Tafsir of Al Imran 3:51

This is an explanation of the sign previously mentioned, in the sense that it is equivalent to my saying: "Indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord." Since this statement is something upon which all the messengers have reached consensus regarding its truthfulness, and they have all invited humanity toward it, it acts as a sign indicative of his messengership. The intended meaning of "the sign" here is not a miracle, lest one object that such a statement could also be uttered by commoners. Rather, the intent is that after Prophethood had already been established by miracles, this statement—being the way of the Prophets (peace be upon them)—became a sign for his Prophethood, one through which souls find tranquility.

It is also permissible that the "sign" refers to a miracle in the manner previously described. One might say: the attainment of knowledge, monotheism, and guidance to the straight path regarding beliefs and acts of worship from one who grew up among a people who altered their religion, corrupted the revealed Books of Allah, murdered their Prophets, and were not among those who learned from the remnants of their histories, is itself a sign—as is the magnification of miracles and extraordinary feats.

Alternatively, it may be said that it is possible that Allah the Exalted had mentioned in the Torah: "If a person comes to you with such-and-such traits, calling you to such-and-such, then follow him, for he is a Prophet sent to you." So, when he said, "I am the one described with such-and-such traits," it was among the greatest of miracles.

The word anna (in anna Allaha) has been read with a fathah (open vowel) on the hamzah, based on the fact that the clause is an appositive (badal) to the word "sign," or that the meaning is "I have come to you with a sign indicating that Allah..." Such a possibility exists even under the reading of the kasrah (closed vowel), but it would require the assumption of an implied "saying" (qul). Under both interpretations, His saying, "So fear Allah and obey me," acts as a parenthetical clause.

Many have stated that the apparent meaning is that this sentence is coordinated with the first sentence "I have come to you," and it was repeated to attach an additional meaning to it, which is His saying (the Almighty): "Indeed, Allah is my Lord," or it is for the sake of completeness, as in His saying: "Return your vision twice" (67:4)—meaning: "I have come to you with one sign after another," from what I have mentioned to you regarding the creation of the bird, healing the blind and the leper, giving life, and revealing hidden matters, such as my birth without a father, my speech in the cradle, and so on. The first statement serves to establish the argument against them, and the second serves to draw that argument toward a verdict, which is the obligation of fearing Allah and obeying Him. This is why the letter fa (the connective "so") was brought in "So fear Allah," as if it were said: Since I have come to you with dazzling miracles and manifest signs, "then fear Allah," etc.

According to this view, His saying, "Indeed, Allah is my Lord," initiates a new subject and begins the invitation referred to in the summarized statement. The nominal sentence, reinforced with inna, is to indicate the perfection of the theoretical faculty through correct belief, the ultimate goal of which is monotheism. His saying, "So worship Him," points to the perfection of the practical faculty, for it is the constant practice of obedience—which consists of performing commands and refraining from prohibitions.

Following these two commands with His saying (the Almighty), "This is a straight path," serves to confirm what preceded by explaining that the combination of the two—correct belief and righteous action—is the path witnessed to be straight. The meaning of the reading with the fathah, based on what has been mentioned, is: "Because Allah is my Lord and your Lord, then worship Him." It is similar to His saying: "For the accustomed security of the Quraish" (106:1). The pronoun "this" refers either to the totality of both matters or to the second command, which is known through the first. The tanwin (indefinite marking) is either for magnification or for partitivity. The sentence "This is..." is, as has been said, an initiation to explain what necessitated the invitation.

(The indication in these verses is as apparent as the expression, except that applying what is in the horizons to what is within the souls requires an explanation. We say:)

Allah the Exalted said: "And when the angels said"—meaning the angels of the spiritual faculties—"to Mary," the pure and virtuous soul, "Indeed, Allah has chosen you" for the perfection of your preparedness and the abundance of your receptivity, "and purified you" from vices and base character traits, "and chosen you over the women" of the concupiscent souls armored in the garments of blameworthy deeds. "O Mary, be devoutly obedient to your Lord," meaning persist in obedience to Him by complying with what He commanded and refraining from what He forbade, "and prostrate" in the mosques of humility, "and bow" in the prayer niches of submission along with the humble. For in that lies the establishment of the rites of servitude and the fulfillment of the rights of Lordship. To Allah belongs the one who said: It is good to show steadfastness to enemies, but it is shameful to show anything but helplessness before beloveds.

"This is from the news of the unseen"—meaning from the news of your existence—"which We reveal to you," O Prophet of the Spirit, "and you were not with them"—meaning with the spiritual and psychological faculties. The intent is: you were not attentive to them; rather, you were in an occupation that distracted you from them—"when they were casting" the pens of their preparations, with which they write the scrolls of their states and the Torah of their developments, and casting them into the sea of providence, "as to which of them would be responsible for" and manage "Mary," the soul, according to his opinion and the requirements of his nature. "And you were not with them when they disputed" in the station of the breast (the heart), which is the place where faculties dispute in seeking leadership before the spiritual training and during its state.

"When the angels said"—of the spiritual faculties, when they prevailed—"O Mary, indeed Allah gives you glad tidings of a Word from Him," encompassing the letters of existence, which is the heart that encompasses the worlds, "whose name is the Messiah," because he will wipe you with light or because he was wiped with it. "Honored in this world," for his management of the affairs of livelihood, so the humans of the apparent faculties and the jinn of the hidden faculties obey him; "and honored in the Hereafter," for his standing in the management of the Return (Resurrection), so the kingdom of the heaven of souls obeys him; or "noble and raised" in this world, which is an expression for the manifestation of acts, and in the Hereafter, which is an expression for the manifestation of the Names. "And among those brought near"—meaning those counted among the near ones to the Presence, those capable of receiving the manifestation of the Essence. (In the Tradition: "Neither My earth nor My heaven could contain Me, but the heart of My believing servant did.")

"And he will speak to the people" with what guides them, "in the cradle of the body" at the time of his nourishment with the milk of the journey to the King of kings, "and as a man," having reached the stage of the elder of the spirit and having reached the middle of the path. "She said, 'My Lord, how will I have a boy'"—like this—"when no man has touched me?" This is an expression of astonishment at her bearing that without the upbringing of a human teacher, since custom has dictated that reaching the high stations is only through a guiding Sheikh who knows the path and wards off calamities. It is proverbial among them that "the tree that grows by itself does not bear fruit."

"He said, 'Thus Allah creates what He wills.'" For He has the right to choose whom He wills without the upbringing of a trainer or the guidance of a guide, but merely through Divine attraction. This is the affair of the muradin (those drawn by Him) and some of the muridin (those seeking Him): Many a person is led by destiny to the heights, and for that, he has no choice—unaware. Happiness embraced him, while he was estranged from it, fleeing.

"And He will teach him" through the Divine teaching that is independent of the intermediaries usually known, the book of rational sciences, the wisdom of the laws, and the knowledge of the Divine Books—the Torah of the outward and the Gospel of the inward. And He will make him a messenger to the spiritual ones among the Children of Israel—the spirit—saying: "Indeed, I have come to you" from the world of the unseen with a great sign: "that I create for you" through training, from the clay of human souls, "the form of a bird"—to the threshold of the Sacred with the wings of hope and fear—"and I breathe into it" with the blowing of Divine knowledge and the breath of true life, "and it becomes a bird"—meaning a living soul flying in the space of Beauty and Majesty to the gardens of the Truth (the Almighty)—"by permission of Allah. And I heal the blind"—meaning the one veiled by seeing "others" from seeing the Light of lights—"and the leper" afflicted with the diseases of vices and corrupt beliefs that caused the change in the color of his innate nature. "And I give life to the dead" of ignorance with the life of true knowledge, "by permission of Allah. And I will inform you of what you eat"—meaning what you consume of desires and pleasures—"and what you store" in the houses of your intentions from hopes that are like a mirage in a plain. "Indeed, in that," which has been mentioned, "is a sign for you" that is beneficial, "if you are believers. And [I have come] confirming what was before me of the Torah of the outward," for it is one of the manifestations. "And to make lawful for you some of what was forbidden to you" because of your obstinacy and your limiting the Truth to only some of its manifestations.

By this, the knowledge of the inward is indicated. The "some" here refers either to the whole, in the manner of what was said regarding His saying: "some of what He promises you will strike you" (40:28), or it refers to the apparent meaning. Thus, it would be an indication that among the inward matters are those that it is forbidden to reveal. Our master Zayn al-Abidin said: A jewel of knowledge, were I to disclose it, it would be said to me: You are one who worships idols! Men who are Muslims would see my blood as lawful, seeing the vilest of their deeds as good. (And before this, Abu al-Hasan passed this on to al-Husayn, and he had bequeathed it to al-Hasan before him.)

"And I have come to you with a sign," one after another, "from your Lord, so fear Allah" regarding opposing me, "and obey me" in that which contains the perfection of your nature. "Indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord," so He is the One who will bring you to that which contains your perfection. "So worship Him" with humility, brokenness, standing at His door with helplessness and poverty, and comply with His command and prohibition. "This is a straight path" that will bring you to Him and arrive with you at His Presence.