Tafsir of Al-Hadeed 57:3

(He is the First): The One preceding all existing things. He, Glory be to Him, existed before everything, even before time itself, for He—Mighty and Majestic—is the Originator and Creator of all existents.

(And the Last): The One remaining after their annihilation, either in reality or in consideration of their essence, setting aside their Sustainer; for all possible existents, when considered apart from their Cause, are annihilated. From this, Ibn Sina said: "The possible [existent] in its own essence is 'non-existent' (lays), and through its Cause, it is 'existent' (ays)." This does not contradict the fact that some possible existents do not perish, such as Paradise, Hell, and those within them, as is established and explained by the verses and traditions, because their annihilation in their own essence is an inseparable attribute of them. It may also be said: the annihilation of every possible existent in act is not observed, and that which the evidence points to is merely its possibility [of annihilation]. Thus, "posteriority" in such a case is a matter of conceptualization and estimation.

It is also said: He is the First from whom causes originate, for He—Glory be to Him—is the Cause of causes; and the Last to whom the effects return. Thus, "Firstness" is essential, and "Lastness" signifies that to Him—the Exalted—is the return and the destination, setting aside the survival established by proofs.

It is also said: He is the First in the external world, for He—Exalted is He—brought things into existence; thus, He is prior to them in external reality. And He is the Last in the mind and in terms of relation; for He—Mighty is His Status—is inferred through existing things, which act as evidence for the Eternal Maker. As it is said: "I have not seen anything except that I have seen Allah—the Exalted—thereafter."

Hujjat al-Islam al-Ghazali said: "The 'First' is first in relation to something, and the 'Last' is last in relation to something; they are contradictory, and it is not conceivable that one thing—from one perspective, in relation to one thing—could be both first and last simultaneously. Rather, when you look at the order of existence, you observe a chain of ordered existents; Allah—the Exalted—is 'First' in relation to them, for they all derived existence from Him—Glory be to Him. As for Him—Mighty and Majestic is He—He exists by His essence and has not derived existence from another; Glory be to Him and Exalted is He far above that. And whenever you look at the order of the path and observe the stations of the wayfarers, He—the Exalted—is 'Last,' for He is the final point to which the degrees of the knowers ascend. Every knowledge obtained before knowledge of Him—the Exalted—is a ladder to knowing Him, the Majestic. The ultimate station is the knowledge of Allah—His Majesty is Great. Thus, He—Glory be to Him—is Last in relation to the path, and First in relation to existence. From Him—Mighty is His Status—is the origin as First, and to Him—Glory be to Him—is the return and the destination as Last."

It is evident that His—the Exalted—being First and Last in relation to existing things is more appropriate, and perhaps what has been mentioned [by al-Ghazali] is more consistent with the school of the people [the Sufis].

(And the Manifest [al-Zahir]): By His existence, for all existents are manifest through the manifestation of Him—the Exalted.

(And the Hidden [al-Batin]): By His essence (kunh), for intellects cannot encompass Him.

Hujjat al-Islam said: "These two descriptions are among the relative attributes; a thing cannot be manifest to something and hidden from it from the same perspective. Rather, it is manifest from one perspective in relation to perception, and hidden from another. Manifestation and concealment exist only in relation to perceptions. Allah—the Exalted—is 'Hidden' if sought through the perception of the senses, and 'Manifest' if sought through the treasury of the intellect via inference." This is the mystery of "extreme manifestation," and everything that exceeds the limit reflects to its opposite.

Al-Zamakhshari favored interpreting "the Hidden" as "that which is not perceived by the senses." He then said: "The first 'and' (waw) is to coordinate a singular with a singular, implying that He—the Exalted—is the One who combines the attributes of Firstness and Lastness. The last 'and' is the same, implying He is the One who combines Manifestation and Concealment. As for the middle 'and,' it is to coordinate a compound with a compound, implying He—the Majestic—is the One who combines the totality of the two attributes of Firstness and the totality of the two attributes of Lastness. Thus, He—the Exalted—is the One of continuous existence throughout all past and future times, and in all of them, He is Manifest and Hidden, combining manifestation through proofs and concealment, for He is not perceived by the senses."

In this, there is an argument against those who permit the perception of Him—the Exalted—in the Hereafter by sense. That is because there is no time in which it is valid to describe Him with Firstness and Lastness except that it is also valid to describe Him with Manifestness and Hiddenness simultaneously. Therefore, if one permits His perception by sense in the Hereafter, he has denied that He is "Hidden," which contradicts what the verse indicates.

The author of al-Kashf responded to this, saying: "Interpreting 'the Hidden' as 'not perceived by the senses' is an interpretation based on desire (tashahi). For His—the Exalted—hiddenness from the perception of intellects is like His hiddenness from the perception of the senses, because the reality of the Essence is not perceived, neither by intellect nor by sense, according to the agreement between the verifiers of both groups [theologians and philosophers]. Al-Zamakhshari is among those who concede this. Thus, He is the Manifest by His existence and the Hidden by His essence, and He—Glory be to Him—is the One who combines both descriptions eternally and everlastingly. This does not contradict the Vision, as it [the Vision] does not confer such [encompassment] according to those who affirm it." This is sound, so do not be heedless.

Accordingly, the tailing with His—the Exalted—saying: (And He is Knowing of all things) is so that it is not imagined that His being hidden from things entails that things are hidden from Him—the Exalted—as is the case in the witnessed world.

Al-Azhari said: "The Manifest and the Hidden may mean the Knower of what is manifest and what is hidden. This is because whoever is manifest, the hidden is veiled from him, and whoever is hidden, the manifest is veiled from him. If you wish to describe Him with knowledge, you say He is 'Manifest, Hidden'—similar to the verse: 'Neither Eastern nor Western,' meaning not Eastern only, nor Western only, but it is Eastern and Western." In the aforementioned tailing, there is some obscurity [under this interpretation].

Similar to this, from one perspective, is what has been narrated: that "the Manifest" means "the One who is above all things and overcomes them," from their saying "he appeared over them" (zahara ‘alayhim) if he is above them and defeats them; and "the Hidden" means "the One who encompasses all things," meaning He knows their interior. This was criticized for the lack of symmetry between "the Manifest" and "the Hidden" [in that interpretation], and that "being hidden" meaning "He knows the hidden" is not established in the language. However, it is said: there are reports that support the interpretation of "the Manifest" as it was interpreted.

Muslim, al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Abi Shaybah, and al-Bayhaqi narrated from Abu Hurairah, who said: Fatimah—may Allah be pleased with her—came to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—asking for a servant. He said to her: "Say: O Allah, Lord of the seven heavens and Lord of the Great Noble Throne, our Lord and Lord of everything, Revealer of the Torah, the Gospel, and the Criterion (the Quran), Splitter of the seed and the date pit. I seek refuge in You from the evil of everything You have hold of its forelock (nasiyah). You are the First, so there is nothing before You; You are the Last, so there is nothing after You; You are the Manifest, so there is nothing above You; You are the Hidden, so there is nothing beyond You. Pay off our debt and enrich us from poverty."

Al-Tayyibi said: "The meaning of the Manifest in the Prophetic interpretation is the Overcomer who overcomes and is not overcome, so He disposes of created things by way of dominance and authority, for there is no one above Him to prevent Him. And the Hidden is the One whom there is no refuge and no savior apart from Him to whom a seeker of refuge turns."

It has been argued against this by the possibility that the meaning is: "You are the Manifest, so there is nothing above You in manifestation," meaning You are more manifest than everything, for the manifestation of everything is through You; "and You are the Hidden, so there is nothing beyond You in hiddenness," meaning You are more hidden than everything, for everything—its reality is known by other than itself, and it is You, while Your reality is not known by anyone else; or because the reality of everything can be known, while Your reality is absolutely impossible to know.

Furthermore, the indication of "the Hidden" as he [al-Tayyibi] stated is very obscure. Moreover, if the matter were as he mentioned, the eminent scholars would not have turned away from it, for the report is authentic and similar ones have come from the narration of Imam Ahmad, Abu Dawud, and Ibn Majah; it is unlikely that those eminent figures were unaware of it. Even more unlikely is that what the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—mentioned of His Names—the Exalted—is different from what is in the verse.

It is possible that he—peace be upon him—meant by his saying: "There is nothing beyond You," that there is nothing closer than You. This is supported by what al-Bayhaqi narrated in al-Asma' wa al-Sifat from Muqatil, who said: "It has reached us concerning His saying—the Exalted—(He is the First) etc.: He is the First before everything, the Last after everything, the Manifest above everything, and the Hidden closer than everything." He means by "closeness" His knowledge and His power, while He is above His Throne.

What I find most probable is what was mentioned first [regarding manifestation/concealment].

Some Sufis of the school of "Unity of Existence" (wahdat al-wujud) hold that the meaning of His—the Exalted—saying: (He is the First) etc., is that there is no existent other than Him—the Exalted—for everything conceivable as existing is either first, last, manifest, or hidden. If Allah—the Exalted—is the First, the Last, the Manifest, and the Hidden, and there is no other, then everything conceivable as existent is He—Glory be to Him—and nothing else. They supported this with a marfu' (elevated) hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad, ‘Abd ibn Humayd, al-Tirmidhi, Ibn al-Mundhir, and a group from Abu Hurairah: "By Him in whose hand is my soul, if you were to let down a rope to the lowest earth, it would descend upon Allah." Abu Hurairah said: Then the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—recited: (He is the First and the Last and the Manifest and the Hidden, and He is Knowing of all things).

The position of "Unity of Existence" is well-known. As for the report, it is from the mutashabih (ambiguous) texts. Al-Tirmidhi said: "The people of knowledge interpreted the hadith, saying: 'It would descend upon the knowledge of Allah—the Exalted—His power, and His authority.'" This is supported by the mention of the tailing and the fact that the Prophet—peace be upon him—did not limit himself to what was before it.

This verse, for anyone who finds in himself misgivings (waswasah) regarding Allah—the Exalted—should recite it. Abu Dawud narrated from Abu Zumayl that Ibn ‘Abbas said to him, after he informed him that he had misgivings regarding that: "If you find something in your self, then say: 'He is the First...' to the end of the verse."

Abu al-Shaykh narrated in al-‘Azamah from Ibn ‘Umar and Abu Sa‘id—may Allah be pleased with them—from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—who said: "People will continue to ask about everything until they say: 'This is Allah; He was before everything, so what was before Allah?' If they say that to you, then say: 'He is the First and the Last and the Manifest and the Hidden, and He is Knowing of all things.'"