إِنَّ عَلَينا جَمعَهُ وَقُرآنَهُ
Indeed it is up to Us to put it together and to recite it.
EXEGESIS
The preposition ʿalā (lit. ‘upon’ or ‘on top’) may be used to indicate responsibility or duty, like in the verse, your duty (ʿalayka) is only to communicate, and it is for Us (ʿalaynā) to do the reckoning (13:40). Here it means that the onus of putting the Quran together and ensuring its correct recitation is upon God.
The pronoun it following both verbs is referring to the revelation.
Qurʾān (to recite) in this context is not used as a proper noun (the name of the book) but as a verbal noun (maṣdar) derived from the root qaraʾa (to read/recite), and means recital or the act of recitation. A similar usage is found in the verse, and [observe particularly] the dawn recital (qurʾān). Indeed, the dawn recital (qurʾān al-fajr) is attended [by angels] (17:78).
EXPOSITION
There are two possible interpretations for this verse. The first is that the verse means: do not make haste, for the onus is upon Us to collect all its various parts and to recite it to you, and nothing of it shall be omitted or missed, so you do not need to overtake Us in the matter of its recitation.
The second possible interpretation is that put it together means that the words of the Quran will be collected in the heart of the Prophet, so that the Prophet will be able to recite it to the people. This second interpretation is considered stronger and more likely for two reasons. Firstly, the sequence of the verse, placing jamʿ (collection) before qurʾān (recitation), logically implies the process of internalising knowledge before externalising it through speech. The Quran is first collected in his heart, then he is enabled to recite it. Secondly, this view is strongly corroborated by verses such as, We shall have you recite [the Quran], then you will not forget [any of it] (87:6), which explicitly promises the infallibility of the Prophet’s memory. Ultimately, the two views are not mutually exclusive but describe two facets of one miraculous process. The internal imprinting is the ultimate fulfilment of the promise, as it not only ensures the complete delivery of the message but also guarantees its perfect preservation and subsequent recitation to all of humanity.
In either case, the intention is to assuage the Prophet so that he should not worry that something of the Quran should be lost.
This does however raise a question about the manner in which the Messenger of God would learn and memorise the Quranic verses. Was his process of learning them similar to how others memorise the Quran, through study and repetition? Or was it rather the case that the knowledge and wording of it were embedded in his heart by the process of divine revelation? The latter seems to be the case and has text-based evidence: This is indeed [a book] sent down by the Lord of all the worlds, brought down by the trustworthy spirit upon your heart – so that you may be one of the warners – in a clear Arabic language (26:192-195); Say: ‘Whoever is an enemy of Gabriel [should know that] it is he who has brought it down on your heart with the will of Allah’ (2:97).
So, the apparent meaning of this verse is that God would, through divine intervention, ensure that the Prophet would not forget anything from the Quran. This is also what is suggested by 87:6 as well as the verses at the end of Sūrat al-Jinn: Knower of the unseen, He does not disclose His unseen to anyone, except to an apostle He approves of. Then He dispatches a sentinel before and behind him so that He may ascertain that they have communicated the messages of their Lord (72:26-28).
The statement it is up to Us to put it together has also been taken as evidence that the ordering of the Quranic verses was not something done at the discretion (ijtihād) of the companions, but rather it was done per the instruction of the Prophet, as revealed to him by God.
Finally, there is a theological and ethical point to consider here as well. While we know that some things are our duty, we also know that certain things have been promised by God to come to pass. Participating in such undertakings is not so much to ensure that they get done, as much as it is an effort to have the tawfīq and blessing to participate in the good act.
God promises in this verse and others that He is the guarantor of Quranic inviolability and soundness of transmission. So those Muslims and scholars who participated in the collection, preservation, writing, and transmission of the Quran, were greatly blessed with having participated in that holy and sacred task, and if one individual from amongst them turned away, God would have ensured that someone else would have taken his place, and if a whole nation turned away, another nation would be brought in their stead, and if you turn away He will replace you with another people, and they will not be like you (47:38).
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- ‘Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth.”’
[1] Alusi, 15/157; Mizan, 20/109.
[2] Mizan, 20/109; Nemuneh, 25/299.
[3] Tabrisi, 10/600; Tabari, 29/118. This opinion is attributed to Ibn Abbas and al-Ḍaḥḥāk (Tibyan, 10/196).
[4] Tibyan, 10/196; Tabari, 29/118.
[5] Related in Tabrisi, 10/601.
[6] As argued by Mudarrisi, 17/149.
[7] Jeremiah 1:9.