Sūrat al-Shūrā

Classification: Meccan (except for verses 23, 24, 25, and 27, which are Medinan). Verse Count: 53 verses (revealed after Sūrat Fuṣṣilat).

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

{Ḥā-Mīm * ʿAyn-Sīn-Qāf * Thus does He reveal to you, and to those before you, God, the Almighty, the All-Wise. * To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth, and He is the Most High, the Most Great. * The heavens almost rupture from above them, while the angels exalt [God] with praise of their Lord and ask forgiveness for those on earth. Unquestionably, it is God who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.}

Ibn Abbas and Ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with them) recited: (Ḥā-Mīm, ‘Ayn, Sīn, Qāf).

{Likewise does Allah reveal to you} Meaning: Just as this revelation, or just as this Book, is revealed to you and to the messengers before you. This signifies that the meanings contained in this Surah have been revealed by Allah to you in other Surahs, and were revealed to the messengers before you. It implies that Allah has repeated these meanings throughout the Quran and all heavenly books due to the profound admonition and immense grace they contain for His servants, both the first and the last.

He did not say "revealed" (ūḥiya - past tense), but used the imperfect (yūḥā), to indicate that the revelation of the like of this is His habit. It is also read as yūḥā in the passive voice. If you ask: "What is the nominative agent (rāfi‘) for the name 'Allah' in this reading?" I say: It is what the verb yūḥā points to. It is as if someone asked, "Who is the Revealer?" and the answer was, "Allah." This is like the reading of al-Sulami: wa-ka-dhālika zuyyina li-kathīrin min al-mushrikīna qatlu awlādihim shurakā’uhum (And likewise, their partners made the killing of their children seem fair to many of the polytheists), in the passive voice with shurakā’uhum in the nominative, meaning: "Their partners made it seem fair to them."

If you ask: "What is the nominative agent for those who read nūḥī (we reveal) with a nūn?" I say: It is raised by the initial position (al-ibtidā’). Al-‘Azīz (The Exalted) and what follows are predicates, or al-‘Azīz al-Ḥakīm are two attributes, and the prepositional phrase is the predicate.

{The heavens almost break} It is read as takādu (with a tā’) and yakādu (with a yā’). Also yanfaṭirna, yatafaṭṭarna. Yunus narrated from Abu ‘Amr a rare reading: tatafaṭṭarna (with two *tā’*s and a nūn). A similar rare form is found in the Nawādir of Ibn al-A‘rābī: al-ibilu tashmamnana.

Its meaning: They almost break from the loftiness of Allah’s status and His greatness; this is indicated by its appearance after al-‘Aliyy al-‘Aẓīm (The Most High, The Most Great). It is also said: [they break] from their (the polytheists') claim that He has a child, as in His saying: {The heavens almost break therefrom} (Maryam: 90).

If you ask: "Why did He say: {from above them}?" I say: Because the greatest signs and the clearest evidence of Majesty and Greatness are above the heavens—namely, the Throne, the Footstool, and the ranks of angels trembling with glorification and sanctification around the Throne, and the traces of His supreme dominion whose essence only Allah knows. Therefore, He said: {break from above them}, meaning the breaking begins from their upper side. Or, because the word of disbelief came from those beneath the heavens, so the logical expectation would be to say "from beneath them," from the direction the word came. However, this is an exaggeration (mubālaghah), making it impactful from the upper direction, as if to say: "They almost break from the direction above them, let alone the direction below them." A similar exaggeration is His saying: {Poured over their heads will be scalding water, by which is melted that which is within their bellies} (al-Ḥajj: 19-20), where the scalding water is made to affect their internal parts. It is also said: {from above them} means from above the earths.

If you ask: "How is it valid for them to seek forgiveness for those on earth while it contains the disbelievers, the enemies of Allah? Yet Allah said: {Those—upon them is the curse of Allah and the angels} (al-Baqarah: 161). How can they be cursers and seekers of forgiveness for them at the same time?" I say: His saying {for those on earth} indicates the genus of the people of the earth, and this genus exists in all of them and in some of them; so it is permissible for it to refer to both. Evidence has shown that the angels only seek forgiveness for the allies of Allah, who are the believers. Thus, Allah only intended them. Do you not see His saying in Surah al-Mu’min: {And they ask forgiveness for those who have believed} (Ghāfir: 7), and His narration of them: {So forgive those who have repented and followed Your way} (Ghāfir: 7)? How they described those for whom they seek forgiveness with qualities that merit it! They left no hope for those who did not repent among the believers, so how could they for the disbelievers?

It is also possible that by "seeking forgiveness," they intend to request forbearance and pardon, as in His saying: {Indeed, Allah holds the heavens and the earth, lest they cease} (Fāṭir: 41), until He says: {Indeed, He is Forbearing, Forgiving} (al-Isrā’: 44), and His saying: {Indeed, your Lord is full of forgiveness for the people, despite their wrongdoing} (al-Ra‘d: 6). The intent is forbearance toward them and not hastening their punishment, making it general.

If you ask: "You have interpreted {The heavens almost break} in two ways. How do the following verses correspond to both?" I say: As for the first, it is as if it were said: The heavens almost break out of awe of His Majesty and reverence for His Pride, while the angels—who fill the seven heavens and surround the Throne in rank after rank—persist in worshiping, glorifying, and praising Him out of submission to His greatness, and they seek forgiveness for those on earth out of fear for them from His strikes.

As for the second, it is as if it were said: They almost break from the audacity of the polytheists in uttering that heinous word, while the angels declare Allah’s oneness and exalt Him above the attributes that the ignorant ascribe to Him, praising Him for the graces He has bestowed upon them, knowing that they will seek refuge in Him—choosing to do so, not being forced—and they seek forgiveness for the believers on earth who have disassociated themselves from that word and its people. Or, they ask their Lord to be forbearing toward the people of the earth and not hasten their punishment despite the existence of that [disbelief] among them, because they know the wisdom in that, out of eagerness for the salvation of creation, and in hope for the repentance of the disbelievers and the sinners among them.

{And those who take as allies other than Him—Allah is Guardian over them, and you are not over them a manager.}