Surah an-Naml

It is also called, as mentioned in ad-Durr al-Manthur, Surah Sulayman. It is Meccan, as narrated from Ibn Abbas and Ibn al-Zubayr, may Allah be pleased with them. Some have held the view that some of its verses are Medinan, as will be discussed, Allah willing. The number of its verses is ninety-five according to the Hijazi count, ninety-four according to the Basran and Syrian counts, and ninety-three according to the Kufan count.

The aspect of its connection to the preceding surah is that it is like a continuation of it, as the Glorified One expanded therein upon the mention of Dawud and Sulayman and detailed the story of Lut, peace be upon him, more extensively than it was previously. Within it occurs: “When Musa said to his family, ‘Indeed, I have perceived a fire,’” and so forth, and this is like an elaboration of His statement, the Glorified, in the preceding surah: “So my Lord granted me judgment and made me among the messengers.” Both surahs contain a mention of the Quran and that it is from Allah the Exalted, as well as the comforting of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, among other things. It is narrated from Ibn Abbas and Jabir ibn Zayd that ash-Shu’ara was revealed, then Ta-Sin (an-Naml), then al-Qasas.

An-Naml: (1) Ta-Sin. These are verses...

(Ta-Sin): It has been read both with imalah (inclination of the vowel) and without it, and the discussion regarding it is like the discussion regarding its peers among the fawatiḥ (opening letters).

(These are): A demonstrative for the aforementioned Surah. The use of the instrument of distance is to indicate the remoteness of its rank in excellence and honor, or to the verses that are recited after—similar to the indication in His saying, the Almighty: "Alif-Lam-Mim. That is the Book"—or to the verses in an absolute sense. Its place is in the nominative case as an initial (mubtada'), and its predicate is His saying, the Almighty: (verses of the Quran). The sentence is either an incipience or a predicate for His saying, the Almighty: (Ta-Sin).

Attributing "verses" to "the Quran" is to exalt its status, for what is intended by it is the blessed revelation, the confirmer of what came before it, described with infinite perfections. It is applied to the entire revelation sent down to him—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—on account of its inimitability, and to a portion of it. It is permitted here to intend either of the two meanings; if the latter is intended, then by "a portion" is meant the entirety of what was revealed at the time of the Surah's revelation.

His saying, the Almighty: (and a manifest Book) is conjoined to "the Quran." The intended meaning is the Quran, and joining it to the latter—despite their equality in truth—is like joining one attribute to another, as in their saying: "This is the act of the generous, the noble, the open-handed." Its indefinite form (tanwin) is for magnification.

As for (manifest), it is either from the transitive abana, meaning: that which clarifies what is folded within it—of wisdom, rulings, the conditions of the first generations, and the conditions of the Hereafter, among which are reward and punishment—or the path of guidance and error, and the like. It is well-known in such omissions that they imply generality. Or, it is from the intransitive abana, meaning: bana (it has become distinct/clear), i.e., manifest in its inimitability, or manifest in its authenticity due to its inimitability. Based on both possibilities, it is a laudatory adjective for the Book, confirming the greatness signified by the tanwin.

Since there is a type of greatness in the indefinite form and another type in the definite form, and the purpose was to combine them for complete comprehension, "the Quran" was made definite and "the Book" was made indefinite; the reverse was done in Surah Al-Hijr. The definite was placed first in both instances for greater highlighting. Because He, the Exalted, followed it here with discourse regarding specificity, He placed "being a Quran" first, as it is more indicative of the specificity of what was revealed to Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—for its inimitability; this is as stated in al-Kashf.

Some eminent scholars said: The first attribute was placed first here in view of the state of "Quran-ness" preceding the state of "Book-ness." The reverse was done there because the intention was to magnify it in terms of its inclusion of the perfection of the genus of divine books, as if it were all of them, and in terms of it being distinct from others—a unique fabric, original in its class. Indicating its distinction from other books after alerting one to its inclusion of the perfections of other books is more effective in praise, so that it is not imagined at first that its distinction from others is due to its independence with specific attributes of its own, without including the virtues of perfection of other noble books. In this, al (the definite article) is taken as the genus in "the Book," and it is apparent that in "the Quran" it is for ‘ahd (reference to a specific known entity). Thus, its meaning differs in the two instances. The outward speech of al-Kashshaf points to this, as has been said, and it is excused by the fact that if both meanings revert to magnification, there is no harm in such a difference. It is permitted that in both instances it is for ‘ahd, or that in both it is for the genus—so reflect. It is said: The specification of each of the two instances with what it was specified with is a matter of determining the path.

It is permitted that the "Book" refers to the Preserved Tablet (al-Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẓ), and its manifestation is that what will be until the Day of Resurrection is inscribed in it; thus, it manifests it to those who look upon it. Its postponement here after "the Quran" is with regard to our knowledge of it, and its precedence in Al-Hijr is with regard to external existence, for the Quran—in the sense of what is "recited" to us—is subsequent to the Preserved Tablet. It is not hidden that intending the Tablet here necessitates adding the "verses" to it, for there is no ‘ahd regarding its inclusion of the verses, nor is it described as guidance and glad tidings, since those are with regard to its manifestation. Therefore, one must take them into account in relation to the people, among whom are the believers, not merely those who look upon it.

Ibn Abi ‘Ablah read (and a manifest Book) in the nominative case for both, and it is interpreted as the omission of a possessor (muḍāf) and the substitution of the possessed (muḍāf ilayh), meaning: "and verses of a Book." It is said: It is permissible not to consider the omission, and for the Book—since it is a verbal noun in origin—to be permitted as a predicate for the feminine. It is also said: Something may be permissible dependently while not being permissible independently; do you not see that they forbade "Zayd came to me (feminine verb)" but permitted "Hind and Zayd came to me"?