Tafsir of An-Naml 27:9

This is connected in meaning to what preceded it. The pronoun is sha'n (a pronoun indicating the context or situation). His saying, Exalted is He, "I am Allah" consists of a subject and a predicate, and "the Exalted in Might, the Wise" are two descriptors for the Glorious Name, preparing the way for the miracle intended to be manifested at his hands. That is: I am Allah, the Powerful, capable of matters so great that imaginations cannot attain them, among which is the matter of the staff and the hand. I am the Doer of all that I do with consummate wisdom and firm administration. The sentence contains two predicates explaining the sha'n pronoun.

It is also permitted that the pronoun refers to that which the speech points toward, which is the Speaker, the Caller; and "I" is the predicate—meaning, the one speaking to you and calling you is I. The Glorious Name is an explanatory apposition ('atf bayan) for "I," and it is permitted to be a substitute (badal) according to those who permit substituting a noun for a pronoun of the first person when it is a total substitution. It is also permitted that "I" is an emphasis (tawkid) for the pronoun, and "Allah" is the predicate.

Abu Hayyan criticized the attribution of the pronoun to the Speaker/Caller, stating that when the agent is omitted and the verb is put in the passive voice, it is not permissible for a pronoun to return to that omitted agent, because that is a negation of the purpose of omitting it and an intention that he not be the one spoken about. However, the response to this is that no one claimed it returns to the omitted agent, but rather to that which the speech indicates. Even if it were granted, there is no prohibition in this if it is in another sentence. Furthermore, his saying "that he not be the one spoken about" is incorrect, because he may be the one spoken about, yet omitted because he is known and there is no need to mention him.

Then, the reception [of the call] is beneficial even without sight, for He, Exalted is He, taught him (Moses), peace be upon him, with the knowledge of certainty ('ilm al-yaqin) by what He established in his heart, such that it was as if he saw Him, the Mighty and Majestic.

Regarding His saying, Exalted be He: "That blessed is whoever is in the fire," there are other opinions. The first: That the meaning of "whoever is in the fire" is the Light of Allah, Exalted be He, and "whoever is around it" are the angels, peace be upon them. This is narrated from Qatadah and al-Zajjaj. The second: That the meaning of "whoever is in the fire" is the tree which Allah made a place for speech, and "whoever is around it" are also the angels, peace be upon them. This is reported from al-Juba'i. In what is mentioned, there is the usage of "whoever" (man) for a non-conscious entity. The third: What was brought out by Ibn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim, and Ibn Marduyah from Ibn Abbas, who said regarding His saying, Exalted be He: "That blessed is whoever is in the fire," meaning He blessed Himself; the Light of the Lord of the Worlds was in the tree, and those around it were the angels, peace be upon them. It became famous from him that the meaning of "whoever is in the fire" is He, Himself, Exalted be He, and this is also narrated from al-Hasan, Ibn Jubayr, and others in al-Bahr. The Imam (al-Razi) criticized this, stating that we are certain that this narration from Ibn Abbas is fabricated and forged.

Abu Hayyan said: If this is proven from Ibn Abbas and the others mentioned, then it is interpreted by way of omission—that is: "Blessed is the one whose power and authority is in the fire."

Sheikh Ibrahim al-Kurani went, in his treatise Tanbih al-'Uqul 'ala Tanzih al-Sufiyyah 'an I'tiqad al-Tajsim wal-'Ayniyyah wal-Ittihad wal-Hulul (Alerting Intellects to the Exoneration of the Sufis from the Belief in Anthropomorphism, Identity, Union, and Indwelling), to the validity of the report from the scholar (Ibn Abbas), may Allah, Exalted be He, be pleased with him, and that it does not require the aforementioned interpretation. For what drove the interpretors or those who judged it to be a fabrication to reach that conclusion was the thought that it indicates hulul (indwelling), which is impossible for Him, Exalted be He. But it is not so; rather, what it indicates is His, Exalted be He, manifestation (zuhur) in the fire and His self-disclosure (tajalli) therein, and that is not, in any way, hulul. For a thing being a mirror/locus of manifestation for something else is not the same as it being a receptacle for it. The one appearing in a mirror, for example, is definitively outside the mirror in his essence, unlike the one who indwells in a locus, for he is contained within it.

Furthermore, His tajalli and appearance in manifestations is consistent with tanzih (transcendence). The meaning of the verse, according to him, is: "When he came to it, he was called: That blessed"—meaning sanctified or something similar—"is the One who manifested and appeared in the form of the fire" due to what wisdom necessitated, as it was what was sought by Moses, peace be upon him, "and those around it" from the angels, or from them and Moses, peace be upon him. His saying, Exalted be He, "And glory be to Allah," is a refutation of the anthropomorphism that the tajalli in the manifestation of fire might suggest. That is: Glory be to Allah for being above restriction to form, place, or direction, even if He appeared therein according to the requirement of wisdom, for He is described with the attributes of the Lord of the Worlds, the Vast, the Holy, the Independent of the worlds. Whoever is thus is not restricted by any of the attributes of created things; rather, He, Glorified and Exalted is He, remains upon His absoluteness, even from the restriction of absoluteness, in the state of His tajalli and appearance in whatever manifestations He wills.

This is why it came in the authentic Hadith: "You are glorified wherever You are," so He affirmed for Him, Exalted be He, the tajalli in "the where," and declared Him transcendent from being restricted by that. "O Moses, it is I," meaning the Caller who is manifesting in the fire, "I am Allah, the Exalted in Might," so I am not restricted to a manifestation due to Essential Might, "but I am the Wise," and the requirement of wisdom is the appearance in the form of what you seek.

Mentioning that the estimation of a hidden noun—as some exegetes did—is a turning away from the literal meaning due to the fear of a corrupt meaning is unnecessary, for it has become clear that there is no corruption, so there is no need to turn away from the literal. And it is as if I hear you saying: "This is a stage beyond the stage of intellects."

Furthermore, there is no obstacle according to the principles of the Sufis that they might also intend by "those around it" Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, for there is, in their view, no one in the "house" (existence) except Him, Exalted be He. And there is no absurdity in the verse being—according to Ibn Abbas, if it is correctly attributed to him—among the ambiguous (mutashabih) verses; and the schools regarding [such matters] are known to you. What is most appropriate for the common people is the interpretation by saying: The meaning is, "Blessed is the One whose light appeared in the fire."

Perhaps the aforementioned report of the scholar (Ibn Abbas) contains an indication of that, and the attribution of the light to Him, Exalted be He, is for the honor of the thing attributed. It was a specific light that was a manifestation of the greatness of His power and majesty. I heard from some of the great sheikhs saying: This light was neither He, nor other than Him, in the manner of al-Ash'ari's statement regarding His, Exalted be He, Essential attributes. This is also a Sufi tendency that returns, in the end, to the matter of tajalli and zuhur, as is not hidden. So reflect.