ﳂ ﳃ ﳄ ﳅ ﳆ ﳇ ﳈ ﳉ ﳊ ﳋ ﳌ ﳍ ﳎ ﳏ ﳐ ﳑ ﳒ ﳓ ﳔ ﳕ ﳖ ﳗ
And if whatever trees upon the earth were pens and the sea [was ink], replenished thereafter by seven [more] seas, the words of Allah would not be exhausted. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.
Tafsir
Verse range: 31:25-27
In the reading of Ibn Mas‘ūd, it is "and a sea extending it" (wa-baḥrun yamudduhu), using the indefinite. This must be interpreted according to the first perspective. It is also read as yamudduhu and tumudduhu, with both tā’ and yā’.
If you ask: The logic of the speech would require saying, "If the trees were pens and the sea were ink." I reply: The phrase "extending it" (yamudduhu) makes the mention of "ink" unnecessary. It is derived from the expression "he filled the inkwell" (madda al-dawāh) and "he supplied it" (amaddahā). He made the great sea like an inkwell, and the seven seas like a supply of ink being poured into it continuously, never ceasing.
The meaning is: If the trees of the earth were pens, and the sea were extended by seven seas, and the words of Allah were written with those pens and that ink, the words of Allah would not be exhausted, while the pens and the ink would be exhausted. This is like His saying: {Say, "If the sea were ink for the words of my Lord, the sea would be exhausted before the words of my Lord were exhausted"} (Al-Kahf: 109).
If you ask: You claimed that "and the sea extending it" is a state (ḥāl) in one of the two nominative interpretations, yet it lacks a pronoun referring back to the subject of the state. I reply: It is like the saying: "He went out early, while the birds were in their nests," or "I came, while the army was lined up." These are states that function like adverbial phrases (ẓurūf). It is also possible that the meaning is "and its sea," with the pronoun referring to the earth.
If you ask: Why was "from a tree" (min shajaratin) used in the singular, rather than the collective noun "trees" (shajar)? I reply: It is intended to detail the trees and exhaust them, tree by tree, so that not a single one of the genus of trees remains that has not been sharpened into a pen.
If you ask: "Words" (kalimāt) is a plural of paucity, yet the context is one of abundance, not paucity. Why was it not said "the speech of Allah" (kalām Allāh)? I reply: The meaning is that His words are so vast that the seas cannot suffice to write them, so how could they suffice for His speech?
It is narrated from Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with them) that this was revealed in response to the Jews when they said, "We have been given the Torah, and in it is all wisdom." It is also said that the polytheists said, "This revelation will come to an end," so Allah informed them that His speech does not end. Some consider this verse Medinan, revealed after the Hijrah, while others say it is Meccan, and that the Jews instructed the delegation of Quraysh to say to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): "Do you not recite in what is revealed to you: 'We have been given the Torah, and in it is the knowledge of everything'?" {Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might}—nothing renders Him incapable—{and Wise}—nothing escapes His knowledge and wisdom. Such is He whose words and wisdom do not end.
