Tafsir of An-Naml 27:93

(And say, 'Praise be to Allah')—meaning, for what He has poured upon me of His bounties, the greatest of which is the blessing of Prophethood, which brings with it various forms of religious and worldly favors, and for having guided me to bear its burdens and to deliver its rulings through clear signs and radiant proofs.

His saying—Exalted be He—(He will show you His signs) is part of the speech commanded to be spoken; that is, "Say: He will show you His signs—Exalted is He—(so you will recognize them)," meaning: you will recognize them as the signs of Allah—Exalted is He—at a time when such recognition will not benefit you. It has been said that this means He will show them to you in this world, and the intended "signs" refer to the Smoke (ad-Dukhan) and the punishments of Allah—Exalted is He—that descended upon them. Among these, some counted the killing on the day of Badr, with the victims acknowledging this in fact (bi'l-fi'l) and others acknowledging it in potential (bi'l-quwwah). It has also been said that these are the emergence of the Beast (ad-Dabbah) and the other Portents of the Hour. The address is directed to the generality of mankind, not merely those living during the era of Prophethood.

Ibn Abi Hatim and a group of others narrated from Mujahid that the "signs" intended are the signs within themselves and within the horizons; the verse is like His saying—Exalted is He—: "We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves." Others say it refers to the miracles of the Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and their attribution to His—the Exalted—pronoun is because they are the actions of the Almighty, which He manifested at the hands of His Messenger—peace be upon him—for the purpose of verification. The "recognition" here refers to that which coexists with denial.

And His saying—Exalted is He—: (And your Lord is not unaware of what you do) is a statement issued from His side—Exalted be He—by way of a concluding remark (tadhyil), establishing what preceded it and containing both promise and warning. This is indicated by the attribution of "Lord" to the pronoun of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and by the address being first restricted to him—peace be upon him—and then generalized to include the disbelievers. That is: "And your Lord is not unaware of what you do—you—of good deeds, nor of what you do—you, O disbelievers—of evil deeds." Thus, He will inevitably recompense each of you for your deeds. The majority read it as ya'malun (in the third-person plural), making it a pure warning. The meaning is: "And your Lord is not unaware of their deeds, so He will certainly punish them. Let them not think that the delay of their punishment is due to His—Exalted is He—unawareness of the deeds that necessitate it." Whoever contemplates these verses will find that this conclusion is something that astonishes minds and baffles intellects. To Allah—Exalted is He—belongs the excellence of the Revelation; what more can be said of the speech of the King, the All-Knowing?

It is said regarding: (And sent down from the sky...)—the sky of the heart—(...water), which is the water of the gaze of mercy. (Thereby We caused to grow gardens of beauty)—of knowledge, meanings, secrets, and profound wisdoms—(...whose trees you would not have been able to grow); that is, their roots, since divine knowledge is not elective; rather, every knowledge is not, in itself, elective, otherwise it would necessitate that a thing precede itself. Yes, it is elective only with regard to its causes.

(Or is He [not better] who makes the earth...)—the earth of the soul—a settled place in the body, (and makes within it rivers)—of human impulses—(and makes for it mountains)—of human faculties and senses—(and has placed between the two seas...)—the sea of the spirit and the sea of the soul—(a barrier), which is the heart.

(Or is He who answers the distressed...)—the one who is prepared for a thing—(when he calls upon Him)—with the tongue of readiness, asking Him—Exalted is He—for that for which he has prepared himself. Some have said: the "distressed" is the one immersed in the seas of His longing—Exalted be He.

(And when the Word is fulfilled against them, We will bring forth for them a beast...)—which is the rational soul and the human spirit—(from the earth)—that is, the earth of humanity.

In this manner, they spoke regarding the rest of the verses. The Greatest Master (ash-Shaykh al-Akbar)—may his secret be sanctified—cited His saying—Exalted is He—: (And you see the mountains, thinking them solid, while they pass as the passing of clouds) as evidence for what he claims regarding the constant renewal of substances, similar to the "accidents" according to al-Ash'ari, and their non-persistence for two moments. The foundation of this, according to him, is the doctrine of the Unity of Existence (wahdat al-wujud) and that He—Exalted is He—is in a new manifestation every day. The discussion concerning the validity of this foundation and its implication for the claim is not hidden from the gnostic. As for using this verse as evidence for this matter, it is among the greatest of wonders and the strangest of all strange things. And Allah—Exalted is He—knows best.