It is narrated from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: “There was no prophet who was given a Book except that ‘Ha Mim, Ayn Sin Qaf’ was revealed to him.” (1) For this reason, He says:

“Thus does Allah, the Almighty, the All-Wise, reveal to you.”

Ibn Kathir recited it as “yuḥā (it is revealed),” with the ha pronounced with fatḥah. His evidence is Allah’s saying: “It has certainly been revealed to you and to those before you” (al-Zumar 39:65). According to this recitation, the words, “Allah, the Almighty, the All-Wise,” clarify the doer—as though it were asked, “Who reveals?” and the answer given: “Allah, the Almighty, the All-Wise.” (2)

The other reciters read it as “yuḥī (He reveals),” with the ha pronounced with kasrah: “Allah, the Almighty, the All-Wise, reveals to you and to those before you.”

Ata narrated from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, that this refers to reports of the unseen.

“To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth, and He is the Most High, the Supreme. (4) The heavens almost split apart from above them, while the angels glorify the praises of their Lord and seek forgiveness for those on earth. Surely Allah alone is the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful. (5) As for those who take protectors besides Him, Allah watches over them, and you are not responsible for them. (6) Thus We have revealed to you an Arabic Quran so that you may warn the Mother of Cities and all those around it, and warn of the Day of Gathering, concerning which there is no doubt: one party will be in Paradise and another party in the Blaze. (7)”

“To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth, and He is the Most High, the Supreme. The heavens almost split apart from above them”—that is, each one of them almost splits apart ⦗114/b⦘ above the one immediately beneath it because of the saying of the idolaters, “Allah has taken a child.” Its parallel occurs in Surah Maryam: “They say, ‘The Most Compassionate has taken a child.’ You have certainly made an outrageous claim, at which the heavens almost split apart” (Maryam 19:88–90). “While the angels glorify the praises of their Lord and seek forgiveness for those on earth”—that is, for the believers—“Surely Allah alone is the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.”

“As for those who take protectors besides Him, Allah watches over them”: He preserves and records their deeds against them, so that He may recompense them for those deeds. “And you are not responsible for them”: Allah has not entrusted them to you such that you would be held accountable for them.

“Thus”—that is, in the manner We have mentioned—“We have revealed to you an Arabic Quran so that you may warn the Mother of Cities,” namely Mecca, meaning its inhabitants, “and all those around it,” meaning all the towns of the earth, “and warn of the Day of Gathering”—that is, warn them of the Day of Gathering, which is the Day of Resurrection, when Allah will gather the first and the last, the inhabitants of the heavens and the inhabitants of the earth—“concerning which there is no doubt”: there is no doubt