Tafsir of Al-Waqi'ah 56:75

{Nay, I swear (falā uqsimu)} Its meaning is: "I swear." The lā (no/nay) is an augmentative particle used for emphasis, similar to its usage in the verse: "So that the People of the Scripture may know" (al-Ḥadīd: 29).

Al-Ḥasan read it as: fal-uqsimu (So I swear). Its meaning is: "So, I am the one who swears." The lām is the lām of the beginning (lām al-ibtidāʾ), which enters upon a nominal sentence consisting of a subject and predicate—namely, "I am swearing"—similar to saying: la-Zaydun munṭaliqun (Indeed, Zayd is departing). The subject (anā) was then omitted.

It is not correct to consider this lām as the lām of the oath for two reasons:

1. It is required that it be accompanied by the emphatic nūn, and omitting it is weak and ugly.
2. The phrase la-afʿalanna (I will surely do) in the response to an oath is for the future, whereas the act of swearing must be in the present.

{By the positions of the stars (bi-mawāqiʿi al-nujūm)} Meaning their settings and places of descent. Perhaps Allah—Exalted is He—has specific, great actions at the end of the night when the stars descend toward the west, or the angels have described acts of worship, or because it is the time when the mutahajjidūn (those who pray at night) and those who devote themselves to Him among His righteous servants stand, and mercy and pleasure descend upon them. Therefore, He swore by their positions and magnified that by saying: {And indeed, it is an oath—if you could know—[most] great}.

Alternatively, He meant by their positions: their stations and their paths. In this, there is evidence of such great power and wisdom that description cannot encompass it.

{And indeed, it is an oath—if you could know—[most] great} This is an interpolation within an interpolation. He interrupted the oath and the object of the oath—which is: {Indeed, it is a noble Qur’an}—with this phrase, and he interrupted the described and its description with {if you could know}.

It is also said: The "positions of the stars" refers to the times of the descent of the segments of the Qur’an, meaning the times of its revelation.

{Noble (karīm)} Meaning: excellent, good, and pleasing in its category of books; or beneficial, possessing many benefits; or noble in the sight of Allah.

{In a Register well-guarded (fī kitābin maknūn)} Protected from any but the angels brought near; no one else has access to it. They are those purified from all filth—the filth of sins and other things. This is if you consider the sentence a description of the "well-guarded Register," which is the Preserved Tablet (al-Lawḥ).

If you consider it a description of the Qur’an, then the meaning is: "None should touch it except those who are in a state of purity among people," referring to touching the written text. Some people have extended this to include recitation as well. It is narrated from Ibn ʿUmar: "I prefer not to recite it unless I am pure." From Ibn ʿAbbās, in one narration, he permitted recitation for the one in a state of major ritual impurity (junub). Similar to this is the saying of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): "The Muslim is the brother of the Muslim; he does not wrong him nor abandon him," meaning it is not appropriate for him to wrong him or abandon him.

It is read as al-mutaṭahhirūn (those who purify themselves) and al-muṭahharūn (the purified) with assimilation. Al-muṭahharūn is from aṭhartuhu, meaning "He purified him." Al-mutaṭahhirūn means those who purify themselves or others through seeking forgiveness for them and through the revelation they bring down.

{A revelation (tanzīl)} This is a fourth description of the Qur’an, meaning: sent down from the Lord of the worlds. Or, it is described by the verbal noun (maṣdar) because it was sent down in segments (nujūman) unlike the rest of the books of Allah. Thus, it is as if it is, in itself, "The Revelation." For this reason, it functions like one of its names; it is said: "It came in the Tanzīl (Revelation) such and such," and "The Tanzīl spoke of it." Or, it is a tanzīl (revelation) based on the mubtadaʾ (implied subject). It is also read as tanzīlan (as an absolute object), based on nuzzila tanzīlan.

{Then is it this statement that you take in lightness? And you make your provision that you deny [the truth]?}