Az-Zukhruf: (48) "And We did not show them of..."

"And We did not show them of a sign" — meaning, of the signs — "except that it was greater than its sister." That is, greater than a sign similar to it in being a sign indicative of prophethood.

A difficulty has been raised that this necessitates every single one of the signs being both superior and inferior simultaneously, which leads to a contradiction and the preferring of a thing over itself, due to the generality of the word "sign" in the negative context.

The response is that the purpose of this statement is that they are described as being "greater," yet they hardly differ in that regard. The meaning is that each one, due to its perfection in itself, when looked at individually, is said to be greater than the rest because of its independent sufficiency in conveying the intended purpose completely. As the Hamasi poet said: If you meet any of them, you would say, "I have met their master," like the stars by which the traveler travels.

However, when the whole is observed, one refrains from preferring any one over the others. Fatima bint Khurshub al-Anmariya compared her children—Rabia the Protector, Amara the Bestower, and Anas the Knight—and then said: "I have observed their ranks to be close, with little difference. May I be bereaved of them if I know which of them is better! They are like a seamless ring; one does not know where its ends are."

Some eminent scholars said: The intended meaning of the superlative form (af'al) is an increase from a specific perspective; that is, We do not show them a sign except that it is distinguished by a type of miracle, making it superior to others in that particular regard. There is no harm in one thing being both superior and inferior from two different perspectives. Jalal al-Din al-Dawwani discussed this at length in his glosses on the New Commentary on al-Tajrid, so let one who desires it refer to that.

In al-Bahr, it is said: His signs—upon him be peace—were major signs, and each one was greater than the one that preceded it. On this interpretation, there is an implied adjective; meaning, "greater than its sister that preceded it." Thus, no contradiction remains in the speech, and this judgment does not apply to the first sign because nothing preceded it to be greater than it.

Some mentioned regarding this "greater-ness" that the first sign necessitates a specific knowledge, and the second necessitates knowledge added to the knowledge of the first, so the turning (to truth) increases. This is the end of the citation, and the first view mentioned earlier is more appropriate due to the prevalence of that meaning being intended in such a structure.

"And We seized them with the punishment" — such as the years of drought, locusts, lice, and others — "that perhaps they might return" — that is, return and repent from the disbelief they are upon.