Tafsir of Ta-Ha 20:4

His saying, Exalted is He, "A revelation [Tanzilan] from Him who created the earth and the high heavens" — Tanzilan is likewise, meaning: He sent down a revelation. The sentence is an initiation (musta’nafah) confirming what preceded it. It is said: it is because the initiatory sentence implies the question: "Why did You send it down?" for it contains the meaning that "We sent it down as a reminder." The first is more suitable for what follows of the transition (iltifat).

It is said: It is in the accusative case (mansub) based on praise and specification (ikhtisas). It is also said: It is attached to "He who fears" (yakhsha) as the object (maf’uliyyah). Abu Hayyan considered both of these far-fetched, and he counted the second as extremely far-fetched, because "he who fears" is the end of a verse, so it is not fitting for "a revelation" to be its object. It was further objected that attaching fear, dread, and their likes to absolute revelation is not customary. Indeed, such matters are attached to some of its parts that contain threats and the like, as in His saying: "The hypocrites are afraid lest a surah should be sent down against them, informing them of what is in their hearts." You know that the meaning, according to this view, is "a reminder for whoever fears the One who sent it down, being the Powerful and Overpowering," and there is no flaw in that; the matter of "custom" is easy.

It is said: It is a substitute (badal) for "a reminder," based on the view that "a reminder" is a circumstantial state (hal) of the [suffixed] 'kaf' or the Qur’an, as previously mentioned. It is a substitution of inclusion (badal al-ijtimal). Abu Hayyan objected to this by saying that making the verbal noun a circumstantial state is not analogical (la yanqas), and besides, there is an underlying nuance in it that is not hidden. Substitution from it was not permitted on the assumption that it [the reminder] is an object for the sake of which (maf’ul lahu) we sent it down, either in word or meaning, because the substitute is the intended meaning; thus, the meaning would become "We sent it down for the sake of revelation." That would be the explanation of a thing by itself if "sending down" (inzal) and "revelation" (tanzil) are identical in meaning according to their linguistic formation, or by its type if the "sending down" is general and the "revelation" is specific to the gradual [process], and neither is permissible.

Ibn ‘Ablah recited Tanzil in the nominative case (marfu’) as a predicate for an elided subject, meaning: "It is a revelation from Him who created the earth and the high heavens."

"[From] Him who created" is connected to Tanzil. It is also possible that it is connected to an elided term, functioning as an adjective for it, confirming the intrinsic majesty already inherent in its indefiniteness with the majesty of attribution. The attribution of the revelation to the Relative Pronoun [i.e., 'Him who...'] occurs by way of a transition (iltifat) to the third person, after the attribution of the "sending down" to the [pro-noun of] Greatness (the 'We' of Majesty), to demonstrate His greatness—Exalted is His status—according to [His] acts and attributes, following the declaration of it according to the Essence by way of ambiguity, then clarification, for the sake of increased verification and confirmation. The possibility that "We sent it down..." is a narration of the speech of Gabriel and the angels who descended with him is extremely far-fetched.

The specification of the creation of the earth and the heavens by mention—even though what is intended is the creation of them with all that is related to them, as signaled by His saying: "To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth"—is due to their fundamental importance and the fact that all others follow them. It is said: What is intended by them is that which is in the direction of the bottom and that which is in the direction of the top.

Regarding the precedence of the creation of the earth, it is said: Because it is prior in existence to the creation of the seven heavens, as is the manifest meaning of the verse in Ha-Mim al-Sajdah: "Do you indeed disbelieve in Him who created the earth in two days..." and so is the apparent meaning of the verse in al-Baqarah: "It is He who created for you all that is on earth, then turned to the heaven and fashioned them." Al-Wahidi narrated from Muqatil that the creation of the heavens is prior, and many investigators preferred this due to the precedence of the heavens over the earth in most of the verses where both are mentioned, and because wisdom requires the creation of the noble things first, and the heaven is nobler than the earth in essence and attribute, along with the manifest meaning of the verse in al-Nazi'at: "Are you a more difficult creation or the heaven? He built it."

Some investigators opted for the view that the creation of the heavens means bringing them into existence with their substance before the creation of the earth, and their [secondary] creation means bringing them forth with their effects after the creation of the earth. By this, the verses that are imagined to be contradictory are reconciled, and the precedence of the heavens over the earth in mention at one time, and the reverse at another, is according to what the context requires. This is closer to verification. Based on this, and on what preceded it, the precedence of the creation of the earth here is said to be more in accord with the revelation (tanzil), which is among the rulings of His mercy—Exalted be He—as signaled by what comes after, and His saying: "The Most Merciful, [He] taught the Qur’an," and what comes before points to it. For the blessing upon people by the creation of the earth is more manifest, more complete, and closer to the senses.

It is also said: Because it is more in accord with the opening of the surah, based on making it a verbal sentence, meaning: "Tread the earth with your feet," or for His saying: "We have not sent down the Qur’an upon you to distress you," based on it being an initiatory sentence to ease his state—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—as he was doing regarding the lifting of one of his legs from the earth in prayer, as came in the cause of revelation. The description of the heavens as "the high [al-‘ula]"—which is the plural of al-‘ulya, like al-kubra, the feminine of al-a‘la—is to emphasize majesty, along with the regard for the end-rhymes (fawasil). All of this, up to His saying: "To Him belong the most beautiful names," is driven toward magnifying the status of the One who sent it down—Mighty and Majestic is He—which necessitates the magnification of the one to whom it was sent, inviting those who rebel against the rank of height and tyranny to turn back toward reminder and belief.