Tafsir of Al-Anbiya' 21:48

This is a type of elaboration on what was summarized in His saying—the Exalted—"And We did not send before you except men to whom We revealed," up to His saying—Glorified be He—"And We destroyed the transgressors," and it is an indication of the manner of their salvation and the destruction of their enemies. It is introduced with emphatic swearing to demonstrate complete concern for its content.

The intended meaning of "the Criterion" (al-furqan) is the Torah, and likewise for "radiance" (diya') and "reminder" (dhikr). The conjunction here is like in the saying: "To the king, the noble, the son of the brave, and the lion of the battalion in the throng." Al-Tibi reported that the waw (and) was introduced to "radiance" (diya')—even though it is a descriptor in meaning rather than in wording—just as it is introduced to an adjective that is a descriptor in wording, such as His saying—the Exalted—"When the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is disease say..."

Sibawayh said: If you say, "I passed by Zayd and your companion," it is permissible; but if you say, "I passed by Zayd then your companion" with the fa (then/consequently), it is not permissible with the waw (and), because the fa requires sequence and the postponement of the noun from that which is conjoined to it, unlike the waw. As for the saying of the poet: "Oh, the grief of Ziyad for the morning-raider, then the victor, then the returner," it was mentioned with the fa and was permissible because it is not an adjective to that extent, for the al (definite article) is in the sense of al-ladhi (the one who), i.e., "then the one who raided, then the one who conquered, then the one who returned." Abu al-Hasan permits the issue with the fa just as he permits it with the waw. End quote.

The meaning—and with Allah is the success—is: We gave them a book that combines being a separator between truth and falsehood, a radiance by which to be illuminated in the darkness of ignorance and deviation, and a reminder by which people are admonished and remember. Specifying the God-fearing with the mention is because they are the ones who benefit from it, or because it is the mention of what they need of laws and rulings, or it is an honor for them.

It has been said: The Criterion is victory, as in His saying—the Exalted—"the day of the Criterion" (Al-Anfal: 41), and it was applied to it because it separates between the ally and the enemy. This came in a narration from Ibn Abbas. In this case, the "radiance" is either the Torah, or the Law, or the White Hand, and the "reminder" is one of the aforementioned meanings.

From al-Dahhak, it is narrated that the Criterion is the splitting of the sea; "the separation" (al-farq) and "the splitting" (al-falq) are synonymous. Mujahid and Qatadah inclined toward the first interpretation, and it is the most appropriate for the course of the noble arrangement; for it is to verify the matter of the Quran, which shares with all divine books—especially the Torah—in the aforementioned qualities, and because the splitting of the sea is what the disbelievers proposed as a similar act by their saying: "Let him bring us a sign, just as the former ones were sent."

Ibn Abbas, Ikrimah, and al-Dahhak recited "radiance" without the waw, as a state (hal) of "the Criterion." This recitation also supports the first interpretation.