Az-Zukhruf · Makki · ayah 2 of 89

Az-Zukhruf 43:2

وَٱلْكِتَـٰبِ ٱلْمُبِينِ

“By the clear Book,”

Saheeh International

Essence

Allah swears by His own Book, which needs nothing greater to vouch for it, and calls it clear: clear in itself, and clearing your road.

A reflection

No greater name to lean on

When people want to be believed, they borrow weight. A young researcher signs every email with the name of the famous professor who supervises her, as if her own sentence might not hold. A man in an argument swears by his mother's grave. The ego reaches past itself for something bigger to stand behind.

The oath here does the opposite. Allah swears, and what He swears by is His own Book. There is no greater name for Him to borrow, nothing above Him to vouch for Him. He stands behind His speech with His speech.

One classical commentary calls this one of the finest kinds of oath, because the oath and the thing sworn to come from one valley. The Book is sworn by, and the answer that follows is about the Book. We made it an Arabic Quran so that you may understand (43:3). An oath is only made by something great. So the answer proves the oath was rightly made. A later scholar commenting on it called the observation very fine.

The same commentary compares it to a poet swearing by his beloved's teeth that they are like hailstones. The oath and its claim are about the same thing, and each makes the other shine.

Someone may ask: is it not self-praise for God to swear by His own words? In a creature, self-praise is ugly because it claims more than is there, to get something it lacks. Allah is free of all need (35:15). He gains nothing by the oath. The oath is for the listener, a hand on the shoulder that says: stop, this matters.

That is where the ego shrinks. We swear because we fear we will not be believed. He swears so that we will not miss what saves us. Our oaths are about our pride. His oath is about our need.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.