قُرآنًا عَرَبِيًّا غَيرَ ذي عِوَجٍ لَعَلَّهُم يَتَّقونَ
An Arabic Quran, without any deviousness, so that they may be God-wary.
EXEGESIS
Qurʾānan ʿarabiyyan: fluent recitation. Qurʾān means recitation, and ʿarabiyyan describes a speech or text that is eloquent, clear, and evident, without any ambiguity or obscurity. Therefore, An Arabic Quran means a clear and lucid message in terms of language and expression. There are many other verses that describe the Quran as Arabic (12:2, 20:113, 41:3-4, 42:7, 43:3). According to these verses, the Quran has been made Arabic so that people may apply reason, take admonition, and become wary of God.
ʿIwaj: crookedness, bend, distortion, as opposed to being straight and unbowed. All praise belongs to Allah, who has sent down the book to His servant and did not let any crookedness (ʿiwaj) be in it, [a book that is] upright, to warn of a severe punishment from Him (18:1-2). The negation of ʿiwaj in the indefinite (nakarah) form implies that there is absolutely no crookedness whatsoever in this book. The quality of having no ʿiwaj apparently refers to the content of the Quran, which is without any deviation from the truth. There is no contradiction or discrepancy in this book (4:82), and it involves no doubt (2:2). Instead, It guides to rectitude (72:2) and It guides to the truth and to a straight path (46:30). Hence, it can be said that the attribute ʿarabiyyan describes the fluent and understandable language of the Quran, and the attribute ghayra dhī ʿiwajin describes its content and message. Two other possible meanings for not having any ʿiwaj are: 1. The text of the Quran is never altered or distorted over time (it is free of ʿiwaj over time). 2. The message of this book is applicable to all people living at all times, in all places, and under all circumstances.
EXPOSITION
The examples and parables of the Quran are put forth in a clear and understandable language: An Arabic Quran (see Exegesis), and it is a book that does not lead its followers astray: without any deviousness. The source and efficient cause of this book is perfect, and the means of its effusion are complete and trustworthy (21:26-28, 26:192-194, 72:27-28, 80:11-16); it is only up to the recipient to demonstrate the capacity to receive and benefit from this divine grace by being God-wary. This is the book, there is no doubt in it, a guidance to the God-wary (2:2).
The previous verse says, so that they may take admonition, and this verse says, so that they may be God-wary. This suggests that admonition is a prerequisite for becoming God-wary, for admonition awakens one from heedlessness.
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- There are numerous narrations reported from the Prophet, the Imams, the companions, and the Followers (tābiʿīn) to the effect that ‘the Quran is not created’.
Notes: 1. There are strong grounds to doubt the authenticity of these narrations, as they seem to fuel the polemical discussions that engaged Muslim theologians for centuries on whether the Quran is primordial (qadīm) or originated (ḥādith). 2. One should first clarify what ‘created’ (makhlūq) means, for more than one meaning is perceivable for it. It could simply mean ‘fabricated by mankind’, without lending itself to the polemical discussions. 3. One should identify what ‘the Quran’ in these narrations refers to: does it refer to the Arabic words and letters, or to a higher level of its reality? 4. The verses have a clear meaning (as discussed above), and the polemical inferences that some exegetes have made (especially the Asharites, who claim that the Quran is primordial) go beyond the boundaries of tafsīr.
[1] Raghib; Tahqiq, under ʿ-r-b.
[2] Tahqiq; Lisan, under ʿ-w-j.
[3] Alusi, 12/250.
[4] Zamakhshari, 4/125.
[5] Furqan, 25/330, with some elaboration.
[6] Razi, 26/450.
[7] Suyuti, 5/326.