Commentary on Tafsir al-Jalalayn: “Allah has sent down the best of speech, a Book” is a substitute for “the best,” meaning the Qur’an. “Similar” means that some of it resembles some of it in

We return to the words of the author (may Allah have mercy on him), who says: is a substitute for “the best,” meaning the Qur’an. The phrase “a substitute for the best” has passed us by, and it was mentioned that it is permissible for it to be a substitute or an explanatory apposition, on the condition that it is connected to what follows, “a similar Book.” This is because an explanatory apposition serves to clarify the term it is attached to, which is why it is called an explanatory apposition. It does not serve to clarify unless we consider “similar” to be a permanent attribute. And his saying: meaning the Qur’an—is this interpretation a lexical or a semantic one? Is this interpretation lexical or semantic?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : If we wish to provide a lexical interpretation, we use the word itself; or if we wish to provide a semantic interpretation, we use the meaning. So here, did he provide an interpretation of the word itself, saying “a Book” meaning “written,” or did he provide the meaning?
The student: By the meaning.

The Shaykh : By the meaning. So the intended meaning of “Book” here is the Qur’an. The author (may Allah have mercy on him) interpreted it semantically, meaning he interpreted it by its intended meaning. “Similar” he said means that some of it resembles some of it in its arrangement and other aspects. It resembles some of it in its arrangement. By “arrangement” here, the opposite of prose is not intended, for the Qur’an is not poetry. But in terms of arrangement, arrangement refers to the structuring and organizing of the speech so that it resembles itself. He says: the promise and the warning, among other things, are repeated in it. This means that the promise is mentioned, followed by the warning; the mention of the Fire is followed by the mention of Paradise; the attributes of the believers are followed by the attributes of others. Look at His saying, Exalted is He: and their opposites are those who disbelieved. And look at His saying: And look at His saying: And look at His saying in Surat al-Kahf: when He mentioned what the believers have of reward in Paradise, He mentioned what the disbelievers have of punishment in the Fire. And now, the examples of this are very numerous. The author said: “Shudders” means “trembles” at the mention of His warning. His saying “The skins of those who fear” means at the mention of the warning, or the mention of the Fire, or what resembles fear and terror, such as the mention of what befell the people of Noah, the people of Lot, and others. Then he says: “Fear.” And this interpretation is weak, because he interpreted the meaning with something lesser than it, since we said that fear (khashiyyah) is fear accompanied by knowledge. We provided evidence for this and for that by His saying, Exalted is He: So if the author had said “They fear their Lord with a fear based on knowledge of His greatness,” the interpretation would have been correct. But now, we consider the interpretation deficient. “Become calm.” But there is no doubt that the interpretation of “softening” is more eloquent than the mention of “calmness,” because shuddering requires the skin to become rough, raised, and stiff, and what corresponds to that is softness and calmness. So the author’s interpretation of softness with calmness is, in reality, an interpretation by the necessary consequence, for softness is not calmness. When the skin shudders, it stiffens, and this is why you find the extremities of a person become cold because the blood recedes from them somewhat. When the terror subsides, it softens, and the stiffness is thereby removed. The softening of the heart is the opposite of its hardness. This means that when they hear the warning, their skins shudder and their hearts recoil, and then their skins and hearts soften. The author said: “At the mention of His promise.” But the correct view is that it is at the remembrance of Allah in general. Even the warning, if a person reflects on it and his soul calms down after what frightens him has come to him, it softens even for the warning. So the author’s specification of that to the mention of the promise is somewhat problematic. Nevertheless, it has a perspective if the Qur’an is repeated, and the mention of the Fire comes, followed by the mention of Paradise, and the hearts soften; or the mention of the people of the Fire comes, followed by the mention of the people of Paradise, and the hearts soften as well. And his saying: He did not say “for the remembrance of Allah,” but said “to the remembrance of Allah.” It seems that this softening became a protection, and that is the remembrance of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. And his saying: Is it from the category of adding the source to the doer, meaning to what Allah reminded them of, or from the category of adding the source to the object, meaning to their remembrance of Allah? The answer is both. The word is suitable for this and that, meaning to their remembrance of Allah, or to what Allah reminded them of, which is the Qur’an that Allah made repeated. “That” means the Book. The author (may Allah have mercy on him) informed us that the reference in the word “that” returns to the Book. Accordingly, the intended meaning of guidance here is guidance of indication, for the Qur’an is guidance in the sense that it indicates every good, indeed every thing, by His saying, Exalted is He: And in the saying: Here, the guidance is guidance of indication and success, because it was attributed to Allah, Exalted is He. And Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, has both types of guidance in His hand. The preposition “by” in His saying: The author did not clarify its meaning, but its meaning is causality, meaning by the cause of. And “whom.”