Tafsir of Al-Furqan 25:32

{نُزِّلَ} here means unzila (was sent down), and nothing else, just as khabara (he informed) is synonymous with akhbara (he informed). Otherwise, it would be contradictory.

This is another of their objections and suggestions, indicating their straying from the truth and their aversion to following it. They said: "Why was it not sent down to him all at once, in one time, just as the three [previous] books were sent down? And why was it sent down in parts?" The speakers were the Quraysh, though it is also said they were the Jews. This is idle talk and disputation devoid of substance, because the matter of the miracle and the argument for it does not differ whether it is sent down all at once or in parts.

His saying {كَذَٰلِكَ} is a response to them, meaning: "Likewise, it was sent down in parts." The wisdom in this is: "So that We may strengthen your heart by separating it, so that you may grasp it and memorize it." For the learner is only capable of memorizing knowledge bit by bit, part after part. If it were cast upon him all at once, he would be burdened by it and unable to memorize it. The condition of the Messenger (peace be upon him) differed from that of Moses, David, and Jesus (peace be upon them), for he was unlettered—he could neither read nor write—while they were readers and writers. Thus, he had no choice but to receive it and memorize it, so it was sent down to him in stages over twenty years (it is also said: twenty-three). Furthermore, it was sent down according to events and answers to questioners, and because some of it is abrogating and some is abrogated, which is only possible if it is sent down in parts.

If you ask: "In kadhālika, the dhālika must refer to something that preceded it, and what preceded it is their request for it to be sent down all at once; so how do you interpret it as 'likewise, We sent it down in parts'?" I say: Because their saying "Why was it not sent down to him all at once?" means "Why was it not sent down in parts?" The proof of the corruption of this objection is that they were unable to produce even one najm (segment) of its segments, and they were challenged with a single surah, the smallest of surahs, yet they displayed the extent of their incapacity and recorded it against themselves when they resorted to hostility and fled to warfare. Then they said, "Why was it not sent down all at once?"—as if they were capable of producing its parts, so that they might be capable of producing the whole.

{وَرَتَّلْنَاهُ} is conjoined to the verb to which kadhālika relates, as if He said: "Likewise, We separated it and arranged it." The meaning of tartīl (arranging/reciting clearly) is that He measured it verse by verse and paused it after each pause. It is also possible that the meaning is: "We commanded the recitation of it with tartīl," which is His saying: {وَرتِّلِ الْقُرْآنَ تَرْتِيلًا} (Al-Muzzammil: 4), meaning: read it with deliberation and steadiness. From this is the hadith of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) describing his (peace be upon him) recitation: "It was not like your rapid recitation; if a listener wanted to count its letters, he could count them." Its root is tartīl in the teeth, which is the spacing between them. It is said: "A ratl or murattal set of teeth," likened to the petals of a daisy in their spacing. It is also said: it means He sent it down—despite it being in parts—with deliberation and slowness over a long period, which is twenty years, and did not separate it over a short period.

{وَلَا يَأْتُونَكَ} with a strange question from their false questions—as if it were a proverb in its falsehood—except that We bring you the true answer from which there is no escape, and that which is better in meaning and more effective than their question. Since tafsīr (interpretation) is the uncovering of what the speech indicates, it is placed in the position of its meaning; they say: "The tafsīr of this speech is such and such," just as it is said: "Its meaning is such and such." Or, they do not come to you with a strange description of a state, saying: "Why is this not your description and state?"—such as having an angel accompany you to warn with you, or a treasure cast to you, or having a garden, or the Quran being sent down to you all at once—except that We give you of the states that are appropriate for you in Our wisdom and will to be given, and which is better in uncovering what you were sent for and in indicating its truth.

Meaning: that its being sent down in parts, and challenging them to produce some of those parts just as one of them was sent down, is more conducive to the miracle and more illuminating as an argument than if it were all sent down at once and they were told: "Bring a book like this in its eloquence, despite the distance between its two ends." It is as if it were said to them: "What drives you to these questions is that you lead others astray from His path and despise His place and status. If you looked with the eye of fairness—while you are among those dragged on their faces into Hell—you would know that your place is worse than his place, and your path is more astray than his path." In its style is His saying: {هَلْ أُنَبِّئُكُم بِشَرٍّ مِّن ذَٰلِكَ مَثُوبَةً عِندَ اللَّهِ ۙ مَن لَّعَنَهُ اللَّهُ وَغَضِبَ عَلَيْهِ} (Al-Ma'idah: 60). It is permissible for "place" to mean honor and status, or the abode and dwelling, like His saying: {أَيُّ الْفَرِيقَيْنِ خَيْرٌ مَّقَامًا وَأَحْسَنُ نَدِيًّا} (Maryam: 73). Describing the path as "straying" is a metaphorical attribution.

From the Prophet (peace be upon him): "People will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection in three groups: a third on mounts, a third on their faces, and a third on their feet, walking rapidly."