[Al-An'am: 154] "Then We gave Moses the Book..."

(Then We gave Moses the Book) is a statement issued from His Exalted Presence to confirm the commandments, to verify them, and to pave the way for the mention of the revelation of the glorious Quran that follows it. This is indicated by the shift in style through the iltifat (shift in mode of address) to the first-person, as it is conjoined to an implicit preceding clause that the situation necessitates and the order demands. It is as if, after His saying, "Thus He has commanded you," it was said—by way of isti'naf (commencement) to verify it and confirm its content—"We did that, then We gave Moses the Book," and so on. This is the view of the Shaykh al-Islam—may God sanctify his secret.

It has also been said that it is a conjunction to "Thus He has commanded you." Al-Zajjaj stated that it is a conjunction to the sense of the recitation, as if it were said: "Say, 'Come, I will recite what your Lord has forbidden for you,' then I will recite to them what God the Exalted gave Moses, peace be upon him." It is also said to be a conjunction to "Say," containing an ellipsis; that is, "Say, 'Come,' then say, 'We gave Moses the Book.'"

Abu Muslim, considered sound by Al-Maghribi, held that it is connected to His saying in the story of Abraham, peace be upon him: "And We granted him Isaac and Jacob." This is because He, the Exalted, counted His blessing upon him by placing prophets among his descendants, peace be upon them, and then followed it by mentioning what He blessed him with by giving Moses, peace be upon him, the Book and Prophethood, for he is also among his descendants. As you can see, all these views vary in their level of weakness.

"Then" (thumma), as Al-Farra' said, is for narrative sequence, as in the expression: "What you did today reached me, and what you did [afterwards] today is even more astonishing." Ibn 'Usfur contested this, saying it is baseless because thumma necessitates a delay between the second and the first, and there is no delay in the two narratives. Therefore, one must return to the view that it has shed the meaning of sequence, or that it is a rank-based sequence (tartib rutbi), as indicated by the word "more astonishing" in the example. This is manifest here because the giving of the Torah, which contains the commandments and vast benefits, is greater than this commandment, which is famous upon all tongues. Some have explained the narrative sequence that requires the delay of the second behind the first by noting that past utterances are treated as if they were distant. It is also said that it is due to the intervention of the sentence, "That you may become righteous," between the two conjoined parts. Some said that thumma here is in the sense of the conjunction "and" (wa), as this has occurred frequently in the Book.

(To complete) the favor and the grace. It is in the position of a maf'ul lahu (causative object), and the omission of the lam is permissible because it is in the sense of "for the purpose of completing." Abu al-Baqa' allowed it to be a verbal noun (masdar) for "We gave" from its meaning, because the giving of the Book is a completion of the favor; it is as if it were said, "We completed the favor completely," similar to the word "growth" (nabatan) in His saying, "And God caused you to grow from the earth a [progressive] growth." It may also be an adverbial state (hal) from "the Book," meaning "complete."

(Upon him who does good), meaning whoever does good in upholding it, whoever he may be. Thus, "who" (alladhi) refers to the genus. This is supported by the reading of Abdullah [ibn Mas'ud]: "Upon those who did good," and the reading of Al-Hasan: "Upon the doers of good." Al-Farra' stated that "who" here is like its usage in the verse: "Indeed, those whose blood was shed at Falj, they are the people, all the people, O Umm Khalid." The statement of Mujahid is susceptible to both interpretations. Or, it is "upon him who did good in conveying it," which is Moses, peace be upon him. Or, "to complete upon that which Moses, peace be upon him, made good"—meaning, he perfected it in terms of knowledge and laws; that is, in addition to his work, by way of completion. Ibn Zayd said the meaning is "to complete upon God's benevolence toward His prophets, peace be upon them." Its surface meaning is that "who" is a particle-like relative pronoun, as has been said regarding His saying, "And you engaged in [vain] discourse as they engaged [in it]." The pronoun in "made good" then refers to God the Exalted. Similar to this is what was reported from Al-Jubba'i, that the meaning is "upon that which God the Exalted made good toward Moses, peace be upon him, of Prophethood and others." Both are contrary to the manifest meaning. Abu Muslim held that the relative pronoun refers to Abraham, peace be upon him, based on his claim that the verse is connected to the story of Abraham, peace be upon him.

Yahya ibn Ya'mar read "made good" (ahsana) in the nominative case as a predicate for an omitted subject, and "who" is an adjective for the religion or the aspect upon which the Books are. This means "to complete upon the religion which is the best religion and the most pleasing to Him," or "We gave Moses the Book, complete and perfect, in the best way that Books can be," and the "best-ness" is relative to other than the religion of Islam and other than that which is in the Quran.

(And a detail for everything), meaning a detailed explanation for everything needed in religion. There is no indication here that there is no ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) in the Law of Moses, peace be upon him—contrary to those who claim such—for the same has been mentioned in describing the Quran, as in His saying in the Surah of Joseph, peace be upon him: "And a detail of all things" for those who are held accountable. The discussion regarding these conjoined items is like the discussion regarding the one to which they are conjoined, in terms of the possibility of [them being] a cause, a verbal noun, or an adverbial state. The manifest meaning is that the Book contains detail according to what God the Exalted informed us, until its people distorted it. Ibn Abi Hatim recorded from Mujahid that he said: "When Moses, peace be upon him, cast down the tablets, the guidance and mercy remained, but the detail vanished."

(That they might)—meaning the Children of Israel, indicated by the mention of Moses, peace be upon him, and the giving of the Book. It is not permissible for the pronoun to refer to "the one who" based on the [view that it refers to the] genus, or what Al-Farra' said, because it does not suit His saying: (Believe in the meeting with their Lord). Indeed, what would have been appropriate then would be to say, for example, "That they might be shown mercy." The prepositional phrase is connected to what follows it; it was brought forward to observe the rhyme scheme. Regarding the "meeting," it has been said to mean the recompense, and it has been said to mean returning to the kingdom of the Lord, the Exalted, and His authority on a day when no one possesses anything besides Him. From Ibn Abbas, the meaning is: "So that they might believe in the Resurrection and affirm the reward and the punishment."