Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:2

This is a renewed sentence and a commencement of speech, or it is related to what preceded it, concerning which there are various possibilities in which they have elaborated at length. The Book of Allah, the Exalted, is to be interpreted in the best of ways, the most remote from affectation, and the most permissible in the tongue of the Arabs.

"That" is a reference to the Book promised to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in His saying: (Indeed, We shall cast upon you a heavy word), as Al-Wahidi said, or it refers to the tongue of Moses and Jesus, peace be upon them, due to His saying: (And they used to, before, ask for victory over those who disbelieved)—the verse. This is supported by what is narrated from Ka’b: "Adhere to the Quran, for it is the understanding of the intellect, the light of wisdom, the wellsprings of knowledge, and the most recent of the books in covenant with Allah." He also said regarding the Torah: "O Muhammad, I am sending down to you a new Torah, by which you will open blind eyes, deaf ears, and sealed hearts," as was said by more than one. Or it refers to what is between our hands.

The reference with "that" is for glorification and placing the distance of rank in the position of actual distance, as in His saying: (So that is the one about whom you blamed me), as was chosen in al-Miftah. Or it is because when it descended from the Presence of Lordship and reached our presence—and one who gives something to another, or brings it to him, or notes its arrival, expresses it with "that" because its separation from him makes it distant, or in the ruling of such—and it has been said: "Everything that is not in your hands is distant."

Since this meaning did not apply to His saying: (This is a Book We have sent down), because it is a reference to what is with Him, the Glorified, He did not use "that" there despite the distance of rank. And this mention—the letters of the alphabet at the beginning—are letters by which the alphabet is segmented, and that only occurs in our case. Its lack of mention in the second [verse] is why the two positions differed and the two references diverged, as Al-Suhayli said.

Some have distanced themselves by explaining the distance as: the Quran is an utterance, and it is of the category of flowing, non-stationary accidents. Every part of it that is found vanishes, passes away, and becomes absent from the senses; and what is such is in the ruling of the distant. It is also said: the forms of the distant and the near may alternate, as in the story of Jesus, peace be upon him: (That we recite to you), then He said: (Indeed, this is the true narration).

The saying of Imam al-Razi that "that" is for the distant by custom, not by imposition, and therefore his interpretation here based on the requirement of linguistic imposition rather than custom, contradicts what we understand from the books of the masters of Arabic. "Above every possessor of knowledge is a knower." As for the claim that the reference is to the Torah and the Gospel, as transmitted from ‘Ikrimah, if a sound Hadith has been narrated regarding it, we accept it and strive to interpret it; otherwise, we cast it against the wall, for not every possibility is appropriate.

The most strange thing we have seen in directing the reference is that it is to the "Straight Path" in the Fatiha, as if when they asked for guidance to it, they were told: "That path which you asked for guidance to is the Book." If you accept this, the aspect of the connection between the Sura of Al-Baqarah and the Sura of Al-Hamd becomes clear in the most perfect way, and the reference is to what was previously mentioned.

What the ears open to is that it is a reference to the Quran, and the aspect of distance is what was mentioned by the author of al-Miftah, and the light of nearness shines upon it. The consideration in demonstrative pronouns is the sensory reference, which cannot be imagined to relate to anything except a witnessed, sensible object. If it is used to refer to what is impossible to sense, such as (That is Allah, your Lord), or to a sensible object that is not witnessed, such as (That is the Garden), it is for the sake of making it as though it were witnessed, placing the intellectual reference in the position of the sensory one, as in Al-Rida. Thus, the reference here is not devoid of subtlety.

"The Book" (al-Kitab), like "books" (al-kutub), is a verbal noun from kataba (to write), and is used for what is written, like "clothing" (al-libas) in the sense of what is worn. Writing (al-kitab), as Al-Raghib said, is joining skin to skin with stitching, and in convention, it is joining letters one to another. The basis of writing is order in script. It may also be said for what is joined together in utterance, and thus each is borrowed for the other. This is why it is called the Book of Allah, even if it were not a "book" [in the physical sense]. "The Book" here is either remaining on the status of a verbal noun and the passive object is named by it for hyperbole, or it is in the meaning of the passive object, applied to the ordered speech before its letters are arranged in script, naming it by what it leads to, with the appropriateness.

"The Book" here is the complete Book, worthy of being exclusively assigned the name "Book" due to its utmost superiority over the rest of the individuals in possessing the perfections of the genus, as if all other heavenly books are excluded from it in relation to it.

"Doubt" (al-rayb) is suspicion, and its origin is a verbal noun from "a thing made me suspect" (rabani al-shay') if suspicion occurs in you, which is the agitation of the soul.

"Guidance for the God-fearing" (Hudan lil-muttaqin): "Guidance" (al-huda) here, according to one of the known ways in its likes, is in the meaning of the active participle. "The God-fearing" (al-muttaqin) is the plural of muttaqin, the active participle of waqa (to protect), then ittaqi (to fear/be pious). Protection linguistically is preservation absolutely, and in the Sharia, it is the preservation of one’s self from what harms in the Hereafter. The ranks are numerous due to the number of ranks of harm. The first of them is protection from polytheism; the second from the major sins; and the third is what is pointed to by what Al-Tirmidhi narrated from him, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: "The servant will not reach the rank of the God-fearing until he leaves what has no harm in it, out of caution against what has harm in it."

The guidance of the Clear Book includes the possessors of all these ranks. If it is meant by it being a "guidance for the God-fearing" that it guides them to achieving the first rank, then it refers to those who are on the verge of it metaphorically, due to the impossibility of achieving what is already achieved. The guidance is a reality in all cases. It is the one worthy of being challenged by, for the perfection of its arrangement in the field of rhetoric, and its perfection in itself and in what is intended by it.