Ghafir · Makki · ayah 2 of 85

Ghafir 40:2

تَنزِيلُ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلْعَزِيزِ ٱلْعَلِيمِ

“The revelation of the Book [i.e., the Qur’ān] is from Allāh, the Exalted in Might, the Knowing,”

Saheeh International

Essence

Before a single command, the Book states where it comes from: from the One no hand can reach and nothing escapes.

A reflection

The one document you cannot mark up

A copy editor spends her days with a red pen. Everything that crosses her desk is improved, cut, queried. Then one letter arrives that she cannot touch. It is not hers to edit. She can only read it.

The ayah puts the reader in that chair. The Book is sent down from Allah. The word from matters: the speech belongs to its speaker, and to no one else.

Then two names. Al-ʿAzīz: the root pictures an eagle's nest on the highest crag, out of every hand's reach. One commentator says His side cannot be assailed. Al-ʿAlīm: no atom is hidden from Him, however thick its veil.

Another commentary explains why these names come first. They are there so the listener tucks up his sleeves and takes it seriously, instead of treating it lightly.

That is where pride is quietly shrunk. Most of us approach texts as judges, deciding what we accept. Here the order is reversed. The Book was sent by One who knows you better than you do. You are the one being read.

The full entry has 2 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.