Al-Haqqah · Makki · ayah 40 of 52

Al-Haqqah 69:40

إِنَّهُۥ لَقَوْلُ رَسُولٍ كَرِيمٍ

“[That] indeed, it [i.e., the Qur’ān] is the word of a noble Messenger.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The same words used for Gabriel elsewhere are used here for the Prophet himself, and what follows tells you which one is meant.

A reflection

Same title, two different bearers

This near-identical phrase returns the full oath and context of its first occurrence at At-Takwir (81:19), where it belongs, by most readings there, to Gabriel: what follows it there names power, standing with the Owner of the Throne, obedience among the angels, trust. Here, the commentaries read the same two words as naming the Prophet ﷺ instead, and the reason is what comes immediately after: a denial that this is a poet's word or a soothsayer's word, accusations levelled at Muhammad ﷺ by his own people, never at an angel nobody on earth could see to accuse.

So the identical title is not identically filled. Each occurrence takes its meaning from its own neighbours. In Al-Haqqah, the noble messenger carrying the words is a human being standing in front of sceptical listeners who called him exactly these things. The surah has spent its opening half proving a reality most people doubted; it now turns to proving that the one reporting it is reliable too.

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.