Surah Fussilat

(Also called as-Sajdah)

Classification: Meccan. Verses: 54 (some say 53).

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

7. Ha-Mim.

8. A revelation from the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

9. A Book whose verses have been detailed—an Arabic Qur’an for a people who know.

10. A bearer of glad tidings and a warner; yet most of them turned away, so they do not hear.

Ḥā-Mīm If you consider Ḥā-Mīm to be the name of the Surah, it is in the position of a subject (mubtada’), and Tanzīl (the revelation) is its predicate (khabar).

If you consider it an enumeration of letters, then Tanzīl is the predicate of an omitted subject, and Kitāb (a Book) is a substitute (badal) for Tanzīl, or a second predicate, or the predicate of another omitted subject. Al-Zajjāj permitted Tanzīl to be the subject and Kitāb to be its predicate, justifying this by the fact that Tanzīl is qualified by the description that follows, making it acceptable as a subject.

Fuṣṣilat āyātuhu Its verses have been distinguished by various meanings: rulings, parables, exhortations, promises, and warnings, among others. It is also read as faṣṣalat (active voice), meaning: it has distinguished between truth and falsehood, or separated its parts from one another through their differing meanings—similar to saying "he departed (faṣala) from the city."

Qur’ānan ‘arabiyyan This is in the accusative case (naṣb) to denote specification and praise. It means: "I intend by this distinguished Book a Qur’an whose attributes are such and such." It is also said to be an accusative of state (ḥāl), meaning: its verses were distinguished while it was in the state of being an Arabic Qur’an.

Li-qawmin ya‘lamūn Meaning: for an Arab people who understand the verses that have been sent down to them—verses distinguished and clarified in their clear Arabic tongue—so that nothing of it is obscure to them.

If you ask: To what does the phrase li-qawmin ya‘lamūn relate? I say: It may relate to Tanzīl or to Fuṣṣilat. That is: "A revelation from God for their sake," or "Its verses were distinguished for them." However, the best interpretation is that it is an adjective, like what precedes and follows it—meaning an Arabic Qur’an that exists for an Arab people—so as not to separate the description from the thing being described.

It is also read as Bashīrun wa-Nadhīrun (a bearer of glad tidings and a warner) as an adjective for the Book, or as the predicate of an omitted subject.

Fahum lā yasma‘ūn They do not accept and they do not obey. It is like when you say, "I interceded with so-and-so, but he did not hear my request." Even though he heard the words, because he did not accept them or act according to their requirements, it is as if he did not hear them at all.

"And they said, 'Our hearts are within coverings from that to which you invite us, and in our ears is deafness, and between us and you is a partition, so work; indeed, we are working.'"