تَنزِيلُ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلْعَزِيزِ ٱلْحَكِيمِ 2
Translations
The revelation of the Book is from Allāh, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.
Transliteration
Tanzīlu al-Kitābi mina Allāhi al-'Azīzi al-Hakīm
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah affirms that the Quran is a revelation (tanzīl) sent down from Allah, who possesses absolute power ('Azīz) and perfect wisdom (Hakīm). Classical scholars like Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari emphasize that this opening declaration establishes the divine origin and authority of the Quran, rejecting any claims that it is human composition. The attributes of Allah mentioned here—Al-'Azīz (The Mighty/Invincible) and Al-Hakīm (The All-Wise)—demonstrate that the Quran's revelation flows from one whose power cannot be overcome and whose wisdom is perfect and infallible.
Revelation Context
This ayah opens Surah Al-Ahqaf, a Meccan surah revealed during the early Islamic period when the Quraysh were actively rejecting the message of the Prophet Muhammad. The ayah directly confronts Meccan disbelievers by asserting the Quran's divine provenance, countering their accusations that the Prophet was fabricating it. The surah's context includes warnings to those who reject revelation and narratives of past peoples who denied their prophets.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said: 'The best of you are those who learn the Quran and teach it' (Sahih Bukhari 5027). Additionally, 'Whoever reads the Quran, then asks Allah through it for something that is lawful, Allah will give it to him' (Tirmidhi 2904), emphasizing the Quran's divine guidance and efficacy.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches believers to recognize the Quran as a divine gift from the All-Powerful and All-Wise Allah, not a human composition, which should inspire confidence in following its guidance and defending it against skeptics. For modern readers, it serves as a reminder that the Quran's comprehensiveness and solutions to human problems reflect divine wisdom that transcends human limitations and changing circumstances.
Related Ayahs
وَلَقَدْ مَكَّنَّـٰهُمْ فِيمَآ إِن مَّكَّنَّـٰكُمْ فِيهِ وَجَعَلْنَا لَهُمْ سَمْعًا وَأَبْصَـٰرًا وَأَفْـِٔدَةً فَمَآ أَغْنَىٰ عَنْهُمْ سَمْعُهُمْ وَلَآ أَبْصَـٰرُهُمْ وَلَآ أَفْـِٔدَتُهُم مِّن شَىْءٍ إِذْ كَانُوا۟ يَجْحَدُونَ بِـَٔايَـٰتِ ٱللَّهِ وَحَاقَ بِهِم مَّا كَانُوا۟ بِهِۦ يَسْتَهْزِءُونَ
And We had certainly established them in such as We have not established you, and We made for them hearing and vision and hearts [i.e., intellect]. But their hearing and vision and hearts availed them not from anything [of the punishment] when they were [continually] rejecting the signs of Allāh; and they were enveloped by what they used to ridicule.
وَمَنْ أَضَلُّ مِمَّن يَدْعُوا۟ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ مَن لَّا يَسْتَجِيبُ لَهُۥٓ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ وَهُمْ عَن دُعَآئِهِمْ غَـٰفِلُونَ
And who is more astray than he who invokes besides Allāh those who will not respond to him until the Day of Resurrection [i.e., never], and they, of their invocation, are unaware.
فَٱصْبِرْ كَمَا صَبَرَ أُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْعَزْمِ مِنَ ٱلرُّسُلِ وَلَا تَسْتَعْجِل لَّهُمْ ۚ كَأَنَّهُمْ يَوْمَ يَرَوْنَ مَا يُوعَدُونَ لَمْ يَلْبَثُوٓا۟ إِلَّا سَاعَةً مِّن نَّهَارٍۭ ۚ بَلَـٰغٌ ۚ فَهَلْ يُهْلَكُ إِلَّا ٱلْقَوْمُ ٱلْفَـٰسِقُونَ
So be patient, [O Muḥammad], as were those of determination among the messengers and do not be impatient for them. It will be - on the Day they see that which they are promised - as though they had not remained [in the world] except an hour of a day. [This is] notification. And will [any] be destroyed except the defiantly disobedient people?
وَإِذْ صَرَفْنَآ إِلَيْكَ نَفَرًا مِّنَ ٱلْجِنِّ يَسْتَمِعُونَ ٱلْقُرْءَانَ فَلَمَّا حَضَرُوهُ قَالُوٓا۟ أَنصِتُوا۟ ۖ فَلَمَّا قُضِىَ وَلَّوْا۟ إِلَىٰ قَوْمِهِم مُّنذِرِينَ
And [mention, O Muḥammad], when We directed to you a few of the jinn, listening to the Qur’ān. And when they attended it, they said, "Listen attentively." And when it was concluded, they went back to their people as warners.