هُوَ ٱلَّذِى يُنَزِّلُ عَلَىٰ عَبْدِهِۦٓ ءَايَٰتٍۭ بَيِّنَٰتٍ لِّيُخْرِجَكُم مِّنَ ٱلظُّلُمَٰتِ إِلَى ٱلنُّورِ ۚ وَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ بِكُمْ لَرَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Huwa'lladhī yunazzilu ʿalā ʿabdihi āyātin bayyinātin li-yukhrijakum mina'ẓ-ẓulumāti ila'n-nūr; wa inna'llāha bikum la-raʾūfun raḥīm "It is He who sends down clear signs upon His servant, that He may bring you out of the darknesses into the light. God is indeed most kind to you, most merciful."
The verb is in the تنزيل (tanzīl) form, not inzāl. The difference between the two forms is recorded by the classical lexicographers thus: inzāl conveys sending down all at once, tanzīl sending down piece by piece, at intervals.
This difference fits the context here: the verses were sent down not at one time but spread over years.
In verse 25 of this same sūra أَنزَلْنَا (anzalnā — the inzāl form) will be used, and there the things sent down will be the Book, the balance and iron. The difference of form will come up again when we take up that verse.
آية — root أ-ي-ي (or, according to some lexicographers, أ-و-ي): a sign, a mark, a proof. An āya is what points to something. The Qurʾān uses this word for the sentences of the text, for the signs in nature, and for miracles alike.
بينة — root ب-ي-ن: to separate two things. The full analysis of the word was made in the section on al-Bayyina, and what was recorded there is this: a bayyina means, before "clear", what distinguishes. What comes between two things and separates them from one another.
That is, the expression "clear signs" is nearer to meaning distinguishing marks than easily understood verses. And this is consistent with what follows in the sūra: in verse 25 it will be said that the prophets were sent bi'l-bayyināt, and in verses 12-15 a scene of separation will be set up.
It was recorded at al-Baqara 2/17-20: in the Qurʾān nūr is always singular and ẓulumāt always plural. The right is one, the wrong innumerable.
This pattern recurs many times in the Qurʾān, and always in the same direction: from the darknesses into the light. For the reverse direction the pattern changes: "…they bring them out of the light into the darknesses" (al-Baqara 2/257) — there the subject is ṭāghūt.
What is striking here is that the verb is transitive: li-yukhrijakum — "that He may bring you out." It is not you who come out; you are brought out.
At al-Baqara 2/17-20 the common conclusion of the two similitudes was recorded thus: the light comes from outside. Neither could the man who kindled a fire hold the light in his hand, nor could the man in the storm summon the lightning. This verse says the same thing from the positive side: coming out of the darkness is not something that happens of itself.
And this finding is a preparation for the scene that will be set up three verses later. In verse 13 the hypocrites will ask for light and will not be given it. Where the light comes from has been said here, in verse 9.
This expression, used of the Prophet, occurs in many places in the Qurʾān and always does the same work: to keep the messenger in the position of a servant.
In a sūra that will take up monasticism in verse 27 and the sending of the prophets in verse 25, this naming is meaningful. The messenger is not exalted; he is named as a servant given a charge.
رؤوف — root ر-أ-ف: tenderness, delicacy, pity. Most lexicographers count raʾfa finer and more intense than raḥma: raḥma is general, while raʾfa is in particular the feeling of not being able to bear that someone should be harmed.
رحيم — root ر-ح-م: mercy. The detailed analysis of the word was made in the section on al-Fātiḥa; it is from the same root as raḥim (the womb).
The coming together of the two names occurs in several places in the Qurʾān. And its place here is meaningful: the verse closes with mercy in the middle of a demand (faith and spending). The demand is not hardened; the intention behind the demand is stated.