it being a proper name, as in al-‘Abbas and al-Fadl. It is also permissible for it to be an indefinite noun, not a proper one, intended to indicate that it is some of the divine books, or from the general category of books. There is also no difficulty in it taking the definite article; i.e., "We gave him a zabur (a scripture) from the zubur (scriptures)." It is also permissible that it is specific to the book of David—peace be upon him—and is not a proper name but rather a generic noun that has become dominant, like al-Qur'an, which is applied to the whole and to parts. The benefit of the indefiniteness indicating partiality has already preceded in His saying, "by night." Thus, it is possible that the intent here is "We gave him a portion of the Zabur, in which there is a mention of him, may Allah bless him and grant him peace."