Tafsir of Al-An'am 6:115

(And the Word of your Lord has been fulfilled) – This marks the commencement of an exposition concerning the Quran in terms of its own essence, following the exposition of its perfection in terms of its attribution to Him (Mighty and Majestic is He)—being sent down from Him (Glorified is He) in Truth—and the verification of that through the knowledge the People of the Two Books possess regarding it.

"Completion" (Tamam), as Al-Raghib stated, is the reaching of a thing to a limit where it no longer requires anything external to it. The "Word" (al-Kalimah) refers to "Speech" (al-Kalam), and by it, as Qatadah and others have said, is meant the Quran. Its application to the Quran is either by way of figurative metaphor (majaz mursal) or borrowing (isti'arah). Its relationship to this—though it is resisted that the word "Kalimah" be applied to a non-informative sentence—does not permit it; however, such an application is not found in their speech. This expression was chosen for the subtlety it contains, which is not hidden from those who examine closely. Some have said it is because the "Word" is the origin of being characterized by truthfulness and justice, and through it, the effects of wisdom are made manifest. Abu Muslim stated that the "Word" refers to the religion of Allah (Most High), as in His saying (Glorified is He): “And the Word of Allah is the highest.”

It is also said: What is intended is His Argument (Mighty and Majestic is He) against His creation. The former is the manifest view. 'Asim, Hamzah, 'Ali, Khalaf, Sahl, and Ya'qub read it in the singular (Kalimatu), while the others read it as plural (Kalimatu Rabbika).

(In truth and in justice) – Two verbal nouns (masdaran) accusative as a state (hal) from "your Lord" or from "Word," as Abu 'Ali al-Farisi held. Abu al-Baqa' permitted them to be accusative as specifications (tamyiz) or as causal reasons ('illah). Truthfulness (Sidq) applies to news and promises—being famous as such—and justice ('Adl) applies to legal decrees and rulings.

(None can change His words) – A parenthetical sentence clarifying its superiority over others, following the clarification of its superiority in its own essence. Some verifiers have said: Since He (Glorified is He) announced the completion of His Word, and completion is usually followed by deficiency—as it is said: "If a matter is completed, its deficiency begins to appear"—the expectation of decay arises when one says "it is completed." This was mentioned as a precaution and to explain that its completion is not like the completion of others. It is permitted that it be a state (hal) from the doer of Tammat (was fulfilled), provided that the manifest noun suffices instead of the connecting pronoun. Abu al-Baqa' said: It is not permissible for it to be a state from "your Lord," lest an extraneous word separate the state from its possessor. (And [it is] in truth and in justice) – unless they are also both considered states from Him. The meaning is: No one can replace anything of His words with what is more truthful or more just, nor even with what is equal to it; so how can one imagine seeking a judgment other than His (Most High)? "More truthful" refers to the most clear and evident in truth; therefore, it is not an objection that "truth" does not accept increase or decrease, because if the proposition corresponds to reality, it is truth; otherwise, it is falsehood. And no book comes after it to replace it or abrogate its rulings; 'Isa (peace be upon him) will act according to it after his descent and will not abrogate anything, as has been verified in its proper place.

It is also said: It means that the rulings of Allah (Most High) do not accept change or cessation because they are eternal, and the eternal does not cease to exist. The Imam claimed that the verse, according to this interpretation, is one of the strong foundations for proving predestination (Jabr). Because when He (Most High) decreed happiness for Zayd and misery for 'Amr, then said: (None can change His words), it necessitates the impossibility of the happy becoming miserable or the miserable becoming happy. Thus, the happy one is he who was happy in his mother's womb, and the miserable one is he who was miserable in his mother's womb.

I say: It is not hidden that the one who is "miserable" in [Divine] Knowledge cannot be "happy," and the one who is "happy" in it cannot be "miserable" at all, because Knowledge relates only to what the known thing is in itself. His Decree (Glorified is He) is subordinate to that Knowledge, as is His bringing things into existence according to that Knowledge. There is no coercion (Jabr) imaginable there in any way, for He (Mighty is His Majesty) does not bestow upon the receptacles except what they have requested of Him (Glorified and Exalted is He) via the tongue of their capacity, as His saying (Glorified is He) points to: (He gave everything its creation). Yes, coercion would be imaginable if the receptacles requested something and He (Glorified is He) bestowed upon them its opposite—but He (Glorified and Exalted is He) is far higher and more exalted than that.

(And He is the All-Hearing) – of everything that is related to being heard.

(The All-Knowing) – of everything that can possibly be known. Thus, this includes the statements of the disputants and their manifest and hidden conditions in a primary manner. Furthermore, after He (Most High) answered the doubts of the disbelievers and clarified the proof of the validity of Prophethood—according to the mention of the Imam—He guided to the fact that after the removal of doubt and the appearance of the argument, a rational person should not pay attention to the words of the ignorant. Thus, He (Glorified is He) said: