since those surahs that were revealed before Surah Al-Baqarah are part of the entirety of this Book of ours, which God, Mighty and Majestic, revealed to our Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him.
The first interpretation is more fitting for what the exegetes said, because that is the most apparent of the meanings of their statement which they made regarding "that".
Some of them have directed the meaning of "that" to be similar to the meaning of the verse of Khufāf b. Nudba al-Sulamī:
If the core of my cavalry has been struck ... then deliberately and knowingly I aimed for Mālik (1)
I say to him, while the spear bends his back: ... Look closely at Khufāf, for I am that one (2)
It is as if he meant: Look closely at me, I am that one. So he claimed that {That Book} meaning "this" is similar to it (3). Khufāf manifested his name in the manner of reporting about an absent person, while he was reporting about himself. Likewise, "that" was manifested with the meaning of reporting about the absent (4), while the meaning in it is pointing to the present and observed.
The first opinion is more fitting for the interpretation of the Book, due to the reasons we mentioned.
Some of them have said: {That Book} means the Torah and the Gospel, and if
Notes
- (1) Al-Aghānī (2/329, 13/134–135, 16/134), al-Khizāna (2/470), and others; it comes later in al-Ṭabarī (1/314, 437). He recites the poem regarding the killing of his cousin Muʿāwiya ibn ʿAmr, the brother of al-Khansāʾ. Mālik is Mālik ibn Ḥimār al-Shamkhī al-Fazārī. "The horses" (al-khayl) here refers to the cavalry of the raiding party; Muʿāwiya and Khufāf had raided Banū Murra and Fazāra. Al-ṣamīm: the pure, unmixed of anything. He intended Muʿāwiya and his being killed on that day. It is said: "I did this matter ʿamda ʿaynin (deliberately before one's eyes)" when you intend it face to face with earnestness and certainty. Tayammama: aimed for and headed toward.
- (2) "I say to him", meaning to Mālik ibn Ḥimār. Aṭara al-shayʾa yaʾṭiruhu aṭran: to grasp one end of something then bend, curve, and fold it. He intended that the heat of the stab made him bend from its pain, then double over to fall slain when the spear struck his vital spot. I hold that the indication in this verse refers to a hidden meaning, as if he said: "I am that one whom you heard about and about his valor." This meaning removes the verse from being evidence for what al-Ṭabarī intended.
- (3) In the printed edition: "as if he intended: observe me, I am that, so he held that 'that book' means 'this' similar to what Khufāf made explicit of his name...", which is an alteration containing no benefit.
- (4) In the printed edition: "therefore he made explicit that...".
This translation was produced with AI assistance and is part of an ongoing human-review process. Found a mistake? Use the feedback option in the reader menu.
