Al-An'am · Makki · ayah 92 of 165

Al-An'am 6:92

وَهَـٰذَا كِتَـٰبٌ أَنزَلْنَـٰهُ مُبَارَكٌ مُّصَدِّقُ ٱلَّذِى بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَلِتُنذِرَ أُمَّ ٱلْقُرَىٰ وَمَنْ حَوْلَهَا ۚ وَٱلَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِۦ ۖ وَهُمْ عَلَىٰ صَلَاتِهِمْ يُحَافِظُونَ

“And this is a Book which We have sent down, blessed and confirming what was before it, that you may warn the Mother of Cities [i.e., Makkah] and those around it.[326] Those who believe in the Hereafter believe in it, and they are maintaining their prayers.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Good settles in this Book like a kneeling camel; it confirms the old, reaches every land, and is kept by those awaiting the Last Day.

A reflection

Not his words, and not ours

A court interpreter stands beside a judge in a crowded room. She renders the sentence word for word, with great care, into the defendant's language. Afterwards nobody thanks her for the judgement. It was never hers. Her whole skill lay in adding nothing.

Wa hādhā kitābun anzalnāhu: and this is a Book We have sent down. The ayah comes straight after the claim that Allah has sent nothing down to any human being (6:91). It answers by pointing: this one. And it says who sent it.

One classical commentator explains why 'We have sent it down' is placed first among the Book's descriptions. It makes clear the Book is from Allah, not from the Messenger. Someone might suppose that a gifted man had been granted great learning and composed it himself. The ayah shuts that door. Allah Himself undertook its sending down. Another commentator adds that the indefinite kitābun, 'a Book', is there to magnify it.

That humbles everyone who stands near the Book. It humbles the Messenger, its carrier and not its author. And it humbles us, who handle it daily. The reciter with the beautiful voice, the scholar with the long footnotes, the speaker with the moving Friday talk. The ego quietly hopes some of the light is ours. The ayah says the blessing was placed in it by Him.

A sceptic may ask whether this is God praising His own product. Is it not vanity to call your own Book 'blessed'? But look at the direction of the praise. Mubārak describes what He has put into the Book for our sake. He gains nothing by it, being free of all need (35:15). The benefit flows one way only, towards whoever opens it.

The interpreter's honour lies in adding nothing. Ours lies in receiving it as it was sent.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.