Surah Al-Hadid (57) — Ayah 3

(Ayah 3) ➊ The meaning of {هُوَ الْاَوَّلُ وَ الْاٰخِرُ وَ الظَّاهِرُ وَ الْبَاطِنُ … : ’’ظَهَرَ يَظْهَرُ‘‘} (ف) is also to be apparent as opposed to hidden, and also to be high and dominant, as He said: « لِيُظْهِرَهٗ عَلَى الدِّيْنِ كُلِّهٖ » [ التوبۃ : ۳۳ ] "So that He may make it prevail over every religion." Here too, due to the definite article on all four predicates of the subject {’’ هُوَ ‘‘}, exclusivity is being created, meaning He alone is the First, there is no beginning to Him, and He alone is the Last, there is none after Him, there is no end to Him, everything besides Him is perishable, He is not subject to perishing. He alone is the One whose existence is apparent, who is manifest through everything in the universe, indicating that the Creator exists, who is dominant over everything, who created whatever He willed and creates whatever He wills, there is none above Him who can prevent Him, and He alone is the One whose essence is hidden, whom eyes cannot perceive. None besides Him possesses even one of these four attributes. The best explanation of this verse has come from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, used to command us that when we lay down on our beds, we should say: [ الَلّٰهُمَّ رَبَّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَ رَبَّ الْأَرْضِ وَ رَبَّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيْمِ، رَبَّنَا وَ رَبَّ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ، فَالِقَ الْحَبِّ وَالنَّوٰی، وَ مُنْزِلَ التَّوْرَاةِ وَالإِْنْجِيْلِ وَالْفُرْقَانِ، أَعُوْذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ أَنْتَ آخِذٌ بِنَاصِيَتِهٖ، الَلّٰهُمَّ أَنْتَ الْأَوَّلُ فَلَيْسَ قَبْلَكَ شَيْءٌ وَ أَنْتَ الْآخِرُ فَلَيْسَ بَعْدَكَ شَيْءٌ وَ أَنْتَ الظَّاهِرُ فَلَيْسَ فَوْقَكَ شَيْءٌ وَ أَنْتَ الْبَاطِنُ فَلَيْسَ دُوْنَكَ شَيْءٌ، اقْضِ عَنَّا الدَّيْنَ وَأَغْنِنَا مِنَ الْفَقْرِ ] [مسلم، الذکر والدعاء، باب ما یقول عند النوم وأخذ المضجع : ۲۷۱۳ ] "O Allah! Lord of the heavens and Lord of the earth and Lord of the Mighty Throne! Our Lord and Lord of everything! Splitter of the grain and the date-stone, Revealer of the Torah and the Gospel and the Criterion! I seek refuge in You from the evil of everything whose forelock You hold. O Allah! You are the First, so there is nothing before You, and You are the Last, so there is nothing after You, and You are the Manifest, so there is nothing above You, and You are the Hidden, so there is nothing after You. Settle our debts for us and enrich us from poverty."

➋ One explanation of { ’’ الْبَاطِنُ ‘‘} is the one generally given, meaning hidden. According to this, the meaning of {’’لَيْسَ دُوْنَكَ شَيْءٌ‘‘} is that You alone are hidden, so there is nothing more hidden than You. This meaning is mentioned in {’’ لَا تُدْرِكُهُ الْاَبْصَارُ ‘‘}, see the explanation of Surah Al-An'am (103), and the same is mentioned in the hadith narrated from Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: [ قَامَ فِيْنَا رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بِخَمْسِ كَلِمَاتٍ فَقَالَ إِنَّ اللّٰهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لَا يَنَامُ وَلَا يَنْبَغِيْ لَهُ أَنْ يَّنَامَ، يَخْفِضُ الْقِسْطَ وَ يَرْفَعُهُ، يُرْفَعُ إِلَيْهِ عَمَلُ اللَّيْلِ قَبْلَ عَمَلِ النَّهَارِ وَ عَمَلُ النَّهَارِ قَبْلَ عَمَلِ اللَّيْلِ، حِجَابُهُ النُّوْرُ وَفِيْ رِوَايَةِ أَبِيْ بَكْرٍ النَّارُ لَوْ كَشَفَهُ لَأَحْرَقَتْ سُبُحَاتُ وَجْهِهِ مَا انْتَهٰی إِلَيْهِ بَصَرُهُ مِنْ خَلْقِهٖ ] [ مسلم، الإیمان، باب في قولہ علیہ السلام : ’’ إن اللہ لا ینام… ‘‘ : ۱۷۹ ] "The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, stood among us and mentioned five things, so he said: 'Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, does not sleep, and it is not befitting for Him to sleep. He lowers the scale and raises it. The deeds of the night are raised to Him before the deeds of the day, and the deeds of the day before the deeds of the night. His veil is light (and in Abu Bakr's narration, it is fire). If He were to remove it, the rays of His face would burn everything of His creation that His gaze reaches.'"

➌ And one explanation of {’’ الْبَاطِنُ ‘‘} is the one given by the exegete Tabari, his words are: {’’ وَ الظَّاهِرُ ‘‘ يَقُوْلُ وَهُوَ الظَّاهِرُ عَلٰی كُلِّ شَيْءٍ دُوْنَهُ، وَهُوَ الْعَالِيْ فَوْقَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ، فَلاَ شَيْءَ أَعْلٰی مِنْهُ، ’’ وَ الْبَاطِنُ ‘‘ يَقُوْلُ وَهُوَ الْبَاطِنُ جَمِيْعَ الْأَشْيَاءِ، فَلاَ شَيْءَ أَقْرَبُ إِلٰی شَيْءٍ مِنْهُ، كَمَا قَالَ :} « وَ نَحْنُ اَقْرَبُ اِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِيْدِ » [ قٓ : ۱۶] "That is, the meaning of {’’ وَ الظَّاهِرُ ‘‘} is that He alone is manifest over everything besides Himself, and He alone is exalted above everything, nothing is higher than Him, and the meaning of {’’ وَ الْبَاطِنُ ‘‘} is that He is the Inward to all things, so nothing is closer to anything than Him, as He said: « وَ نَحْنُ اَقْرَبُ اِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِيْدِ» [ قٓ : ۱۶] 'And We are closer to him than his jugular vein.' In summary, He alone is higher than everything and He alone is the closest to everything. Many scholars have interpreted this nearness as nearness in knowledge, and the meaning of {’’ الْبَاطِنُ ‘‘} as being near to everything in terms of knowledge. This discussion will come in more detail ahead in verse (4) {’’ وَ هُوَ مَعَكُمْ ‘‘}.

3-1 He is the First, that is, there was nothing before Him. He is the Last, there will be nothing after Him. He is the Manifest, that is, He is dominant over all, none can dominate Him. He is the Hidden, that is, only He knows all the hidden matters.

3. He is the First and the Last, the Manifest [4] and the Hidden, and He is the Knower of all things.

[4] That is, when nothing in the universe existed, Allah was still present, and when nothing in the universe will remain and everything will perish, He will still remain. And He is Az-Zahir (the Manifest) in the sense that the existence and manifestation of everything is due to His existence. Whether you reflect on the system of the greater universe, or the microcosm, or the system of the human body, you will find many proofs of His power and existence. There is nothing in the universe that does not point to its Creator. And He is Al-Batin (the Hidden) in the sense that, far from perceiving Him with the five senses, we cannot even form a correct concept of His essence or attributes with our intellect. In this material world, so many veils of the unseen are placed before us that we can never see Him with these eyes.