Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (5/127)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

except as a mercy from your Lord. Indeed, His favor toward you has ever been great (87). Say, “If humankind and jinn were to come together to produce the like of this Quran, they could not produce its like, even if they were to assist one another” (88).

His words, exalted is He: “except as a mercy from your Lord”—this is a discontinuous exception, meaning: rather, out of mercy from your Lord, We do not will that. (1)

“Indeed, His favor toward you has ever been great.” If it is asked: How can the Quran be taken away when it is the speech of Allah, exalted is He?

The answer is that what is meant is its erasure from the written copies of the Quran and the removal of what is retained in people’s hearts.

Abdullah ibn Masud said: “Recite the Quran before it is taken away, for the Hour will not come until it is taken away.” It was asked: “These written copies of the Quran may be taken away, but what of that which is in people’s hearts?” He said: “It will be removed from them during the night; what is in their hearts will be taken away, and in the morning they will retain nothing and find nothing in the written copies of the Quran. Then they will occupy themselves with poetry.” (2)

Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As said: “The Hour will not come until the Quran returns to the place from which it descended. It will have a humming around the Throne like the humming of bees. Then the Lord, though He knows best, will say, ‘What is the matter with you?’ It will say, ‘My Lord, I am recited but not acted upon.’” (3)

213/b His words, majestic and exalted is He: “Say, ‘If humankind and jinn were to come together to produce the like of this Quran, they could not produce its like’”—that is, they are incapable of doing so—“even if they were to assist one another”: helping and supporting one another.

It was revealed when the disbelievers said, “If we wished, we could surely say the like of this.” Thereupon Allah, Most High, declared them to be liars. (4)

Thus, the Quran is inimitable in its arrangement, composition, and its reports of the unseen. It is speech of the highest degree of eloquence, unlike the speech of created beings, because it is uncreated. Were it created, they would have produced the like of it.

(1) Omitted in manuscript A. (2) Al-Bayhaqi transmitted it in Shuab al-Iman; al-Tabarani also transmitted a similar report as a mawquf narration, with an authentic chain. See al-Durr al-Manthur, 5:334; Fath al-Bari, 13:16. Ibn al-Jawzi wrote in Zad al-Masir, 5:84: “Abu Sulayman al-Dimashqi challenged the authenticity of this hadith on the basis of the Prophet’s statement: ‘Indeed, Allah does not take away knowledge by snatching it away ...’” (Agreed upon.) He then said: “The hadith of Ibn Masud has been narrated through sound chains; it is therefore possible that the Prophet meant by knowledge something other than the Quran, for knowledge will continue to disappear until the removal of the Quran is the final event.” (3) Kanz al-Ummal, 4:2033, attributes it to al-Daylami’s Musnad al-Firdaws. Al-Suyuti indicated that attributing it to this source suggests weakness. (4) See al-Bahr al-Muhit, 5:78.

﴿إِلَّا رَحْمَةً مِنْ رَبِّكَ إِنَّ فَضْلَهُ كَانَ عَلَيْكَ كَبِيرًا (٨٧) قُلْ لَئِنِ اجْتَمَعَتِ الْإِنْسُ وَالْجِنُّ عَلَى أَنْ يَأْتُوا بِمِثْلِ هَذَا الْقُرْآنِ لَا يَأْتُونَ بِمِثْلِهِ وَلَوْ كَانَ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ ظَهِيرًا (٨٨) ﴾ ﴿إِلَّا رَحْمَةً مِنْ رَبِّكَ﴾ هَذَا اسْتِثْنَاءٌ مُنْقَطِعٌ مَعْنَاهُ: وَلَكِنْ (١) لَا نَشَاءُ ذَلِكَ رَحْمَةً مِنْ رَبِّكَ. ﴿إِنَّ فَضْلَهُ كَانَ عَلَيْكَ كَبِيرًا﴾ فَإِنْ قِيلَ: كَيْفَ يَذْهَبُ الْقُرْآنُ وَهُوَ كَلَامُ اللَّهِ ﷿؟ قِيلَ: الْمُرَادُ مِنْهُ: مَحْوُهُ مِنَ الْمَصَاحِفِ وَإِذْهَابُ مَا فِي الصُّدُورِ. وَقَالَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بن مسعود: اقرؤوا الْقُرْآنَ قَبْلَ أَنْ يُرْفَعَ فَإِنَّهُ لَا تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ حَتَّى يُرْفَعَ. قِيلَ: هَذِهِ الْمَصَاحِفُ تُرْفَعُ فَكَيْفَ بِمَا فِي صُدُورِ النَّاسِ؟ قَالَ يَسْرِي عَلَيْهِ لَيْلًا فَيُرْفَعُ مَا فِي صُدُورِهِمْ فَيُصْبِحُونَ لَا يَحْفَظُونَ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَجِدُونَ فِي الْمَصَاحِفِ شَيْئًا ثُمَّ يُفِيضُونَ فِي الشِّعْرِ (٢) . وَعَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمْرِو بْنِ الْعَاصِ قَالَ: لَا تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ حَتَّى يَرْجِعَ الْقُرْآنُ مِنْ حَيْثُ نَزَلَ لَهُ دَوِيٌّ حَوْلَ الْعَرْشِ كَدَوِيِّ النَّحْلِ فَيَقُولُ الرَّبُّ مَا لَكَ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ؟ فَيَقُولُ: يَا رَبِّ أُتْلَى وَلَا يعمل بي (٣) . ٢١٣/ب قَوْلُهُ جَلَّ وَعَلَا ﴿قُلْ لَئِنِ اجْتَمَعَتِ الْإِنْسُ وَالْجِنُّ عَلَى أَنْ يَأْتُوا بِمِثْلِ هَذَا الْقُرْآنِ لَا يَأْتُونَ بِمِثْلِهِ﴾ لَا يَقْدِرُونَ عَلَى ذَلِكَ ﴿وَلَوْ كَانَ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ ظَهِيرًا﴾ عَوْنًا وَمُظَاهِرًا. نَزَلَتْ حِينَ قَالَ الْكُفَّارُ: لَوْ نَشَاءُ لَقُلْنَا مِثْلَ هَذَا فَكَذَّبَهُمُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى (٤) فَالْقُرْآنُ مُعْجِزٌ فِي النَّظْمِ وَالتَّأْلِيفِ وَالْإِخْبَارِ عَنِ الْغُيُوبِ وَهُوَ كَلَامٌ فِي أَعْلَى طَبَقَاتِ الْبَلَاغَةِ لَا يُشْبِهُ كَلَامَ الْخَلْقِ لِأَنَّهُ غَيْرُ مَخْلُوقٍ وَلَوْ كَانَ مَخْلُوقًا لَأَتَوْا بِمِثْلِهِ

(١) ساقط من "أ". (٢) أخرجه البيهقي في "شعب الإيمان"، وأخرج نحوه أيضا موقوفا الطبراني بسند صحيح. انظر: الدر المنثور: ٥ / ٣٣٤، فتح الباري: ١٣ / ١٦. قال ابن الجوزي في "زاد المسير": (٥ / ٨٤) : "رد أبو سليمان الدمشقي صحة هذا الحديث بقوله ﵊: "إن الله لا يقبض العلم انتزاعا ... " (متفق عليه) . ثم قال: وحديث ابن مسعود مروي من طرق حسان، فيحتمل أن يكون النبي ﷺ أراد بالعلم ما سوى القرآن فإن العلم ما يزال ينقرض حتى يكون رفع القرآن أخر الأمر". (٣) عزاه في كنز العمال: (٤ / ٢٠٣٣) للديلمي في مسند الفردوس. وأشار السيوطي إلى أن العزو إليه مؤذن بالضعف. (٤) انظر: البحر المحيط: ٥ / ٧٨.