Surah Al-Furqaan (25) — Ayah 32

(Ayah 32) ➊ { وَ قَالَ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوْا لَوْ لَا نُزِّلَ …:} This is the fifth objection of those who denied the Prophethood of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), which is completely baseless. The objection was: Why was the entire Qur’an not revealed to you (peace be upon him) at once? The fact that it is coming down little by little means that you (peace be upon him) compose it after thinking, and this is human speech. The answer to this is that yes, it was revealed little by little in this way, because there are many wisdoms in it. The objection is baseless because the Qur’an claims that since it is the word of Allah, even if the whole universe were to come together, they could not produce the like of a single surah of it. The portion of the Qur’an that has already been revealed, they have not been able to produce anything like it; if the entire Qur’an were revealed at once, how would they present anything like it? Then why make such a demand?

➋ Here too, if {’’ وَقَالُوْا ‘‘} (And they said) had been stated, it would have been sufficient, but {’’ وَ قَالَ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوْا ‘‘} was said because the reason these people made this statement is not that the demand is reasonable, but its cause is only and only disbelief. When a person is determined to deny, he utters such baseless things.

➌ { كَذٰلِكَ لِنُثَبِّتَ بِهٖ فُؤَادَكَ :} That is, in this way, revealing it little by little has many great benefits: (1) One of them is that in this way We strengthen and make firm your heart, such that when difficulties arise, the disbelievers raise objections, or an issue arises, We inform you of its solution through revelation. In this way, revelation descends repeatedly, Jibreel (peace be upon him) comes to you again and again, and from this feeling your courage is strengthened, your resolve increases, and your heart is made firm, knowing that the Master is not heedless of our condition, He is constantly watching over us and guiding us, and sending His closest angel to us. If Jibreel (peace be upon him) had brought the entire Qur’an at once and finished, then in the recurring difficulties, how would the heart have found courage, and how would it have attained that delight and strength which comes from the feeling that Allah’s messenger has come with His message:
“Parting and union each have their own delight;
Go a thousand times, come a hundred thousand times.”
(2) With a few verses revealed at a time, it was easier to understand them; their meaning became more specific and clear according to the occasion, and the possibility was eliminated that anyone could take the words and derive whatever meaning they wished. In the actions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and the Companions, the practical image of these verses also became apparent. This would not have been the case if the whole book had been revealed at once. (3) In this way, the commands of the Noble Qur’an were revealed gradually, which brought ease for the Ummah. If at one time the limits for theft, robbery, murder, alcohol, slander, adultery, in short, the limits for every sin had been stated, it would have been extremely difficult to act upon them. (4) According to the expediency of the time, some commands were for a certain period, after which they were to be abrogated, so in the case of the whole book being revealed at once, this would not have been possible. (5) For the answers to people’s questions and the replies to the objections of the disbelievers, the repeated revelation of verses brought comfort and reassurance, which could never have been achieved if the Qur’an had been revealed all at once. (6) The Arabs were unlettered people, who did not know how to read or write; for them, it was easy to memorize a few verses, which were revealed on every occasion. This was not the case if the whole Qur’an had been revealed at once. In this way, the Qur’an was preserved in hearts, not dependent on paper. If the whole written book had to be memorized continuously, there could have been negligence, resulting in reliance only on the written book, and consequently, the Qur’an would have become unprotected like the previous books. (7) With a few verses being revealed, the miraculous and unparalleled nature of the Qur’an became more evident; whenever a few verses were revealed, the inability of the disbelievers to respond became apparent. If the whole Qur’an had been revealed at once, its miraculous nature would not have been so evident. (8) In another place it is said: «{ وَ قُرْاٰنًا فَرَقْنٰهُ لِتَقْرَاَهٗ عَلَى النَّاسِ عَلٰى مُكْثٍ وَّ نَزَّلْنٰهُ تَنْزِيْلًا }» [ بني إسرائیل : ۱۰۶ ] “And (it is) a great Qur’an, We have divided it (into parts) so that you may recite it to the people gradually, and We have revealed it, (little by little) revelation.” The example of this Qur’an is like rain; whenever rain descends, a wave of life runs through the dead earth, and this benefit only occurs when rain descends from time to time, not when all the rain falls at once. An example of this is if a teacher reads the entire book to his student in a single day.

➍ The root of { وَ رَتَّلْنٰهُ تَرْتِيْلًا:’’ تَرْتِيْلًا ‘‘} is from {’’تَرْتِيْلُ الْأَسْنَانِ ‘‘}, “to have some space between the teeth,” like the petals of the baboonah flower; such teeth are called {’’ ثَغْرٌ مُرتَّلٌ‘‘}. That is, in this way, the Qur’an was revealed gradually over twenty-three (23) years.