بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ
الر ۚ تِلكَ آياتُ الكِتابِ المُبينِ
Alif, lām, rāʾ. These are the signs of the manifest book.
EXEGESIS
Tilka (these) is the feminine of dhālika (that), but as the feminine can be used for non-human plurals, it should here be understood as ‘those’. These is chosen for stylistic reasons in the translation.
It is usually said that the farther referent of ‘those’ is used rather than ‘these’ (hādhihī) to highlight the important station of the Quran, as being something lofty and up high. It is also possible that tilka is used because it is a reference to the ‘protected tablet’.
Mubīn (Manifest) means something that is clear and unambiguous, and makes ambiguous things clear.
EXPOSITION
The surah begins by expounding its main theme (see the Introduction), which relates to the knowledge of God.
Alif, lām, rāʾ: these are disjointed letters (al-ḥurūf al-muqaṭṭaʿah) that appear in the beginning of some surahs. Surahs 10-15 all begin with the letters alif, lām, rāʾ, with the exception of Sūrat al-Raʿd, which begins with alif, lām, mīm, rāʾ. The various opinions regarding these letters have been discussed in the commentary on verse 2:1.
Perhaps the best of these various opinions is that these letters are symbols and abbreviation keys to the knowledge of the Quran as it was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (s) on the Night of Ordainment (laylat al-qadr). What was revealed on that night was not the Quran in the Arabic language form, but rather the meaning entailed in it, revealed into the heart of the Prophet in a non-verbal form of wisdom and understanding. The Quran was also revealed in Arabic, piecemeal over twenty-three years in a verbal form. The disjointed letters are abbreviation codes encoded into that verbal form that can be unlocked by someone who has knowledge of its hidden meanings. As such, these disjointed letters are not meant to be understood by us, but by the holy Messenger of God.
These are the signs of the manifest book: different opinions have been suggested regarding what the word These refers to in this context. Some scholars propose that it refers to the letters Alif, lām, rāʾ, and other Arabic letters that constitute the Quran. Others argue that it refers to the story of Joseph (a), or to Sūrat Yūsuf as a whole, serving to build anticipation to what follows. Yet it may be a reference to the Quran in its entirety, implying that ‘what is about to be related is from the verses of the manifest book’. The verses of the Quran are referred to as signs (āyāt) because they are signs of the veracity of the Quran and God’s word.
The Quran is referred to as manifest book because:
- It is clear in its message and provides comprehensive explanations of various issues.
- It clearly outlines the obligations incumbent upon believers and serves as a source of truth and guidance.
- It is composed in clear and eloquent Arabic, making it accessible to its audience without ambiguity.
- It is evident to anyone who reflects on its verses that it is the word of God, distinct from human speech.
As is evident, none of these interpretations are mutually exclusive. However, there is another possibility that the manifest book may refer to ‘the book’ of the knowledge of God, also known elsewhere as the protected tablet (lawḥ maḥfūẓ). This is supported by the Quranic description, Rather, it is a glorious Quran, in a protected tablet (85:21-22). God describes in the Quran that this protected tablet contains the knowledge of all things: There is no animal on land, nor a bird that flies with its wings, but they are communities like yourselves. We have not omitted anything from the book (6:38). Obviously, book here should not be understood literally, but rather as a representation of a repository of knowledge.
The knowledge contained in that book is not something that humans can directly access. However, God may grant certain individuals access to specific portions of that knowledge. For instance, this may be the knowledge of taʾwīl al-aḥādīth, which this surah describes as having been granted to Prophet Joseph (a) (see verses 6, 21, 37, and 101), or what Prophet Khiḍr (a) is described as having been gifted with in Sūrat al-Kahf. Additionally, Sūrat al-Naml introduces a figure in the court of Prophet Soloman (a) as one who had some knowledge of the book (27:40), further illustrating how select individuals are granted access to divine knowledge.
As the knowledge of the protected tablet is inaccessible to humanity as a whole, parts of it have been distilled and revealed in the form of the Arabic Quran, as explained in the next verse.
[1] See for example Mizan, 11/74; Nemuneh, 9/299.
[2] Tantawi, 7/315.
[3] See also Furqan, 15/9.
[4] Related in Muhit, 6/234.
[5] Zamakhshari, 2/440. Related in Tibyan, 6/91; Tabrisi, 5/316; Muhit, 6/234.
[6] Related in Tabrisi, 5/316.
[7] Tibyan, 6/92.
[8] Mizan, 11/74; Tantawi, 7/315.
[9] Tabari, 12/89; Thalabi, 5/196. Related in Tibyan, 6/92; Muhit, 6/234.
[10] Related in Muhit, 6/235. Another strange opinion is attributed to Muʿādh ibn Jabal, where it is claimed that he said it clarifies the six glottal and throat letters (ḥurūf al-ḥalq), which non-Arabs do not have in their language (related in Tibyan, 6/92; Tabari, 12/89; Thalabi, 5/196; Suyuti, 4/3; Alusi, 6/363).
[11] Zamakhshari, 2/440.
[12] Zamakhshari, 2/440.
[13] Related in Alusi, 6/363; Mizan, 11/74-75. Ālūsī considers this opinion very unlikely, but Tabatabai regards it to be possible.