Surah al-Hijr

Makkan (1)

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

“Alif, Lam, Ra. These are the verses of the Book and of a clear Quran. Perhaps those who disbelieve will wish that they had been Muslims.” (1–2)

“Alif, Lam, Ra”: it has been said that its meaning is, “I am Allah; I see.” (2)

“These are the verses of the Book,” that is, these are the verses of the Book; “and of a clear Quran,” that is, the verses of a Quran which clearly distinguishes what is lawful from what is unlawful, and truth from falsehood. (3)

If it is asked: Why did He mention “the Book” and then say, “and of a clear Quran,” when both are one and the same?

We reply: It has been said that each conveys a distinct meaning: a book is that which is written, whereas the Quran is that whose parts are joined together.

It was also said that “the Book” refers to the Torah and the Gospel, while “the Quran” refers to this Book.

“Perhaps”: Abu Ja‘far, Nafi‘, and Asim recited it with a light ba’, while the rest recited it with a doubled ba’. Both are dialectal forms. Rubba denotes paucity, while kam denotes abundance. Rubba is used with nouns, whereas rubbama is used with verbs. One may say, “Perhaps a man came to me,” or, “Perhaps a man came to me.” The particle ma has been added here because of the verb that follows it. “Will wish,” that is, will desire; “those who disbelieve will wish that they had been Muslims.”

They differed regarding the circumstance in which the disbeliever will wish for Islam.

Al-Dahhak said: “At the moment of direct witnessing.” (4)