Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:129

"Our Lord, and raise up among them..." meaning: send forth among the Muslim nation. It is also said: among the progeny. However, referring the pronoun back to the people of Mecca is far-fetched. "...a messenger from among them" meaning: from themselves. He described him as such so that he would be more compassionate toward them, so that they would be rendered more honored and noble through him, and because such an origin is closer to acceptance, as they would be familiar with his upbringing, his truthfulness, and his trustworthiness. None was sent from the progeny of both of them (Abraham and Ishmael) except for Muhammad, may the blessings and peace of Allah the Exalted be upon him; all the prophets of the Children of Israel were from the progeny of Abraham, peace be upon him, not from the progeny of both of them. He is the one whose invocation answered their prayer, as Imam Ahmad and the commentator on the Sunnah narrated from Al-Irbad from the Messenger of Allah, may the blessings and peace of Allah the Exalted be upon him, that he said: "I will tell you of the beginning of my affair: I am the prayer of Abraham, the glad tidings of Jesus, and the dream of my mother which she saw when she delivered me." By this, he meant the effect of his prayer, or the object of his prayer, or the very essence of his prayer, by way of hyperbole. Since Ishmael, peace be upon him, was a partner in the supplication, the Messenger of Allah, may the blessings and peace of Allah the Exalted be upon him, was also the prayer of Ishmael, yet Abraham was singled out due to his eminence and his status as the root of the supplication. Those who claimed that limiting the mention in the Hadith to Abraham indicates that the one granted from the two prayers was only the prayer of Abraham, and not Ishmael—peace be upon them—are mistaken. Ubayy read: "...and raise up among them, in their latter end, a messenger," which supports that the intended one is our Prophet, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him. It is reported in the tradition that when Abraham prayed, it was said to him: "It has been answered for you, and he shall be in the end of time."

"...reciting to them Your verses," meaning: reading to them what You reveal to him of the signs indicating Oneness, prophethood, and others. It is also said: accounts of those who have passed and those who are to come until the Day of Resurrection. The sentence is an adjective describing "a messenger," though it is also said to be in the position of a state (hal) relating to him.

"...and teaching them the Book," by making them understand its wording, explaining to them the manner of its recitation, and making them aware of its truths and secrets. It is evident that their intent behind this supplication was that the messenger should be the possessor of a Book that brings them out from the darkness of ignorance into the light of knowledge. The Almighty has answered this prayer with the Quran, though the fact that he specifically was the object of this prayer is neither manifest nor explicitly stated.

"...and the Wisdom," meaning: placing things in their rightful places, or that which removes the heat of love for worldly life from the hearts, or jurisprudence in religion, or the Sunnah which clarifies the Book, or the Book itself, repeated for emphasis out of concern for its status. It is sometimes said: the intended meaning is the truths of the Book, its subtleties, and everything deposited within it; thus, teaching the "Book" refers to explaining its wording and the manner of its recitation, while teaching the "Wisdom" refers to the awareness of what is deposited therein. Others interpreted it as that which completes the souls through knowledge and ordinances, thus including both theoretical and practical wisdom. They said: there is a partial overlap between it and what is in the "Book," as the Quran contains stories and warnings, and because some matters that benefit the perfection of the soul in knowledge and action are not mentioned in the "Book." You know that such a statement, after hearing the saying of the Almighty, "We have neglected nothing in the Book," and the saying of the Almighty, "Glorified be He, and an exposition of all things," is something one should not dare to assert. Unless this relationship exists between what is in the "Book" (which is in the supplication, while disregarding what was answered with) and the "Wisdom"—so reflect upon this.

"...and purifying them," meaning: cleansing them from the impurities of polytheism, the filth of doubt, and the squalor of sins. This is an allusion to the removal of vices (takhliya), just as teaching is an allusion to the adornment of virtues (tahliya). Perhaps the former was mentioned before the latter due to its nobility. The claim that the intended meaning is that he takes from them the Zakat which is the cause of their purification, or that he testifies to their purity and uprightness, is far-fetched.

"Indeed, You are the Exalted in Might, the Wise." Meaning: the Victorious, the One who perfects what He wills. Thus, it is within Your power to single out one of them for the messengership that gathers these qualities, by Your will, without a specific cause. Carrying "The Exalted" here to mean "He who has no equal," as Ibn Abbas said, or "The Avenger," as Al-Kalbi said, and "The Wise" to mean "The All-Knowing," as has been said, is not without a degree of remoteness.