Tafsir of Al-An'am 6:83

(وَتِلْكَ) is a reference to what Ibrahim (peace be upon him) used as an argument, starting from His saying, "When the night covered him..." and so on. It is also said it refers to His saying, "Do you dispute with me concerning Allah, while He has guided me...?" The construction of an "argument" (hujjah) in the technical sense from this requires contemplation. The meaning of distance in the demonstrative pronoun is to exalt the status of that which is referred to. It is the subject (mubtada'), and His saying, "Our argument" (hujjatuna), is its predicate. In its annexation (idafa) to the "nun" of majesty (in "hujjatuna"), there is an exaltation that is self-evident.

His saying, "We gave it to Ibrahim," means We guided him to it or taught it to him; it is in the position of a state (hal) of "argument," and its operative factor is the meaning of the indication. Or, it is in the nominative case as a second predicate, or it is the predicate itself, while "Our argument" is an appositive (badal) or an explanation of the subject. It is possible that the sentence "We gave..." is parenthetical or explanatory, though its remoteness is clear. "Ibrahim" is the first object of "gave," placed before the second because it is a pronoun.

His saying, "against his people," is related to "Our argument" if it is made the predicate of "that," or it relates to an omitted word if it is considered an appositive, so that a separation between the parts of the appositive by a foreign element does not occur; meaning: "We gave it to Ibrahim as an argument against his people." Abu al-Baqa’ did not permit its relation to "argument" at all, due to its status as a verbal noun and the separation. Perhaps the one who permits it does not view the verbal noun as a barrier to the relation of the adverbial phrase, and considers the separation to be overlooked. It is also said that its relation to "gave" is correct, because it implies the meaning of "prevailing."

His saying, "We raise by degrees," means great, high ranks of knowledge and wisdom. It is a new beginning (musta'naf) that has no place in grammatical inflection, confirming what preceded it. Abu al-Baqa’ permitted it to be in the accusative case as a state (hal) from the agent of "We gave," meaning "while We are raising." The accusative of "degrees" is either because it acts as a verbal noun (by interpreting it as "elevations"), or as an adverbial of place, or by the removal of a preposition (meaning "to degrees"), or as a specification (tamyiz). The object of "raise" is His saying, "whom We will." Its postponement in the last three views is due to what has been mentioned more than once: focusing on the antecedent and creating anticipation for the subsequent. The object of the "will" is omitted, meaning: "whom We will to raise, according to what wisdom necessitates and benefit demands." The preference for the imperfect tense is to indicate that this is a continuous tradition among the righteous, not exclusive to Ibrahim (peace be upon him).

It was recited as "yarfa'u" (he raises) with the "ya" by way of the shift (iltifat), and likewise "yasha'u" (he wills). More than one of the seven reciters read "darajati man" with annexation, as it being the object of "raise," and raising a person's degrees is a raising of him. Some permitted it to be an object even with the recitation of nunation (tanwin), treating "min" (from/whom) as implied for "li-man" (for whom), but this is remote.

His saying, "Indeed, your Lord is Wise," means in everything He does regarding raising and lowering. "All-Knowing" means of the state of him whom He raises and his readiness for it through varying degrees; if you wish, you may generalize it, and what was mentioned enters into it primarily. This is a justification for what preceded it. Placing the Lord as annexed to His pronoun (O Prophet)—peace be upon him—instead of the "nun" of majesty, by way of the shift during the explanation of Ibrahim’s state, displays a clear increase of kindness and care toward him (may Allah’s peace be upon him).

The Imam mentioned several rulings in these Ibrahimic verses:

1. His saying, "I do not love those that set," indicates that He (Almighty and Majestic is He) is not a body; for if He were a body, He would be absent from us and thus "setting." Setting contradicts Lordship. It is evident that counting that assumed absence as "setting" is not without issue, because setting is an obstruction with movement, whereas that assumed absence was not such, but merely an obstruction as far as it appears. Yes, it also contradicts Lordship, but the discussion is about whether it is "setting" so that the argument in the verse is complete. It cannot be said that the mention of a "veil" (hijab) appears in the Hadith of Isra’, so how is it valid to say that being veiled contradicts Lordship? We reply: The veil mentioned, as Qadi Iyad said, is only in relation to the servants, not in relation to Him (Almighty is He); they are the ones veiled, and the Creator (glory be to His name) is exalted above what veils Him, for a veil only surrounds a measured, sensible object. And there is a text that the mention of the veil for Him is a representation of His preventing the creation from seeing Him. The Sayyid al-Naqib stated in al-Durar wa al-Ghurar: "The Arabs use the word 'veil' to mean concealment and lack of appearance. One says to another when he considers his understanding remote: 'Between me and you is a veil.' They say of what is blocked: 'Between me and him are such-and-such veils, preventions, and screens.'" The apparent meaning here is a metaphor in the singular.

2. This verse indicates that it is impossible for Him (Almighty is He) to be such that He descends from the Throne to the heaven at one time, and ascends from the heaven to the Throne at another, for then the meaning of "setting" would occur. You know that those who describe their Lord with the attribute of descent, when they hear the authentic Hadith from their Prophet (may Allah’s peace be upon him), do not say that it is movement and transition as it is in bodies, but they relegate the determination of what is meant by it to Allah (Almighty and Majestic is He) after declaring Him exalted above resembling the created. In this case, it cannot be countered that it is in the meaning of "setting," which is impossible for the Lord (glorified be His majesty).

3. It indicates that He (glorified be His majesty) is not a locus for originated attributes, as the Karramiyyah say; otherwise, He would be changing, and thus the meaning of "setting" would occur, which is manifest.

4. That which was mentioned indicates that religion must be built upon evidence, not upon blind imitation; otherwise, there would be no benefit at all in argumentation.

5. It indicates that the Prophets' knowledge of their Lord is based on deduction, not innate/necessary knowledge; otherwise, Ibrahim (peace be upon him) would not have needed to deduce.

6. It indicates that there is no way to attain knowledge of Allah (Almighty is He) except by reflection and deduction regarding the states of His creatures, for if it were possible to attain it by another method, he (peace be upon him) would not have turned to this method. The issue with these last two points is clear to you.

7. His saying, "And that is Our argument..." indicates that that argument only occurred in Ibrahim's intellect through Allah granting it and manifesting it in his intellect. This indicates that faith and disbelief only occur by the creation of Allah. This is confirmed by His saying, "We raise degrees..." and so on.

8. His saying, "We raise..." indicates the corruption of the Hashwiyyah's criticism of reflection, the establishing of arguments, and the mentioning of evidence. It contains other rulings that are not hidden to one who contemplates.

"And when Ibrahim said to his father, Azar," when he saw him veiled by the appearances of the realm of dominion (mulk) from the truths of the Kingdom of Heaven (malakut) and His Lordship over things, believing in the influence of the cosmos and the celestial bodies, heedless of the Kingdom of Heaven (Almighty is He). "Do you take idols"—meaning ghosts/forms empty in their essence of life—"as deities," believing in their influence? "I see you and your people in clear error," manifest to one who has lifted the veil from his eye. "And thus We show Ibrahim the kingdom of the heavens and the earth," meaning We acquaint him with the spiritual forces by which We manage the affairs of the upper and lower world, or We acquaint him with their true reality, "so that he might be among those who are certain," meaning the people of conviction who know that there is no influence except for Allah (Almighty is He), who manages the affair by His names (Almighty is He).

"When the night covered him," meaning the night of the world of bodily nature darkened for him—this, according to the Sufis, was in his childhood and early youth—"he saw a star," which is the star of the soul called the animal spirit, appearing in the kingdom of the human structure. When he saw its emanation, life, and cultivation coming from it, he said with the tongue of his state: "This is my Lord," and Allah (Almighty is He) was showing him at that time through His name "The Life-Giver." "When it set," through the rising of the light of the heart, "he said, 'I do not love those that set.' When he saw the moon," meaning the moon of the heart rising from the horizon of the soul, and he found its emanation through the unveiling of truths and knowledges and its cultivation from it, "he said, 'This is my Lord,'" and Allah (Almighty is He) was showing him at that time through His name "The All-Knowing, The Wise." When it set, he said, "If my Lord does not guide me to the light of His countenance, I shall be among the straying," the ones veiled by the inward things from Him (Almighty is He).

"When he saw the sun," meaning the sun of the spirit rising and manifesting to him, and he found its emanation, witnessing, and cultivation from it, he said: "This is my Lord," and He (Almighty is He) was showing him then through His name "The Witness, The High, The Great." "This is greater than the others." When it set by the manifestation of the lights of the Truth and the radiance of the splendors of the Countenance, he said: "O my people, I am free from what you associate," for there is no existence without Him (Almighty is He). "I have turned my face," meaning I have surrendered my essence and existence "to Him who originated/created the heavens and the earth"—meaning the heavens of spirits and the earth of the soul—"inclining (hanifan)," turning away from everything other than Him, even from my own existence, and my inclination is toward annihilation in Him (glorified be His majesty). "And I am not of the polytheists in anything." He argued with his people in abandoning everything else. He said: "Do you argue with me about Allah, while He has guided me to His true existence and His Oneness? Those who have attained the true faith and did not dress their faith in injustice—from the emergence of the soul, or the heart, or the remaining of existence—those are the ones who have the true security, and they are the truly guided to the Truth."

Al-Naysaburi said: It may pass through the mind that the night of doubt and its darkness covered Ibrahim (peace be upon him), so he looked first at the world of bodies and found them setting on the horizon of change, so he did not see them fit for divinity. He ascended from them to the world of souls that manage bodies, and he saw them setting on the horizon of perfection, so their judgment was the same as what was below them. He rose from them to the world of pure intellects and found them setting on the horizon of possibility, so nothing remained but the Necessary (Allah). It is said otherwise. What was mentioned is based on the argument being with his own self (peace be upon him), which is what some commentators adopted, and they narrated a long report regarding that, which is mentioned in many books and is famous among the masses. The chosen view, to my knowledge, is what you have learned, and Allah (Almighty is He) says the Truth, and He guides to the path.