Tafsir of An-Najm 53:58

Surah An-Najm (The Star): Verse 58

{لَيْسَ لَهَا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ كَاشِفَةٌ} (There is none besides Allah who can reveal it [the Hour].)

First View: None can reveal it except Allah. Whoever knows it, knows only through Allah's informing and revealing it to him. This is like His saying: {Indeed, the knowledge of the Hour is with Allah} (Luqman: 34) and {None reveals it at its time except He} (Al-A'raf: 187).

Second View: None brings it forth except Allah, as in His saying: {And if Allah should touch you with harm, none can remove it except He} (Al-An'am: 17).

The First Issue: The word {مِنْ} (min - from/besides)

1. It is extra (Zā'idah): The meaning is: "There is no revealer for it other than Allah." The particle min is often added to a negation to emphasize its meaning. For example, "No one came to me" (Mā jā'anī aḥad) and "No one at all came to me" (Mā jā'anī min aḥad).
2. Possible Rearrangement: Under this view, there might be a transposition of words: "There is no revealer for it except Allah" (Laysa lahā min kashifatin dūna Allāh). This would be a general negation concerning all revealers.
3. Not Extra: Alternatively, min is not extra. The meaning is that there is no existing soul (nafs) that can reveal the Hour as it truly is and determine its time, apart from Allah. Whoever reveals it, reveals it from Allah, not from anyone else. The phrase "Kashafa al-amr 'an Zayd" means the matter was revealed by Zayd.
4. Meaning of Dūna (Besides/Other Than): The word dūna here means "other than," as in His saying: {Do you seek gods other than Allah that you desire?} (As-Saffat: 86), meaning gods other than Allah.

The Second Issue: The word {كَاشِفَةٌ} (Kāshifatun - Revealer)

1. Adjective for Feminine: Kāshifatun is an adjective referring to a feminine noun (implied: nafs - soul), meaning "a revealing soul."
2. For Exaggeration (Mubālaghah): It is said to be for exaggeration, similar to the word ʿallāmah (great scholar).
3. Addressing the Implication: If it implies extreme revelation (Mubālaghah), one might argue that it negates only the perfect revealer, not the existence of any revealer. We respond: If anyone were to reveal it, they would be a revealer in the complete manner. Therefore, there is no revealer for it, and no one reveals it. This is similar to {I am not a wrongdoer to My servants} (Qāf: 29). We explained there that if He were to wrong His weak servants unjustly, it would be the ultimate injustice, and since He is not in ultimate injustice, He does not wrong them at all (implying He does not wrong them in any way).

The Third Issue: The Exception

If we take the meaning as "There is no revealing soul for it," then the phrase {مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ} (besides Allah) becomes an exception, according to the most common opinion. This would imply that Allah is a revealing soul for it.

Responses to this:

1. No Contradiction: There is no issue with this. Allah said (narrating what Jesus said): {Nor do I know what is within Yourself} (Al-Ma'idah: 116), and this means the literal truth (i.e., Jesus acknowledged Allah's knowledge of His own inner state).
2. Not an Explicit Exception: The phrase is not an explicit exception (istithnā' ṣarīḥ), so it is permissible that Allah is not a nafs (soul) in this context.
3. The Revealing Exception is Exaggerated: The exception itself refers to the exaggerated revealer (the perfect one).

[Then Allah Almighty said:]

{أَفَمِنْ هَذَا الْحَدِيثِ تَعْجَبُونَ} (Then is it of this discourse that you are amazed?)