الٓر تِلْكَ ءَايَٰتُ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ ٱلْحَكِيمِ · أَكَانَ لِلنَّاسِ عَجَبًا أَنْ أَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَىٰ رَجُلٍ مِّنْهُمْ أَنْ أَنذِرِ ٱلنَّاسَ وَبَشِّرِ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ أَنَّ لَهُمْ قَدَمَ صِدْقٍ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ
Alif-lām-rā · Tilka āyātu'l-kitābi'l-ḥakīm · A-kāna li'n-nāsi ʿajaban an awḥaynā ilā rajulin minhum an andhiri'n-nāsa wa bashshiri'lladhīna āmanū anna lahum qadama ṣidqin ʿinda rabbihim, qāla'l-kāfirūna inna hādhā la-sāḥirun mubīn
"Alif-lām-rā. These are the verses of the wise Book. Was it a thing of astonishment to people that We revealed to a man from among them: 'Warn people, and give those who believe the good news that with their Lord they have a footing of truthfulness'? Those who deny said: 'This is a plain sorcerer.'"
The note on the disconnected letters (ḥurūf muqaṭṭaʿa) has been entered many times in the index (al-Baqara, Qāf, al-Jāthiya): there is no certain knowledge of their meaning, and no calculation of letters and numbers is entered into. I do not repeat it.
What belongs here is a datum of the muṣḥaf that can be counted, and it was tabulated at al-Shūrā 42/1: in some sūras the letters are counted as a verse on their own (alif-lām-mīm — al-Baqara 2/1), in others they form a single verse together with the sentence that follows. Yūnus belongs to the second group: alif-lām-rā and tilka āyātu'l-kitābi'l-ḥakīm together are the first verse.
تِلْكَ ءَايَٰتُ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ ٱلْحَكِيمِ — the opening sentence was tabulated at al-Shuʿarāʾ 26/2 and Yūsuf 12/1. I rely on that treatment: the same pattern recurs in several sūras, and the only thing that changes is the final adjective (al-ḥakīm / al-mubīn).
The question is an istifhām inkārī: it is asked in order to state that there is nothing here to be astonished at.
The root ع-ج-ب was treated at Qāf 50/2 (bal ʿajibū an jāʾahum mundhirun minhum) and at al-Raʿd 13/5 (wa in taʿjab fa-ʿajabun qawluhum). I rely on that treatment, and the core recorded there holds here as well: the objection begins not from a proof but from a measure of familiarity.
| Place | Who is astonished | At what |
|---|---|---|
| Qāf 50/2 | The other side | At a warner coming to them from among themselves |
| al-Raʿd 13/5 | The text returns the astonishment | At their objection to the resurrection |
| Yūnus 10/2 | A question is asked | Rajulin minhum — at a man from among themselves |
The word common to all three is minhum / minkum: one from among them. The ground of the objection is that the messenger is a human being and a familiar one. This objection and the answer to it were treated in detail at al-Furqān 25/20 and al-Anbiyāʾ 21/7-8; I rely on that treatment.
The root ق-د-م: to go before, to advance. Qadam — foot; and from this a step, a firm place, precedence.
| Reading | What qadama ṣidqin is |
|---|---|
| 1 | A fixed, firm place / station — a position where the foot does not slip |
| 2 | Righteous deeds sent on ahead — on the line of mā qaddamat yadāh |
| 3 | A good precedence / past — a portion written beforehand with God |
All three readings are transmitted; I do not impose a preference. The point common to them is that the word states a firmness of place.
And the use of the word ṣidq as a qualifier will come back once more within the sūra: in the ninety-third verse the Children of Israel will be given mubawwaʾa ṣidqin (an abode of truthfulness). Both constructs are on the same pattern: noun + ṣidq.
| Verse | Construct | To whom |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Qadama ṣidqin — a firm footing | Those who believe |
| 93 | Mubawwaʾa ṣidqin — a firm abode | The Children of Israel |
I record this as an observation about the wording: the sūra qualifies both an individual standing and a communal settlement with the same word.
This sentence will come back almost word for word in the seventy-sixth verse of the sūra — but in another mouth:
| Verse | Who says it | About whom | Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | al-Kāfirūn | The Prophet | Inna hādhā la-sāḥirun mubīn — "this is a sorcerer" |
| 76 | Pharaoh and those around him | What Moses brought | Inna hādhā la-siḥrun mubīn — "this is sorcery" |
The difference is a single letter: sāḥir (sorcerer) and siḥr (sorcery). The one qualifies the person, the other what he brought.
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the sameness of pattern in the two sentences: the sūra does not place the narrative of Moses in its middle as an example — it shows the sentence of the second verse as it was once spoken in history. The narrative thus stands as the record that the objection is not new. And the thirty-ninth verse will say this outright: kadhālika kadhdhaba'lladhīna min qablihim.