إِنّا سَنُلقي عَلَيكَ قَولًا ثَقيلًا

Indeed soon We shall cast on you a weighty word.

EXEGESIS

The adjective thaqīl, which qualifies the noun qawlan (a word) means: heavy, burdensome, momentous, great, and weighty.^{‎‎‎[1]Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 144.}

EXPOSITION

After waking the Prophet gently and instructing him to engage in vigil during the night, God calls upon the Prophet to prepare himself for a weighty responsibility, informing him that this is the purpose for which this ritual was legislated.‎‎^{‎‎‎[2]Mizan, 20/64.}

The weighty word could refer to the order for public preaching such as in 74:1-7, 26:214-216, and 15:94-95, and the resultant antagonism, enmity, personal loss, and injury that ensues; it could refer to the legal ordinances and prohibitions, especially those related to physical struggle; it could allude to complicated ontological teachings and realities; it could refer to details of the unseen which are particularly difficult for humans to understand and accept; and it could also refer to the direct revelation of divine messages without the intermediary of an angel, a phenomenon that was especially trying for the Prophet. When this type of revelation would occur it would transform the state of the Prophet. He would perspire, and if riding an animal it would kneel down due to the weight of the revelation descending on its rider, unable to move on.‎‎^{‎‎‎[3]Tabrisi, 10/570.}

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. Ḥārith ibn Hishām asked the Messenger of God: ‘How does revelation come to you?’ The Prophet replied: ‘Sometimes it comes upon me like the ringing of a bell. This mode is the most difficult for me. Then when it terminates I would have retained it in my memory and comprehended it. And sometimes the angel of revelation would take the shape of a man and I would comprehend the message.’
2. ʿĀʾishah narrates that if the revelation descended when he was astride his riding animal then he would have to cling to the front part of the beast’s neck. She also said: ‘I have witnessed the revelation come down on him on a day of bitter and intense cold. When it would cease, his forehead would be awash with perspiration.’‎‎^{‎‎‎[4]Tabrisi, 10/570.}
3. Yaʿlā once told ʿUmar of his desire to observe the Prophet while he was receiving revelation. At the next opportunity ʿUmar called out to him, and he witnessed the Prophet ‘with his face red, breathing hoarsely’. Then the Prophet appeared relieved of that burden.^{‎‎‎[5]Cited in The History of the Qur’anic Text: From Revelation to Compilation, p. 46.}
4. ʿAyyāshī quotes from Imam Ali (a) that he said: ‘Sūrat al-Māʾidah descended on him and he was on a grey mule. The revelation produced such heaviness that the mule sank and its stomach sagged such that I saw its navel nearly touch the earth.’‎‎^{‎‎‎[6]Safi, 5/241.}
5. Suyūṭī reports from Abū Hurayrah who said: ‘When the descent of revelation would take place on the Prophet none of us would be able to move or raise him till the revelation terminated.’^{‎‎‎[7]Suyuti, 4/278.}
6. Direct revelation without the intermediary of the angel Gabriel was the most arduous for the Prophet. Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) says: ‘That was when the revelation would come to him without there being the intermediary of an angel between him and God.’ Ṣadūq writes: ‘The Prophet would be among his companions when he would be overcome by a swoon and be afflicted with excessive sweating. When he would recover he would share the revelation by prefacing them with the sentence “God the most high said such and such” or “He has ordered you such and such or has prohibited to you such and such”. This was in contrast to when Gabriel would function as an intermediary, for on those occasions the Prophet would preface the revelation with the words “Gabriel told me”.’^{‎‎‎[8]Cited in Talkhīṣ al-Tamhīd, 1/29-30.}
7. Ṣadūq writes that many claimed that such a state was due to the descent of Gabriel. But when Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) was asked whether the fainting spell which would overcome the Prophet was due to the descent of Gabriel, he replied: ‘No, when Gabriel would descend to the Prophet he would not come into the presence of the Prophet till after he had sought permission to do so. Hence, when he would enter into the presence of the Prophet he would sit before him like a slave. Rather, the state of fainting was one which would occur when God would address him without any intermediary.’‎‎^{‎‎‎[9]Cited in Talkhīṣ al-Tamhīd, 1/29-30.}

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Ṭūsī reports the opinion of Ḥasan al-Baṣrī and Qatādah who said that this means ‘a word that makes an act arduous due to the difficulty and hardship experienced in performing it’, ‎‎^{‎‎‎[10]Tibyan, 10/162.} while Ibn Zayd said that it means ‘acting on the teachings [of this weighty word] makes its weight heavy on the scales as well as in terms of reward and not burdensome or difficult’. It is also said that it means a word that is great in value, worth, importance, significance, and prestige.^{‎‎‎[11]Tibyan, 10/162.}

[1] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 144.
[2] Mizan, 20/64.
[3] Tabrisi, 10/570.
[4] Tabrisi, 10/570.
[5] Cited in The History of the Qur’anic Text: From Revelation to Compilation, p. 46.
[6] Safi, 5/241.
[7] Suyuti, 4/278.
[8] Cited in Talkhīṣ al-Tamhīd, 1/29-30.
[9] Cited in Talkhīṣ al-Tamhīd, 1/29-30.
[10] Tibyan, 10/162.
[11] Tibyan, 10/162.