Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “Allah has sent down the best of speech, a Book similar in its parts, in pairs; the skin of those who fear their Lord shudders from it, then their skins and their hearts soften at the remembrance of Allah. That is the guidance of Allah, by which He guides whom He wills. And as for whom Allah leaves astray, for him there is no guide.”

Then Allah the Exalted said: This is the beginning of today’s lesson. “Allah has sent down” — it is said that this is a nominal declarative sentence, with a nominal subject, so it is a complete sentence. “Sent down” (nazzala) is from the weak verb form, and the expression “anazala” is sometimes used, which is a quadriliteral verb increased with an alif. The scholars differed on whether the two have the same meaning, i.e., whether “anazala” and “nazzala” mean the same thing or if the meaning differs. The correct view is that their meanings are the same, except when there is a contextual indicator (qarinah). When there is a contextual indicator, “tanzil” refers to what is sent down bit by bit, and “inzal” refers to what is sent down all at once. But this only happens with a contextual indicator. Without a contextual indicator, “nazzala” and “anazala” mean the same thing. For this reason, Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: and He says: , and they mean the same thing. Likewise, in the Qur'an, Allah sometimes says “We sent down” (anzalna) and sometimes says “We sent down” (nazzalna), and they mean the same thing. But with a contextual indicator, “tanzil” means bit by bit, as in His saying the Exalted: and after that: . Here, “nazzalna” differs from “anzalna”; it means the sending down bit by bit, as evidenced by His saying: . Good. He says: “The best” (ahsan) is a superlative form meaning the most beautiful. Beauty includes the beauty of style and the beauty of subject matter. His saying “the best” encompasses both, meaning the best in its style and the best in its subject matter. As for style, it is that it conforms to rhetoric in its ultimate goal: conciseness where conciseness is required, elaboration where elaboration is required, emphasis where emphasis is required, and the omission of emphasis where that is required, and so on. Likewise, it is the best in subject matter. Its subject matter consists of news and rulings. The best of news is the truest and most beneficial in terms of moral lessons. The best of rulings is the most just and most upright in serving the interests of the servants. The Noble Qur'an contains beauty in both aspects: style and subject matter. What comes after style?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : And subject matter. “A Book” (kitaban) is either an apposition (badal) to “the best” or a clarifying apposition ('atf bayan), if we consider “a Book similar” as a single unit. But if we consider “a Book” as independent of “similar,” then it is an apposition and not a clarifying apposition. “Kitaban” means written, because the form “fa'al” often comes to mean the passive “maf'ul.” From this are words like “ghiras” (planted), “bina'” (built), “kiswah” (clothing), “farash” (bedding), and “ghitaa'” (covering). There are many examples in the Arabic language of “fa'al” coming to mean what?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : The passive “maf'ul.” So “ghiras” means planted, and “bina'” means built. “Kitaban” means written. And in what is it written? It is written in three things: in the Preserved Tablet, in the scrolls in the hands of the angels, and in the scrolls in our hands. The Noble Qur'an is written in all of these. And His saying: means that its parts resemble one another. In what? In perfection, quality, and the beauty of the subject matter. You will never find it contradictory, and you will never find it differing. But according to the occasion, sometimes the occasion requires brevity, and sometimes the occasion requires elaboration. If we look at the surah “Say, He is Allah, the One” and the surah before it, we find a similarity in beauty between them, in that each surah was appropriate to the topic or the one being spoken about. “Say, He is Allah, the One” speaks about Allah, the Lord the Exalted, and His names and attributes, so it came in the appropriate style. And speaks about a disbeliever, so it came in the appropriate style. No one should say, “Where is the similarity between and ?” We say that similarity means that every statement came in the manner appropriate to its subject. This is the aspect of similarity. It is clear, my brothers. Good. So, similar in what? In perfection, quality, and the beauty of the subject matter. And of perfection and quality is that the speech is appropriate to its subject: elaboration where elaboration is required, generalization where generalization is required, and detail where detail is required. Elaboration and lengthening of elaboration according to what rhetoric dictates. And He the Exalted said: , which is derived from “tathniyah” (dual), meaning the Qur'an is “muthani” (in pairs), meaning it comes in twos. “Muthani” means that it pairs a meaning with its opposite. Reflect on the noble verse and you will find that when the Fire is mentioned, Paradise is mentioned after it, and when the people of the Fire are mentioned, the people of Paradise are mentioned after them, and so on. This is so that the listener does not get bored with one topic, and so that he moves from warning to encouragement, thereby being motivated to perform the obligatory acts and to beware of committing forbidden acts. This is one of the complete and perfect styles of rhetoric. “Shudders” (taqashshar)