Surah Al-Haaqqa (69) — Ayah 40

(Ayah 40 to 43) ➊ { اِنَّهٗ لَقَوْلُ رَسُوْلٍ كَرِيْمٍ … :} These four verses are the response to the oath: the first is that this Quran is the word of a noble messenger, the second is that it is not the word of a poet, the third is that it is not the word of a soothsayer either, and the fourth is that it has been sent down from the Lord of the worlds. The connection between the oath and its response is that what you are witnessing testifies to the truth of these four things, and what you are not witnessing also bears the same testimony. What they were witnessing was enough to know that the person from whose tongue this Quran is being recited is neither a poet nor a soothsayer, neither a liar nor someone who fabricates things from himself, nor a seeker of personal gain or position, but rather he is the noble Messenger of Allah. This is exactly what Heraclius said when he questioned Abu Sufyan about you, and Abu Sufyan had to testify to your noble qualities. (See Bukhari: 7) And this is what you said to the people of Makkah by Allah’s command: «فَقَدْ لَبِثْتُ فِيْكُمْ عُمُرًا مِّنْ قَبْلِهٖ اَفَلَا تَعْقِلُوْنَ » [ یونس : ۱۶ ] “Before the declaration of prophethood, I spent (forty years of) a lifetime among you; do you not use your reason?” They were also witnessing the high morals of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), his truthfulness and trustworthiness, fulfillment of promises, and compassion towards people, and they were also aware of the lies, exaggerations, contradictions between word and deed, and the baseness of flattery and sycophancy among poets.

➋ They had also observed the statements made by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): not a single thing he told about the past turned out to be contrary to reality, nor was any of his prophecies about the future proven wrong. They had also experienced the soothsayers’ claims about the unseen: if one of their stolen statements from the higher assembly turned out to be true, a hundred others would be false. Observing your circumstances in comparison to poets and soothsayers was enough to be certain that you were neither a poet nor a soothsayer. They took pride in their eloquence and rhetoric, yet they were witnessing with their own eyes that despite the challenge of the Quran, they could not produce even a small surah to match it. Allah Almighty said that what you see also testifies that this Quran is being conveyed by the tongue of a noble Messenger. It is neither the speech of a poet nor a soothsayer, and what you do not see—whether it is things that can be understood by reason but are beyond the reach of the five senses, or things that are even beyond reason—all bear the same testimony as the things you have seen. I, the Creator of everything, swear by all the things you have seen and all the things you have not seen.

Here a question arises: in this place, the Quran is described as the word of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), whereas in Surah Al-Muddathir (25), the one who said: «اِنْ هٰذَاۤ اِلَّا قَوْلُ الْبَشَرِ » that this Quran is the word of a human, was threatened with Hell. The answer is that in Surah Al-Muddathir, the threat of Hell was given because that person claimed the Quran was the word of a human being himself, whereas in the verse under discussion, it is not called the word of a human or a man himself, but rather the word of a noble messenger, i.e., a bearer of a noble message. Obviously, the words of a messenger are not his own, but rather he conveys the message with which he is sent. If he speaks from himself, he is not a messenger. Another proof of this is the following verse {’’ تَنْزِيْلٌ مِّنْ رَّبِّ الْعٰلَمِيْنَ ‘‘} (it has been sent down from the Lord of the worlds). The difference between a human’s own words and the words conveyed as a messenger is absolutely clear. In Surah At-Takwir, where the Quran is described as the “word of a noble messenger,” there it refers to Jibreel (peace be upon him), because his qualities are mentioned there, for example: « ذِيْ قُوَّةٍ عِنْدَ ذِي الْعَرْشِ مَكِيْنٍ (20) مُّطَاعٍ ثَمَّ اَمِيْنٍ » [ التکویر : 21،20 ] “He is mighty in power, held in high esteem by the Lord of the Throne. There he is obeyed and trustworthy.”

Some commentators have also taken Jibreel (peace be upon him) to be meant here, but here it is more appropriate to take it as referring to the Prophet (peace be upon him), because after describing the Quran as the word of a noble messenger, it is said that it is not the word of a poet or a soothsayer. Obviously, the disbelievers of Makkah did not call Jibreel (peace be upon him) a poet or a soothsayer, but rather the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). In any case, whether it is considered the word of Jibreel (peace be upon him) or the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), in both cases it is their word in the sense that they were messengers and conveyed only what they were sent with. {’’ كَاهِنٍ ‘‘} One who tells news of the unseen by calculating the positions of stars or by listening to the jinn.