أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا۟ أَنَّا نَأْتِى ٱلْأَرْضَ نَنقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا … وَيَقُولُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ لَسْتَ مُرْسَلًا قُلْ كَفَىٰ بِٱللَّهِ شَهِيدًۢا بَيْنِى وَبَيْنَكُمْ وَمَنْ عِندَهُۥ عِلْمُ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ
"Have they not seen that We come to the earth and diminish it at its edges?… Those who disbelieve say: 'You are not one who has been sent.' Say: 'God is sufficient as a witness between me and you, and whoever has the knowledge of the Book.'"
| Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1 | Lands changing hands — the narrowing of the area of dominion |
| 2 | Deaths — the diminishing of people |
| 3 | A general statement of diminution |
All three readings are transmitted; I do not impose a preference. Per the method (Method): I draw no conclusion about geology or about current politics from this.
وَمَنْ عِندَهُۥ عِلْمُ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ — the sūra closes with the phrase "whoever has the knowledge of the Book".
I record this as an observation, and its ground is the first verse of the sūra: the sūra had opened with tilka āyātu'l-kitāb (these are the verses of the Book). At the close the Book is named again — this time as a witness.