Al-Baqarah: 260
"And when Abraham said..."
"Show me" (Arini): Make me see.
If you ask: How could He say to him, "Do you not believe?" when He knew him to be the firmest of people in faith?
I say: So that he might answer with what he answered, for it contains a magnificent benefit for the listeners.
"Yes" (Bala): An affirmation following a negation. Its meaning is: "Yes, I have believed."
"But that my heart may be at rest" (li-yatma'inna qalbi):
To increase in tranquility and peace by combining the knowledge of necessity ('ilm al-darurah) with the knowledge of deduction ('ilm al-istidlal). The convergence of proofs is more settling for the hearts and increases insight and certainty. Furthermore, knowledge of deduction allows for the possibility of doubt, unlike necessary knowledge. Thus, by "tranquility of the heart," he sought knowledge in which there is no room for doubt.
If you ask: To what is the lam in "that my heart may be at rest" attached?
I say: To an omitted element, the estimation of which is: "But I asked for that out of a desire for the tranquility of the heart."
"Take four of the birds" (fakhudh arba'atan min al-tayr):
It is said they were a peacock, a rooster, a crow, and a dove.
"Incline them to yourself" (fa-surhunna ilayka):
Read with both the damma and kasra on the sad, meaning: incline them and draw them toward you. It is said: "But the tips of the spears incline it (tusawwiruha)." And it is said: "A branch that inclines (yasiru) the neck..."
Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) read it as fassirhunna (with a doubled ra), from sarra-yasurru, meaning to gather, similar to darra-yadurru. It is also narrated from him as fassirhunna from tasriyah, which also means gathering.
"Then place on every mountain a part of them" (thumma ij'al 'ala kulli jabalin minhunna juz'an):
Meaning: then divide them and scatter their parts upon the mountains. The meaning is: upon every mountain of the mountains that are in your presence and in your land. It is said there were four mountains, and according to al-Suddi, seven.
"Then call them" (thumma id'uhunna):
Say to them: "Come by the permission of Allah."
"They will come to you in haste" (ya'taynaka sa'yan):
Moving quickly, whether in their flight or in their walking upon their feet.
If you ask: What is the meaning of His command to draw them to himself after taking them?
I say: So that he may contemplate them and know their forms, appearances, and features, so that they would not be confused for him after the resurrection, and so he would not imagine them to be other than those specific ones. That is why He said: "They will come to you in haste."
It is narrated that he was commanded to slaughter them, pluck their feathers, cut them up, scatter their parts, and mix their feathers, blood, and flesh, while holding onto their heads. Then he was commanded to place their parts upon the mountains—a quarter of every bird on each mountain. Then he called out to them: "Come by the permission of Allah." Each part flew to the other until they became bodies, then they approached and joined their heads—each body to its own head.
It is read as juz'an (with two dammas) and juz'an (with tashdid). The explanation for the latter is that it was lightened by dropping the hamza, then doubled, just as one doubles in a pause, treating the connection like a pause.
"The example of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is like a seed [of grain] which grows seven ears; in each ear is a hundred grains. And Allah multiplies for whom He wills. And Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing."
