Surah Ta-Ha

It is also called "Surat al-Kalim," as mentioned by al-Sakhawi in Jamal al-Qurra'. As Ibn Marduyah narrated from Ibn Abbas and Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both), it is Meccan. Some have excepted from it the Almighty’s saying: "And bear with patience what they say" (20:130). Al-Jalal al-Suyuti said: Another verse should be excepted, for al-Bazzar and Abu Ya’la narrated from Abu Rafi’, who said: "The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) hosted a guest, so he sent me to a man among the Jews asking him to lend me flour until the crescent of Rajab. The man said, 'I will not, unless there is a pledge.' I came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and informed him, and he said, 'By Allah, I am trustworthy in heaven and trustworthy on earth.' I had not yet left his presence when this verse was revealed: 'And do not extend your eyes toward that by which We have given enjoyment to categories of them' (20:131)." This concludes his statement. Perhaps what was narrated from the two masters (Ibn Abbas and Ibn al-Zubayr) regarding the exception is based on the majority of the surah.

Its verses, as al-Dani said, are 140 according to the Syrian count, 135 according to the Kufan, 134 according to the Hijazi, and 132 according to the Basran.

The rationale for its arrangement, as mentioned by al-Jalal, is that since the Almighty mentioned in Surah Maryam the stories of several prophets (peace be upon them)—some elaborated, such as the stories of Zachariah, John, and Jesus (peace be upon them); some between elaboration and brevity, such as the story of Abraham (peace be upon him); and some brief and summarized, such as the story of Moses (peace be upon him) and a general reference to the rest of the prophets—He (Exalted and Majestic is He) mentioned in this surah the explanation of the story of Moses (peace be upon him) which He had summarized there. He covered it with the utmost comprehensiveness and elaborated upon it with the most eloquent detail. Then, He (Mighty is His Majesty) pointed to the detail of the story of Adam (peace be upon him), whose name had been merely mentioned in Maryam.

Following this, the Almighty brought forth in Surah al-Anbiya’ the rest of the stories of those whose stories were not mentioned in Maryam, such as Noah, Lot, David, Solomon, Job, Elisha, Dhu al-Kifl, and Dhu al-Nun (peace be upon them), while pointing briefly in it to the stories of those whose stories had been mentioned—such as Moses, Aaron, and Ishmael. It was mentioned after Maryam so that the two surahs might be like counterparts. The story of Abraham (peace be upon him) was elaborated upon in this surah with complete detail regarding his interaction with his people, while his situation with his father was only mentioned by way of allusion, just as in Surah Maryam, his situation with his people was mentioned by way of allusion, while his situation with his father was elaborated. Added to this is the fact that this surah and Surah Maryam share the opening with muqatta'at (disconnected letters).

It has been narrated from Ibn Abbas and Jabir ibn Zayd (may Allah be pleased with them) that Ta-Ha was revealed after Surah Maryam. The connection between the beginning of this and the end of that is that He (the Almighty) mentioned there the facilitation of the Quran in the tongue of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), providing the reason as giving glad tidings to the God-fearing and warning the obstinate, and He mentioned here that which acts as a confirmation of that.

There are traditions indicating its increased virtue. Al-Darimi, Ibn Khuzaymah in al-Tawhid, al-Tabarani in al-Awsat, al-Bayhaqi in al-Shu’ab, and others narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "Allah, Blessed and Exalted be He, recited Ta-Ha and Ya-Sin two thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth. When the angels heard the Quran, they said: 'Glad tidings to a nation upon whom this is sent down, glad tidings to bosoms that carry this, and glad tidings to tongues that speak this.'" Al-Daylami narrated something similar from Anas as a marfu’ report. Ibn Marduyah narrated from Abu Umamah from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: "Every Quran will be taken away from the people of Paradise, and they will not recite anything of it except Surah Ta-Ha and Ya-Sin, for they will recite them both in Paradise." And there are other traditions besides these.

Ṭā-Hā

Ibn Kathīr, Ibn ‘Āmir, Ḥafṣ, and Ya‘qūb read it with a heavy pronunciation (tafkhīm) of the ṭā according to the standard rule. This is one of the two narrations from Qālūn and Warsh. The other narration from these two is that they pronounce the ṭā heavily and articulate the hā with imālah (inclining the vowel sound toward ya), which is also the transmission from Abū ‘Amr. Ḥamzah, al-Kisā’ī, and Abū Bakr performed imālah on both letters.

The imālah of the ṭā—despite it being one of the letters of isti‘lā’ (elevation), which normally prevents imālah—is done to achieve homogeneity (assimilation of sounds), as it descends in this specific instance.

According to one of two narrations from Mujāhid, these are among the fawātiḥ (opening letters) with which the noble surahs begin. Indeed, it has been said that this is the view of the majority of expert scholars. Al-Suddī said: The meaning is "O so-and-so." According to a group of narrators from Ibn ‘Abbās, as well as al-Ḥasan, Ibn Jubayr, ‘Aṭā’, and ‘Ikrimah—and this is the other narration from Mujāhid—the meaning is "O man."

They differed regarding its origin: some said it is in Nabataean, others said Ethiopic, Hebrew, or Syriac. Some said it is in the dialect of the tribe of ‘Akl, while others said the dialect of ‘Akk. This was narrated from al-Kalbī, who said: "If you were to say to a member of the ‘Akk tribe, 'O man,' he would not answer until you said, 'Ṭā-hā.'" Al-Ṭabarī cited in this regard the verse of Mutammim ibn Nuwayrah: "I called out 'Ṭā-hā' in battle, but he did not answer; I feared he might be seeking refuge." And another said: "The foolishness is Ṭā-hā among your traits; may Allah not bless the accursed people."

Ibn al-Anbārī said: The dialect of Quraysh coincided with that language in this regard, for Allah Almighty did not address His Prophet (peace be upon him) in a tongue other than the tongue of Quraysh. It is not hidden that the issue of whether something exists in the Quran from the languages of the Arabs other than the language of Quraysh is a matter of disagreement. The topic has been elaborated upon in al-Itqān, and the truth is that such occurrences do take place.

Al-Zamakhsharī speculated regarding the ‘Akk tribe, saying: Perhaps the ‘Akk manipulated the expression "O this man" (yā hādhā), as if they were in the habit of swapping the yā’ for a ṭā’ in their dialect, saying yā ṭā, then shortened it and sufficed with hā. Abū Ḥayyān refuted this, stating that there is no precedent in the speech of the Arabs for swapping the yā’ of vocative address with a ṭā’, nor for deleting the demonstrative noun in a vocative phrase while retaining the tā’ of alerting (tanbīh); no grammarian has ever asserted this. He mentioned regarding the final verse cited above that if it is authentic, Ṭā-hā therein is either an oath by the disjointed letters or the name of the surah, assuming it is Islamic-era poetry, similar to the saying: "Ḥā-mīm, they shall not be helped." This was refuted as being a far-fetched possibility.

It is likewise with the example; al-Nasā’ī narrated it as a marfū‘ hadith with the wording: "If the enemy encounters you, let your watchword be: Ḥā-mīm, they shall not be helped." There is no evidence in the context to support that interpretation. It is possible that "they shall not be helped" is a separate sentence, and the watchword is merely the utterance of Ḥā-mīm. As if one asked, "What happens if that is our watchword?" and the reply was, "They shall not be helped."

Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Mardawayh narrated from Ibn ‘Abbās that it is an oath by which Allah Almighty swore, and it is one of His names. From Abū Ja‘far, it is said to be one of the names of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

A group, including Abū Ḥanīfah, al-Ḥasan, ‘Ikrimah, and Warsh, read Ṭā-Hā with a fatḥah on the ṭā’ and a sukūn on the hā’ (Ṭa-H), like ball. It has been said this also means "O man." It has also been said to be a command to the Prophet (peace be upon him) to touch (ṭa’a) the earth with his feet, for the Prophet (peace be upon him)—as narrated from al-Rabī‘ ibn Anas—used to stand on one leg when he prayed, so Allah revealed Ṭā-Hā. Ibn Mardawayh narrated from ‘Alī (may Allah ennoble his countenance) that when the verse "O you who are wrapped in clothing, arise [to pray] the night, except for a little" was revealed, the Prophet (peace be upon him) stood all night until his feet swelled, and he would raise one leg and put down the other. Then Gabriel (peace be upon him) descended and said: Ṭā-Hā.

The root is ṭa’a; the hamzah was changed to a hā’, just as they say iyyāka and araqta instead of hayyāka and haraqta, and la-hanka. Or, the hamzah in its past and present tense verb was swapped, as in the saying of al-Farazdaq: "The mules went off with Muslimah in the evening; so pasture, oh Fazarah, may the pasture not be pleasant for you." And just as they said sa’ala for sa’ala (to ask). In the imperative form, it was deleted because it is a weak-ending verb, and the hā’ of silence (hā’ al-sakt) was added to it—which is mandatory in such cases, whether in writing, pausing, or connecting (as the connection is treated as a pause). Thus, it is established in pronunciation.

Some permitted that the origin of Ṭā-Hā in the famous reading be Ṭā-hā, on the basis that Ṭā is a command to him (peace be upon him) to touch the earth with his feet, and hā is a feminine pronoun in the place of the direct object, referring to the earth, even though it was not previously mentioned. This was countered by the argument that if that were the case, the two alifs would not have been dropped. Although the script of the Muṣḥaf does not follow strict analogy, its foundation is in accordance with the analogy; therefore, one should not deviate from it without necessity. This alif is neither in a noun nor in the middle of a word (like al-ḥārith), so it should not be deleted, especially since its deletion creates confusion. Therefore, it is not permissible, as detailed in the chapter on orthography in al-Tashīl.

This was also used to object to the interpretation of "O man" and similar meanings, suggesting that such interpretations apply to the original form. From this, one can discern another justification for the reading of Abū Ḥanīfah and his followers: that one suffices from ṭa’a with a vowelled ṭā’ and from the pronoun hā with the hā’, then expresses them by their names. Thus, hā is not a pronoun, but rather like the letter qāf in the saying: "I said to her, 'Stop,' and she said, 'Qāf.'"

It was further objected that, based on this, the form of the named object should not be written, but rather the form of the name. The response was that writing names in the form of the named objects is a specific matter for the letters of the alphabet. This was countered by the claim that this does not resolve the issue, for if that were the case, the two letters would not be separated in writing by being written as Ṭā Hā. If it is said that the script of the Muṣḥaf is not analogous, then the previous response is reiterated. The truth is that the claim that the script of the Muṣḥaf is not analogous is quite strong, and the arguments against it are not to be relied upon. What is authentic from the predecessors is accepted, and its lack of conformity to analogy does not impugn it, even though conformity is the origin.

It has been narrated from ‘Alī (may Allah ennoble his countenance) and al-Rabī‘ ibn Anas that they interpreted Ṭā-Hā as "Touch the earth with your feet, O Muhammad." I have not come across any invalidation of this narration; and Allah the Almighty knows best.

There is disagreement regarding its parsing based on the disagreement regarding its intended meaning. According to the view of the majority—that it refers to a group of alphabet letters recited in a counting manner at the beginning of the surah—it has no place in parsing, and the same applies to what follows it from the words of the Almighty: [...]