Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:151

(As We have sent among you a Messenger from among yourselves): This is connected to what precedes it. The Kaf (in Kama) is for comparison (tashbih), and it is in the position of an accusative because it acts as an adjective (na‘t) for a deleted source (masdar). The estimated meaning is: "In order that I may perfect My favor upon you regarding the command of the Qibla, or in the Hereafter, with a perfection like the sending of the Messenger." Mentioning the "sending" and intending the "perfection" is an instance of placing the cause in the position of the effect.

(Among you) is connected to "We have sent," and it is placed before the direct object to hasten the bringing of joy and because of the nobility inherent in his attributes. It is also said that it is connected to what follows it—meaning: "Remember Me with a remembrance similar to My remembrance of you through this sending," or "Remember Me in exchange for My sending among you a Messenger." Thus, the Kaf is for reciprocity (muqabala) and is connected to "Remember Me," and from this, comparison is derived, as reciprocal things are similar and interchangeable. Selecting the first-person plural pronoun after the singular (I to We) is a form of rhetorical variation (iftinan), following the customary style of majesty, and an indication of the greatness of the blessing of this sending and this Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

(Reciting to you Our signs): This is an adjective (sifah) for "a Messenger." In it is an indication of the path to confirming his prophethood, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, because the recitation of an illiterate man of signs that transcend human capacity—given their eloquence and their inclusion of reports of the unseen and interests by which the affairs of the afterlife and worldly life are organized—is the strongest proof of his prophethood.

(And purifying you): Meaning, cleansing you from polytheism. This is another adjective for the Messenger. It is brought after the recitation because purification from that [polytheism] is a result of manifesting the miracle to whomever Allah, the Exalted, wishes to grant success.

(And teaching you the Book and Wisdom): This is an adjective following an adjective. It is delayed because the teaching of the "Book" and the understanding of what it contains of divine wisdom and lordly secrets only occurs after emptying the self of the filth of polytheism and the defilement of doubt through following [the Messenger]. As for before that, disbelief is a veil.

Purification is placed before teaching in this verse, while it is placed after it in the supplication of Ibrahim, due to the difference in what is intended by it in the two places; for every situation, there is a corresponding statement. It is said that purification refers to perfecting the soul according to practical faculty, and its refinement is contingent upon perfecting it according to the theoretical faculty—which is achieved through the teaching that follows the recitation. However, it was placed between the recitation and the teaching—which is contingent upon it—to indicate that each of the sequential matters is a grand blessing in its own right, necessitating gratitude. Had the existential order been observed, as in the supplication of Ibrahim, peace be upon him, it would have quickly occurred to the understanding that the whole is a single blessing.

It is also said that purification was advanced at times and delayed at others because it is the final cause (‘illah gha’iyyah) for teaching the "Book" and Wisdom; it is primary in intention and conception, but secondary in existence and action. Thus, it was advanced and delayed in consideration of both aspects. An objection is raised that the goal of teaching is that they become purified from ignorance, not the Messenger's purification of them, which is interpreted as leading them to that which makes them purified. For this is either by his teaching them or by his commanding them to act upon it; thus, it is either the teaching itself or a matter that has no connection to it. The utmost that can be said is: teaching, in the sense that the removal of doubt and other vices results from it, is his purification of them. It is so in terms of being an end and in terms of being a goal, like "throwing" and "killing" in the expression "he threw at him and killed him."

(And teaching you that which you did not know): [This refers to] that for which there is no path to knowledge except through revelation. Though the apparent structure was "and [teaching you] what you did not know" so that it would be a conjunction of a noun/phrase with another, Allah repeated the verb to indicate that it is a different species, having no participation whatsoever with what preceded it. It is a specification after a generalization, clarifying that his sending, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is a great blessing, for without him, the creation would have been bewildered in the matter of their religion, not knowing what to do.