Tafsir of An-Naml 27:1-3

{Ṭā-Sīn. These are the verses of the Qur’an and a clear Book.}

It is recited with both tafkhīm (full-mouth) and imālah (inclination).

{These} is a demonstrative pronoun referring to the verses of the surah.

{The clear Book}: It refers either to the Preserved Tablet (al-Lawḥ), its clarity being that everything that is to occur is inscribed within it, making it manifest to those who look upon it; or it refers to the Surah; or it refers to the Qur’an. Their clarity lies in the fact that they manifest the sciences, wisdoms, and laws deposited within them, and that their inimitability is apparent and uncovered.

Attributing the "verses" to the "Qur’an" and the "clear Book" is for the purpose of glorification and exaltation, for that which is attributed to something great becomes great by that attribution.

If you ask: Why is "clear Book" (kitābin mubīn) indefinite? I say: To make it vague through indefiniteness, which makes it more majestic, as in His saying: {In a seat of truth near a Powerful King} (Al-Qamar: 55).

If you ask: What is the logic of connecting it to the Qur’an if it is intended to mean the Qur’an? I say: It is like connecting one attribute to another, as in your saying: "This is the act of the generous, the munificent, the noble one." Because the Qur’an is the blessed revelation that confirms what came before it, its status is that of independent attributes of praise. It is as if it were said: "These verses are the verses of the blessed revelation, which is a clear Book."

Ibn Abī ʿAblah recited: (wa-kitābun mubīnun) in the nominative case, based on the estimation: "And they are the verses of a clear Book," where the possessor (muḍāf) is omitted and the possessed (muḍāf ilayh) takes its place.

If you ask: What is the difference between this and His saying: {Alif-Lām-Rā. These are the verses of the Book and a clear Qur’an} (Al-Ḥijr: 1)? I say: There is no difference between them except for the precedence and subsequence of the conjunct and the conjunction. This is of two types:

1. A type that functions like a doublet, where neither side is preferred over the other, such as His saying: {And say, "Repentance"} (Al-Baqarah: 58), and {And enter the gate bowing} (Al-Baqarah: 58). This is the case here.
2. A type where there is preference, such as His saying: {Allah witnesses that there is no deity except Him, and [so do] the angels and those of knowledge} (Āl ʿImrān: 18).

{Guidance and glad tidings}: They are in the position of the accusative or nominative.

• The accusative is for the state (ḥāl), meaning: "guiding and bringing glad tidings." The agent governing it is the meaning of the demonstrative in "These."
• The nominative has three aspects: that it is "they are guidance and glad tidings," that it is a substitute (badal) for the "verses," or that it is a predicate after a predicate, meaning: "It is combined that they are verses, and that they are guidance and glad tidings."

The meaning of them being guidance for the believers is that it increases them in their guidance. Allah says: {And whenever a surah is revealed, among them are those who say...} (At-Tawbah: 124).

If you ask: How does {And of the Hereafter they are certain} connect to what precedes it? I say: It is possible that it is part of the relative clause (ṣilat al-mawṣūl). It is also possible that the clause ends before it, and it is a parenthetical sentence. It is as if it were said: "And these who believe and do righteous deeds—such as establishing prayer and giving zakat—are the ones certain of the Hereafter." This is the preferred view. It is indicated by the fact that He established an independent sentence and repeated the subject, which is {they}, until its meaning became: "None are certain of the Hereafter with true certainty except these who combine faith and righteous deeds," because the fear of the final outcome compels them to endure hardships.

{Indeed, those who do not believe in the Hereafter, We have made their deeds pleasing to them, so they wander blindly. Those are the ones for whom there is the worst of punishment, and in the Hereafter, they are the greatest losers.}