Al Naml

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

طس تِلْكَ ءَايَاتُ الْقُرْءَانِ وَكِتَابٍ مُبِينٍ

هُدي وَبُشْرَي لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

الَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ الصَّلاَةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَهُم بِالاَخِرَةِ هُمْ يُوقِنُونَ

1. “Ta, Seen. These are the verses of the Qur’an and the Book (that makes things) manifest,”
2. “A guidance and glad tidings for the believers,”
3. “Those who establish prayer and give Zakat (the poor-rate), and of the Hereafter, they are sure.”

The Arabic word /mubin/ is derived from /’ibanah/ which is both intransitive and transitive and means ‘clear’ and ‘to make clear’ both. One of Allah’s way of treatment is that He lets revelation, with its superiority and high rank, available for human beings. The Qur’anic word /zakat/ contains two main meanings; one of them is the proper meaning which is known ‘as poor-rate’, and the other is the general meaning which is ‘helping the needy’ in any form and manner it may be.

In this holy verse, the latter one is meant, because this Surah had been sent down in Medina, where the formal order of Zakat (alms) was issued. However, at the beginning of the Surah we encounter the abbreviated letters of the Qur’an, and regarding to the fact that immediately next to that the magnificence of the Qur’an is referred to, it seems that one of its secrets is that this great Book and its clear verses are formed by the simple alphabetic letters.

It requires that such a Creator, Who has brought such a beautiful sacred relic into being out of such simple items, be praised. We have, of course, discussed in detail in this field at the beginning of Surah Al-Baqarah, No. 2, Surah ’Al-i-‘Imran, No. 3, and Surah Al-’A‘raf, No. 7. Next to the abbreviated letters: (Ta, Seen.), the verse continues, saying:

The application of the word /tilka/ in this verse is for stating the greatness of these heavenly verses; and the Qur’anic word /mubin/ used for the Qur’an, is an emphasis indicating that the Qur’an is both clear and makes the facts clear. Some of the commentators have said that probably the words ‘Qur’an’ and ‘Kitabin Mubin’ (The Book Manifest) refer to two separate things and the latter indicates to /lauh-i-mahfuz/ (Protected Tablet), but the apparent of the verse shows that both of them speak of one thing: one of them in the form of utterances and recitation, and the other in the form of a ‘written Book’.

In the second noble verse, there have been stated two other qualities for the Qur’an. It is the Holy Qur’an which causes ‘guidance’, and the means of good tidings for the believers. It says:

Thus, their belief in both origin and resurrection is firm, and their link with Allah and His servants is strong. Therefore, the above qualities point to both their complete faith and their practical inclusive program. There may arise a question here that if these believers have chosen a straight path from the point of basic doctrines and practice both, why is it necessary that the Qur’an comes for their guidance? Regarding to the fact that guidance consists of different stages, each of which is a preparation for the higher stage and higher stages, the answer of this question is made clear.

Moreover, the continuation of this guidance is itself an important matter. It is the same thing that, by saying:

in our all daily prayers, we ask Allah that He makes us fix in this way and He continues it, because without His grace this continuation is impossible. Besides that, taking the advantages of the verses of ‘the Qur’an’ and ‘the Book manifest’ is possible only for those who carry the soul of ‘seeking the truth’ in them, though they have not obtained the complete guidance yet.

If we see that, in one occurrence, the Qur’an has been introduced as the origin of the piety of the pious ones,¹ and in another one as the source of guidance for the Muslims², and here it is as the cause of guidance for the ‘believers’, one of its reasons is that a person will not go after the reality unless, at least, a stage of piety, submission, and belief in realities exists in his heart, and a disbeliever does not enjoy the light of this ‘manifest Book’ because the eligibility of place is also conditioned.

Besides all of these, the combination of ‘guidance’ and ‘glad tidings’ is possible only for ‘the believers’ and such a ‘glad tidings’ is not available for others. This makes it clear that if in some verses of the Qur’an guidance has vastly and expansively been defined for all people, like Surah Al-Baqarah, No. 2, verse 185 which says:

its purpose is all those who have an appropriate ground in them for accepting the Truth, else, the arrogant, obstinate, and fanatic persons are some blind hearted ones that if, instead of one sun, thousand suns shine on them, they get the least advantage of them.