Tafsir of Al-Qasas 28:85

{إِنَّ الَّذِي فَرَضَ عَلَيْكَ الْقُرْآنَ} He made it obligatory upon you to recite it, convey it, and act according to what is within it.

Meaning: He who burdened you with the difficulty of this obligation will reward you for it with a reward that description cannot encompass.

{لَرَادُّكَ إِلَىٰ مَعَادٍ} Meaning: To a place of return that no other human possesses. The indefiniteness of "a place of return" (maʿād) is for this reason.

It is said: The intended meaning is Mecca. The justification for this is that it refers to his return to it on the day of the Conquest. The reason for its indefiniteness is that on that day, it was a place of return of great significance and a point of reference of great consequence, due to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) overcoming it, subduing its people, and the manifestation of the glory of Islam and its people, alongside the humiliation of polytheism and its faction.

The Surah is Meccan. It is as if Allah promised him—while he was in Mecca, suffering harm and oppression from its people—that he would emigrate from it and that He would return him to it, manifest and victorious.

It is also said: It was revealed to him when he reached al-Juḥfah during his migration. He had longed for his birthplace, the birthplace of his forefathers, and the Sanctuary of Abraham. Gabriel descended and said, "Do you long for Mecca?" He replied, "Yes." So He revealed this to him.

If you ask: How does the saying of the Exalted, {قُل رَّبِّي أَعْلَمُ مَن جَاءَ بِالْهُدَىٰ}, connect to what precedes it?

I say: When He promised His Messenger a return to a place of return, He said: Say to the polytheists, {رَّبِّي أَعْلَمُ مَن جَاءَ بِالْهُدَىٰ}—meaning himself and the reward he deserves in his place of return—{وَمَنْ هُوَ فِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ}—meaning them and the punishment they deserve in their place of return.

{وَمَا كُنتَ تَرْجُو أَن يُلْقَىٰ إِلَيْكَ الْكِتَابُ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً مِّن رَّبِّكَ ۖ فَلَا تَكُونَنَّ ظَهِيرًا لِّلْكَافِرِينَ}