Sūrat Ibrāhīm

Classification: Meccan (except for verses 28 and 29, which are Medinan). Length: 52 verses. Chronology: Revealed after Sūrat Nūḥ.

1. Alif-Lām-Rā. A Book We have revealed to you, that you may bring mankind out of darkness into the light, by the permission of their Lord, to the path of the Exalted in Might, the Praiseworthy.

2. God, to whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And woe to the disbelievers from a severe punishment.

3. Those who prefer the worldly life over the Hereafter, and avert [people] from the way of God, and seek to make it crooked. Those are in extreme error.

{A Book}: It is a book, meaning the Surah. It is also recited: (li-yukhrija an-nās) [so that He may bring people out].

{And the darkness and the light}: These are two metaphors for misguidance and guidance.

{By the permission of their Lord}: By His facilitation and easing. It is a metaphor derived from "permission" (idhn), which is the removal of a veil; this refers to the grace (lutf) and success (tawfiq) He grants them.

{To the path of the Exalted in Might, the Praiseworthy}: This is a substitute (badal) for the phrase "to the light," with the repetition of the governing agent (‘amil), similar to the verse: {to those who were oppressed, to those who believed among them} (Al-A‘raf: 75). It is also permissible for it to be an initiation (isti’naf), as if it were asked: "To which light?" and the reply was: "To the path of the Exalted in Might, the Praiseworthy."

His saying: {The Exalted in Might, the Praiseworthy}: This is an explanatory apposition (‘atf bayan) for the previous names; because they have come to function like proper nouns due to their prevalence and exclusivity to the Worshipped One who alone deserves worship, just as the word "the star" (an-najm) became synonymous with the Pleiades (ath-thurayya). It is also recited in the nominative case (ar-raf‘) as if saying: "He is Allah."

{Woe} (Wayl): The opposite of wa’l (salvation). It is a noun of meaning, like "destruction" (halak), except that no verb is derived from it. One only says: waylan lahu (woe to him), using the accusative case of the verbal noun (masdar), then it is put in the nominative case to signify permanence, so one says: waylun lahu, like the saying: salāmun ‘alayk (peace be upon you). When He mentioned those who exit the darkness of disbelief into the light of faith, He threatened the disbelievers with "woe."

If you ask: What is the connection between the phrase {from a severe punishment} and "woe"? I say: The meaning is that they will wail because of a severe punishment and cry out against it, saying: "Oh, my woe!" just as in the verse: {They will call out there for destruction} (Al-Furqan: 13).

{Those who prefer}: This is a subject (mubtada’), and its predicate is: {Those are in error far astray}. It is also permissible for it to be in the genitive case as an adjective for "the disbelievers," or in the accusative case for disparagement (dhamm), or in the nominative case implying "I mean those who prefer" or "they are those who prefer."

Preference (istihbab): This is choosing and selecting. It is the form istif‘al derived from "love" (mahabba), because one who prefers a thing over another is as if he is asking his own soul to make it more beloved and superior to the other.

Al-Hasan recited: {wa-yaṣuddūna} (and they hinder) with a damma on the ya’ and a kasra on the sad. It is said: ṣaddahu ‘an kadha (he hindered him from such) and aṣaddahu. He said: People hindered others from them with the sword. The hamza here is added to ṣadda (to hinder) to transition it from intransitive to transitive. As for ṣaddahu, it is structured for transitivity like mana‘ahu (he prevented him), but it is not as eloquent as awqafahu (he made him stop), because the eloquent speakers have sufficed with ṣaddahu and waqafahu rather than forcing transitivity with the hamza.

{And they seek for it a deviation}: They seek for the path of Allah crookedness and deviation, and they want to show people that it is a path that turns away from the truth and is not straight. The original was yabghūna lahā (they seek for it), but the preposition was omitted and the verb was connected directly.

{In error far astray}: Meaning they have strayed from the path of truth and stopped far short of it.

If you ask: What is the meaning of describing the error as "far"? I say: It is a metaphorical attribution. The distance in reality belongs to the one who is astray, because he is the one who moves away from the path, so his action is described by it, just as you say: "His diligence was diligent." It is also possible that it means "in an error that possesses distance," or "in it is distance," because one who strays from the path can be at a near or far distance.