FOOTNOTES

1          When freedom is taken away and the human dignity is broken; some deities and rabbs (a god that masters, nurtures, sustains, etc.) are fabricated; shirk [associating others with Allah], injustice, wrong deeds and chaos spread on the earth and the balance of the nature is disturbed, Allah sends a messenger and reveals a book to those peoples due to His mercy. Allah takes His mercy as His debt. So, Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) was chosen as the Messenger in Mecca under these conditions and he was revealed.

²               Rabb means “The One Who disciplines and educates, One Who guides his creations to certain targets within the frame of a schedule, one who programs and manages the development”. This word, in absolute terms, is used for Allah alone. As to humans, it is used in such forms as “the rabb of the house”, “the rabb of the workplace”, etc. The English term closest to this term in the context of meaning is “boss”. While having a meaning close to rabb, this word does not cover the meaning of rabb entirely as it is used only in the commercial context. For this reason, since we did not have the possibility to explain the term rabb with multiple words, we had to leave it in its original Arabic form. Therefore, our readers should keep the above mentioned definition in their minds.

³          This command is directly to the Prophet, so it does not concern others. The word iqra, which we translated as “learn-teach!”, is generally translated in other interpretations of the Qur’an as “recite”. What meant here is not the activity of reading a book or a text. One can also recite when alone. The literal meaning of the word is “accumulate and distribute your accumulation”. Therefore, what actually meant with the use of this word is “learn and teach”. This is the essence of the duty of the prophets. The Messenger will later be informed about what he will learn and teach (8/87, Al-A’la/1-13; Division 20). For this reason, we translated this word as “learn-teach”.

⁴               With the expression, “Who taught by the pen”, as used in the Ayah, the Messenger of Allah is given the direction to write down or have others write down the Ayat revealed to him; thus ensuring that the Ayat are preserved.

⁵               When man believes that he becomes wealthy, he takes on Allah and transgresses, thinking what he does will not be recompensed; he pretends to be Allah, becomes irresponsible.

⁶          Outside of its literal meaning, the word Salah has always been translated and interpreted as the “daily prayer” for centuries. The literal meaning of Salah is “to support, to help, to share one’s burden; to assume the liability for solution and to backup”. The word “as-Salah” as mentioned in the Qur’an, became a proper name that means “to support financially and spiritually against the problems, to undertake the liability of solution for the problems”. The problems mentioned here are not only personal problems but also are such social issues as education and training, economic and political matters, etc. In short, Salah is the foundation and the symbol of the social nation. The word “as-Salah”, in our interpretation, is present both in its original Arabic form and also as used in English. The English use of the word “Salah” is detailed in our work, “Tebyinu’l Qur’an [Manifestation of the Qur’an]”.

⁷          Taqwa is a word that means “to avoid committing sin thus to evade the harm and the punishment that one may suffer on the day of judgment by entering under the guardianship of Allah and embracing the righteous deeds”. It was first mentioned in the Qur’an in the meaning of “refraining from associating others with Allah” and “to believe in Akhirat”, has then been expanded to cover all actions that reflect faith. Therefore, we used the term “taqwa” as “entering under the guardianship of Allah” and the term “muttaqi” as “the one who enters under the guardianship of Allah”.

⁸          It is seen in the Qur’an that many Surat starts with “detached, unconnected letters”. Various theories are suggested by some people about this matter stating that these letters are analogous, codes, abbreviation of a word, initials or final letters of certain words, etc. In our opinion, these letters are warning symbols such as “Elâ! [Be careful! Open your eyes!]” and as the “Hello!” used when answering the telephone, these exclamatory words draw attention to the respective Ayat to be read. Furthermore, these are indispensable elements of the mathematical structure of the Qur’an. Also, these letters may represent a numerical value. Insomuch as numbers were not invented among the Arabs in the era the Qur’an was revealed, and letters were used in place of numbers. Utilization of letters as numbers is known as “abjad”. We have shown the numerical values of the detached letters next to them. We do not have an established opinion as to what these numerical values were meant to represent. The “abjad” system has no peculiar quality or property other than having been used as numbers in the era when the Qur’an was revealed.

While no satisfactory studies have been conducted so far in relation with these detached letters, available works offer only references to what was conveyed by the ancients. Clarification of this matter – as many others – calls for the intervention of honest, sincere and willful companions of the Qur’an.

⁹          Arabic language uses a sentence construction, called an “Oath [Qaseem] Sentence”, to support the suggested theory with solid evidence. That is, the “Oath [Qaseem] Sentence” is utilized to firmly establish the suggested theory with solid evidence. The Oath [Qaseem] Sentence consists of two parts: The first part is the wowing part [producing witnesses, submitting evidence] called the “Oath Part”; and the second part is where the suggested theory is submitted, called the “Reply to Oath”. In the oath part, individuals, events and objects are given as evidence of the theory that is suggested in the second part. In the Reply to Oath Path, on the other hand, the main subject of the theory is given. Technical structure of these sentences are different from the other sentence constructions as well. These are detailed in Tebyinu’l Qur’an [Manifestation of the Qur’an].

This sentence construction is used hundreds of times in the Qur’an. Our Rabb uses oaths [Qaseem] for many events, systems or “things” and produces them as evidence for His judgments.

¹⁰         As it can clearly be understood from the paragraph, Muhammad was chosen as a prophet due to the respect showed to him by his people, and the fact that he is moral, intellectually and mentally sound, and has a clean wealth.

¹¹         Literal meaning of the Ayah is as follows: “We will put seal on his hose”. This is a statement that expresses the way Arabs humiliate a person before the society. We replaced this statement with an English cognate.

¹²         Our Rabb relentlessly gives endless examples and stories so that the topic may be understood correctly, a lesson may be taken and to enlighten the future. We will see hundreds of exemplifications and stories. These stories and examples are about Noah, Ad, Thamud, Lot, people of Moses/Israelities, Pharaoh whom the people that lived in the era when the Qur’an was revealed knew very well and their remnants. Since the stories, which play an important role in the education and training, are also quite effective for warning, many stories and exemplifications are given in the Qur’an, and these are reiterated many times. As can be easily understood from the style of these stories and exemplifications, these are not told to provide historical information but as a reminder. Stories and exemplifications contained in the Qur’an, according to our findings, offer the following advantages to the people to whom the reminder will benefit:

These;

• Give the information that many prophets were sent before thus showing that the prophets were not emerged by themselves.
• Teach that the only task of all prophets were but to convey messages and to remind.
• Give the information that the messengers of Allah were always opposed by the chiefs of the people they were sent.
• Give examples from the past – some of them known to them – to let those who deny the truth conveyed by the prophets and forbid them will be punished; remind, warn them and enlighten the future by explaining the reasons of their collapse and devastation.
• Inspire trust by informing that our Prophet and His companions faced situations that were experienced by the previous prophets and their people in a similar fashion or almost exactly the same way; also, motivate and spiritually reinforce them by telling them that the Messengers of Allah always prevailed.

People of today should review and research the civilizations, peoples that were outside of the Middle East and collapsed after the revelation of the Qur’an; for instance Anatolian, Carian, Lydian, Lycian, Phrygian, Hittite, Urartu, Ionian, Hellenic, Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Roman, Alexander the Great, Byzantine, etc., and establish their future by avoiding mistakes and wrongs that they did.

¹³         Tasbih means “To purify Allah from things that do not suit Him, so, glorifying Him; to comprehend that He is adorned with all kinds of perfect qualities and to say this fact aloud at any time possible”.

¹⁴ The word Sabir/Patience, the literal meaning of which is “to imprison, contain”, means “to have patience on the path guided by intellect and the religion, to be resolute, not to break loose”; i.e. “to withstand all malice one may suffer beyond his control and experience great agony because of it; to strive to overcome all this malice”. When examining what Sabir is, one must also know what it is not. It must be well known that, it is not to succumb to unlawful conviction, not to yield to laziness and sluggishness and submit to being humiliated, not to resign to abasement, rapes, any act that may damage human dignity, not to keep silent and passive against these, endure, be patient. Because keeping silent against illegality is to take part in it. On the contrary, Sabir is “to strive, to stand up against such malice, to defend and protect a right, and being resolute in the course of this”. Our Rabb said: “There were many prophets, with whom many soldiers of Allah fought; they did not weaken, corrupt and give in because of what afflicted them in the path of Allah. And Allah likes those who are steadfast. (Surah Al-Imran 146). Resigning to the malice that may be overcome with self power and will or showing unwillingness and weakness in the procurement of one’s needs is not Sabir but inability, laziness and cowardice. Common in all prophets, Sabir plays an important role in Islam. Trying to explain it with a few words does not reflect the whole meaning of the word. Therefore, we preferred to use the direct English translation of the term Sabir. Our readers should know the meaning of Sabir well. Sabir is detailed in Tebyinu’l Qur’an [Manifestation of the Qur’an].

The literal meaning of the word hut, which we translated as “distress” is “the distress caused by insatiability, dissatisfaction”. Since fish lacks the sense of fullness, “the fish” is defined as hut. The expression those who have hut means “Yunus [Jonah] and Moses”. These two prophets depressed due to the complexity of their tasks and tried to evade their liabilities. In the Qur’an (Official Mushaf: Surah As-Saffat/139-149 and Surah Al-Kahf/61) the term hut is attributed to both of them. And according to the Qur’an (Official Mushaf: Surah As-Saaffah/139-148 and Surah An-Naml/10, Surah Al-Qasas/31) both of them evaded their tasks.

¹⁵ The meaning of the word Muzzammil as used in the original Ayah is “the one who is enshrouded in a cloth or anything”. In the idiomatic use; the term means “preparation for the sleep, wearing underwear, pajamas before getting in the bed, tuck oneself under the quilt, live solitarily, avoid getting involved with people”. In our interpretation, we opted for the second meaning.

¹⁶ Due to geographic and cultural conditions, this task is well suited to a community in which social and cultural affairs are carried out in the night. Other believers who live outside of the Arabian geography should serve their religious liabilities in accordance with the conditions of their respective geographies, without any consideration for night-day.

¹⁷ Waqil means “the one who arranges all creatures pursuant to a schedule and implements this schedule by supporting, maintaining it”.

¹⁸ See Footnote No. 121

¹⁹ See Footnote No. 116

²⁰ This Ayah belong to the Medinan Period. Exact time of its revelation is not known. Those who first organized the Mushaf placed this Ayah among the first revealed Ayat. In our opinion, this Ayah (division), which constitutes a division by itself, should follow the 106^th Ayah of the Surah At-Tawbah; i.e. between Divisions 712 and 713. In this Ayah, duties of the believers and the Messengers of Allah are separated and duties of the believers are stated to be easier than the Messengers’ duties and the divine principles do not burden the votaries.

²¹ While in the 10^th division the term muzzammil is used, here the expression ya ayyuha’l mudaththir is used. In many works the terms muzzammil and mudaththir are used in the same meaning. However, there is a nuance between these two words in terms of meaning. If this fact is overseen, the true message of the Ayah can not be fully comprehended. The word muzzammil means the act of “dressing in general using such items as dresses, blankets, clothes, etc.”. Mudaththir, on the other hand, means the act of “dressing in a manner that is acceptable in the public using garments that can be worn in the public”. The original form of mudaththir is mutedaththir. Daththar means “such garments that can be worn over the shirt as gowns, coats, trench coats, robes, etc.”.

In this Ayah, allegory, one of the literary techniques that are utilized in the Qur’an, is used. Wearing an outer garments means being prepared to go shopping, go to work or go out. This allegory, in turn, means that Muhammad wears the uniform of the prophethood and he is ready to warn the people.

The explicit message of the Ayah is as follows: “O one who wears the coat of prophethood! O Muhammad, the one who wears the coat of prophethood and girded up!”.

²² Al-Alemin [all worlds] means everything that bears the signature of Allah and manifests Allah”.

²³ See Footnote No. 2

²⁴ Being the infinite form of the trilateral root of a-b-d, the term Ibadah means “to serve, to engage in voluntary servitude”. These meanings express the unconditional submission, obedience and compliance of the individual. In the context of religion, it means: “Unconditional acknowledgement and fulfillment of the liabilities of the servant towards his master/creator, which are assigned to him by his master/creator”. Allah, the Creator of all things, informed His servants on the attitude and lifestyle He determined for His servants using various methods and ultimately compiled all these revelations in the Qur’an. In the light of these facts, Ibadah is the unconditional fulfillment of the duties conveyed by Allah through a guide [the Qur’an] to His servants, under absolute obedience and submission. Then, Ibadah is not fulfilling a few specific deeds as widely used by the people. Ibadah is to “fulfill and implement all duties assigned in the servitude guide of Allah”.

²⁵ Inzaar  means “to frighten, to faze by informing and raising awareness”. We translate the imperative mood of this word as “Warn!”. Our dear readers should remember that the expression “Warn!” does mean “Faze through frightening, informing and raising awareness!”.

²⁶ In those Ayat we have seen so far, it can be understood that; our Rabb directly addresses Muhammad bin Abdullah, appoints him as the Prophet and commands him to learn and teach in the name of his Rabb; trains and prepares him for his task; adorn him with the uniform of prophethood and furnish him. Here we can see that Allah calls Muhammad for duty by saying: Immediately, warn! “In the name of Allah, the One Who gives blessings to all living beings He created, the One Who is very merciful upon those He created: “All praise is to Allah, Rabb²³ of all worlds²², the One Who gives blessings to all living beings He created, the One Who is very merciful to those He created, the owner and the ruler of the day of Akhirat [Afterlife], on which everyone will be recompensed with all deeds, evil or good, he did; no one else may be praised. Only You we worship²⁴ and only You we ask for help. Guide us to the straight path of those whom You favored, not to the path of those whom You are not pleased with and who are stuck in confusion” And proclaim that your Rabb is the greatest. One should remember that in those divisions of the Qur’an, our Rabb addresses only our Prophet and our Prophet has not delivered the messages to anyone else yet. According to the historical records, having received the command “Immediately, warn! In the name of Allah, the One Who gives blessings to all living beings He created, the One Who is very merciful upon those He created: “All praise is to Allah, Rabb²³ of all worlds²², the One Who gives blessings to all living beings He created, the One Who is very merciful to those He created, the owner and the ruler of the day of Akhirat [Afterlife], on which everyone will be recompensed with all deeds, evil or good, he did; no one else may be praised. Only You we worship²⁴ and only You we ask for help. Guide us to the straight path of those whom You favored, not to the path of those whom You are not pleased with and who are stuck in confusion!” ³And proclaim that your Rabb is the greatest”, the Prophet climbed up the Al-Safa, summoned people around him and started his speech: “I hereby (teach, warn) in the name of Allah, the One Who gives blessings to all living beings He created, the One Who is very merciful to those He created…”.

As can be seen, the 7 Ayat, which are known as the Surah Al-Fatiha, are actually the supplemental parts of the 2^nd Ayah of the Surah Al-Mudaththir and not an independent Surah. Conversion of these Ayat into an independent Surah and naming it Al-Fatiha [the Introduction/the Opening] invokes the notion that the Qur’an was compiled by the Prophet or these Ayat were not revealed but merely a statement of the Prophet and then inserted in the Qur’an as an introduction.

²⁷ The expression, “Blowing of the Trumpet” correlates to the specific method that was used in the ancient era to summon people or warn them of a danger. The trumpet in question was used to be made of the horn of cattle. Blowing of this trumpet reminds the trumpet muster or summoning siren or a referee blowing his whistle to start or finish a game or the school bell that marks the start or end of the lessons. We may interpret this as “the sounding of the alarm”. This expression will be used in everywhere other than this Ayah in the form, “blowing of the Sur”.

²⁸ These Ayat have been considered as ambiguous and consequently interpreted differently in other interpretations and commentaries. For this very reason, this will likely be the case in the future. Bashar, saqar and lavvahat, three terms mentioned in the Ayah,  are homonyms. Bashar, saqar and lavvaha are used a couple of times in the Ayah to pun. The literal meaning of saqar is “pain perceived by brain caused by the fire”. Due to this meaning, Saqar has become one of the proper names attributed to Jahannah [Hell]. However, in this paragraph, our Rabb says “Do you know what Saqar is?” thus implying that the word Saqar is not used in its literal meaning as widely used by the people instead it means another concept. There are many examples of pun like this. That means, our Rabb ascribes a new meaning to the word Saqar (Division 15): “Saqar is something that produces exceptional plaques for the man, spares nothing yet terminates nothing, upon which set is the “nineteen”. And those who suggested that the Qur’an is fabricated words of the man will experience the “Saqar” and know that the Qur’an is not the word of man. Bashar, on the other hand, means “people, man” and “outer skin of humans which may grow hair”. The Root of the homonym lavahhat, “levh”, means “timber” and also “lightning, to sparkle, to be seen from afar, to torch, burn the skin, thirst”. Our dear readers may derive various definitions and adopt any of them according to their understanding.

It is obvious that the 31^st Ayah of the Official Mushaf does not fit in here in terms of content and structure. We believe that it is placed here due to carelessness of those who compiled the Mushaf. We are yet to determine the actual position of this Ayah which covers the same subject as the Surat Al-Imran/7 and Al-Baqara/26,27 in the Official Mushaf. For this reason, we rendered the Ayah as an independent division (division 15) here. The Ayah is unrelated to other Ayat before and after it.

²⁹ In this paragraph, another evidence is produced for that the Qur’an is not the words of man and importance of saqar is emphasized. The “actual” meaning of the words of the Ayat is as follows: “No, no! The moon; and the night when it turns its back, and the day when it is bright are the evidences that it [Saqar] is one of the greatest things that are a warning for those of you who want to go ahead/proceed or stay aback”. As will be seen herein, the word Qamar [the Moon] metaphorically used for “the Messenger”; night for “ignorance”; and day for “social enlightenment”. So, in this interpretation, we directly showed the metaphorical meaning. When the actual capacity of Muhammad, the effect of the Qur’an on the community; eradication of the ignorance, and the social enlightenment are considered, it can surely be understood that the Qur’an is not the word of man. Saqar proves this fact with another approach.

³⁰ It is widely accepted that the person mentioned in this Surah as Abu Lahab is Abduluzza bin Abdulmuttalib ben Hasheem; and his wife is Umm Jamill [Awra]. The historical records describe Abu Lahab as an extremely wealthy, large, red faced and hot tempered person. He fought against Islam until the end of his life and always led or was among those who used to associate others with Allah. Although he did not participate in the Battle of Badir personally, he sent a mercenary. When our Prophet started to convey the Messages revealed to him by Allah, Abu Lahab was the first one to deny. During the recitation of Al-Fatiha, he cried out, “Curse be upon you! This is why you gathered us here?” and threw stones at Him, injuring His feet. Thereafter, during the visits of our Prophet at bazaars, markets, etc. to convey the truth, Abu Lahab followed Him like a shadow; tried every possible way to prevent Him. He sabotaged His meetings, trying to convince people by saying, “Here, he is my nephew, he is a madman, do not listen to him!”. His verbal attacks were sometimes followed by physical attacks. And these were not all he did. He used to ridicule our Prophet, saying “If son of my brother tells the truth, I will pledge my children and wealth and evade the punishment”.

While Abu Lahab was keeping his animosity against our Prophet alive with verbal and physical attacks, his wife supported her husband by laying thorns around the Prophet’s house and spreading gossips against Him. Her support was so enthusiastic that she gave her beloved necklace away as a gift for the sake of this hatred. Many mufassir [interpreter of the Qur’an] suggest that the expression “a fiber noose on her neck” mentioned in the 6^th Ayah represents that infamous necklace.

Such hatred coming from close relatives saddened the Prophet. He could not reach the success He wanted due to their preventions and negative propagandas. The damage caused by His uncle was much higher that the damage caused by others. Some said: “Why should we believe in somebody who is not trusted even by his own uncle?”.

These Ayat, known as the Surah “Abu Lahab” were revealed to cheer up and support and motivate the Prophet in such distressful times.

In the previously revealed Ayat, those who transgressed because of the wealth, property and people’s support they had were mentioned without being named, and it was revealed that these people who denied the Akhirat [Afterlife] should be left to Allah, that they would be punished by Allah. Those mentioned with their characteristics and properties were personified in the person of Abu Lahab.

Since the Qur’an is a universal message beyond time and space, it would be wrong to assume that this message is peculiar to a specific timeframe or to a specific geographic region. While giving an example about a matter in the Qur’an, Allah does not specify a date, place or name. He describes those who deals with their attitude, character and personal properties. Thus, He ensures that the example He gives will always be valid, at any time and in any place.

Another message conveyed through this Surah is that, since even Prophet’s own uncle has no privilege, social position of an individual notwithstanding if he is a king, a slave; wealthy or poor, or inherited honorific titles such as Sayyid or Sharif will not make the individual privileged on the day of Akhirat [Afterlife].

These Ayat fulfill a miracle by providing news for the future. In the Surah, it is stated that Abu Lahab and his wife would not surrender and believe and would be sent to Jahannah [Hell]. Died 15 years after the Surah was revealed, Abu Lahab denied the truth until his death. This miracle, which was witnessed by all during the years in which the Qur’an continued to be revealed, is one of the crystal clear evidences of the prophethood of Muhammad.

³¹ The literal meaning of the Arabic word Tabbat is “one that is dried, perished, demolished”. Consideration of the phrase “two hands” mentioned in the Ayah as “metonymic”, i.e. with the mention of two hands, the owner of these hand is actually referred, is of secondary importance.

The phrase two hands represents the two powers of Abu Lahab. Then, 3^rd sentence of the respective division explains his two powers as “his wealth and that which he earned”. When it is considered that Abu Lahab was a wealthy man, “that which he earned” may be deducted to be his social circle, his organization, sons, servants and the militia he trained. We preferred the metaphorical meaning.

³² The literal meaning of the phrase originally mentioned in the Ayah is “when ten month pregnant she-camels are not cared about”. The “ten month pregnant she-camel” represents the best resources of income for the people of the time such as farms, factories, mines, inns, baths, etc.

³³ The literal meaning of the phrase originally mentioned in the Ayah is “when wild beasts gather together”. This means that even wild beasts will gather like flocks of sheep or ewes by the severity of the day of judgment, therefore losing their own selves.

³⁴ The literal meaning of the phrase originally mentioned in the Ayah is “when selves are paired”. According to the Surah Al-Waqi’ah/7 (Division 127), the pairing mentioned here is the pairing, gathering or summoning of people as  “left, right and forerunners”.

³⁵ The phrase iza’l-maw’udati suilat is usually translated as “when the girl who was buried alive is asked”. Which somewhat narrows down the meaning of the Ayah. The actual meaning of the phrase should be “girls, boys and adults who are deprived of their rights through pressure and torment; who are banned from education, working and other opportunities thus obliged to live a miserable and distressful life, being in agony all their lives”.

³⁶ The “actual” meaning of the phrases originally mentioned in the Ayah is “Those who hide, flee to their homes, the night when it leads, the dawn when it breathes are evidences that”. We used the metaphorical meaning.

³⁷ ‘Arsh means “the greatest, the highest position/throne”. It is mentioned in the Qur’an for 26 times. While four of them are mentioned for the servants, namely the throne of the Queen of Sheba in the Surah An-Naml and the throne of Yusuf (Joseph) in the Surah Yusuf (Joseph), other 21 mentions are used metaphorically for the Throne of Allah.

Attribution of the metaphorical meaning to Allah is the declaration of Him as the Owner of the Highest Rank, and the fact that there is no other governor higher than Him.

³⁸ The word of the messenger is “the message of the Authority Who sent the messenger, which is conveyed by the messenger without adding, extracting or modifying”.

³⁹ The original phrase in the Ayah is “this is not the word of Satan, the expelled”. The literal meaning of the word Sheitan [ Satan/Devil ] is “the one who is away from the truth”. As a conception, it is the common name used for “all those people, institutions and authority that act against reason and the truth”.

The Qur’an details who or what Satan may be, His properties and distinguishing features. According to the Qur’an, Satan is the people and authorities that A) impose/command to consume haram/forbidden and gain unjust income, B) induce us to commit evil, immorality and to say things against Allah that we do not know, C) threaten us with poverty, D) make us delusional, E) command us to change the creations of Allah, F) whisper us adorned words to deceive, G) provoke us with apprehensions, confuse us, H) spoil us with the deeds we do, I) transgress us, J) sow discord between humans with intoxicants/drugs and gambling, K) try to forbid us from remembering Allah and worshipping Him.

The phrases “Satan the Expelled”, “Satan the Stubborn” are used in the Qur’an for “Iblis”. “Iblis” means the “thinking ability of human”. The Qur’an describes Iblis as a power, an entity or an ability that is made of energy and that can not be seen, confuses people; produces notions, approaches people from around them; acts by influencing, can not act in absence of influence, only interacts with human in all living creatures, denies to submit to the man. This ability is mentioned in the Qur’an as personified. You can find detailed information thereof in “Tebyinu’l Qur’an [Manifestation of the Qur’an]”.

⁴⁰ Tasbih/purification of the name: “Tasbih” of a name [keeping free from deficiencies and glorify] actually means the “Tasbih” of the owner of the name. Because glory and divinity of the owner of the name is expressed with the glory and divinity of the name itself. Therefore, purpose of the Tasbih of a name is to keep our Rabb devoid of names and attributions that do not fit Him and to clear the stains attributed to His name. During the era, when the Qur’an was revealed, wrong and absurd beliefs were common among Arabs such as: A) Angels are daughters of Allah, B) Uzair (Ezra) and Jesus are sons of Allah, C) Some angels and idols have the ability to bring one close to Allah, D) There is an ancestral relation between Allah and Jinn. Therefore, the purpose of the command, “Tasbih of the name”, is to remove and dispose such names and attributions that may reflect these beliefs from among the names and attributions of our Rabb immediately.

⁴¹ While the “actual” meaning of the phrase originally mentioned in the Ayah is “The night when it covers and wraps, the day when it shines and the one who created the male and the female are the evidences that your efforts and works are truly in pieces and scattered”, we recommended the metaphorical meaning.

⁴² While the literal meaning of the Ayat is “That dawn, ten nights, the couple and the single, that night when it goes away are the evidences that your Rabb definitely watches over”, we preferred the metaphorical meaning. The Ayah, which is the 14^th Ayah of the Official Mushaf and have the meaning of “Indeed your Rabb watches over”, is the reply part of the Oath [Qaseem] Sentence. While it should be integrated to the Oath [Qaseem] Sentence technically and semantically, it was placed in an irrelevant position by the Mushaf Organization Committee.

⁴³ The original meaning of the Ayah is “Is there a strong-convincing narration which makes believe in these for the one who has reason?”. These questions are named “istifham-i inkari” in the rhetoric. This structure adds the meaning of “Surely! Otherwise is impossible!”. Thus we preferred its literal form in our interpretation.

⁴⁴ The phrase “the owner of stakes” is an ancient Bedouin idiom used in the Classical Arabic. Idiomatically, it was metaphorically means “a powerful authority” or “an invincible, indestructible power”. The number of stakes that support a Bedouin tent depended on the size of the tent. The size of the tent always correlated to the status and power of the owner. For this reason, a powerful patriarch was always described as “the owner of the tent that stands over countless stakes”.

⁴⁵ The literal meaning of the phrase originally mentioned in the Ayah is “The morning and the night when it covers with darkness are the evidences”. We preferred its metaphorical meaning.

⁴⁶ See Footnote No. 24

⁴⁷ The Companions of the Elephant, according to the Qur’an, is a people that was destroyed by Allah due to their malice plots. According to Arab and Islamic accounts, “the Companions of the Elephant” was the name given to the army that was commanded by Abrasa, the Yemen viceroy of Kingdom of Aksum of Abyssinia, and used an elephant brought from Abyssinia before themselves to boost their glory.

According to the historical accounts, Abrasa, who was the viceroy of Yemen for the Kingdom of Aksum of Abyssinia in the middle of the 6^th Century, saw the respect shown by Arabs to the Kaaba and commissioned an ostentatious cathedral in the city of San, named “Al-Qullays” for religious, political and economic purposes, and invited Arabs to visit the cathedral with a notice. While this invitation failed to draw attention of Arabs, Abrasa’s cathedral was stained by an Arab for the purpose of insulting. Furious upon this, Abrasa drove his army to Mecca to demolish the Kaaba. This incident is named “the Incident of the Elephant” and the year the incident took place is named “the Year of the Elephant”. ‘‘Ashab-ı Fil/The Companions of the Elephant’’ means ‘‘a group of foolish people and idiots’’ according to its meanings in the dictionaries. However a rhetoric called ‘‘Tavriya’’ has been used here.

⁴⁸ See Footnote No. 2

⁴⁹ Since the terms Jinn and Ins mentioned first here in the Qur’an, we wish to provide a brief information thereof: In the folklore, Jinn is known as a creature which “like human, eats and drinks, reproduces, believes, is sometimes employed by wise humans as slaves, has extraordinary power and knowledge, possesses humans, does harm to those it pleases, is capable of making one a saint, is a secret supporting force that inspires divine values, is unseen”; therefore, the Qur’an is misunderstood. The term Jinn actually means “the covered creature; an entity or force which humans can not perceive with their sensory organs, but the very existence of which is absolute”. The antonym of this term is Ins [Insan], on the other hand, means “an entity that can be perceived with five senses, known, seen, familiar, capable of interaction, is never absent but permanently present”. The following terms which are familiar to us are derivatives of the term Jinn: Jannah [A place floor of which is hidden by foliage], Jinnah [Insanity, the one whose mind is hidden from himself], Janin [Fetus, -so named as it is hidden within the womb of its mother-], Junnah [a shield used in the war –so named as it cover and hides the individual from arrows and spears-].

We will see that the term Jinn is used in the Qur’an to mean “microorganisms, electricity, magnet, ray, radiation, agent/spy, stranger, unidentified person”. We will also see that the terms Jinn and Ins are used in the Qur’an together. When these antonyms are used together, meaning of words differentiates, morphs and gets richer.

Deriving a new word from two antonyms that have broader meanings is a method utilized by every language. For instance; when such antonyms as night and day, wet and dry, alive-dead, cats and dogs, morning and evening, the earth and the heavens/universe, good and bad, bitter and sweet, right and left, forward and backward, up and down, width and height, black and white, small and large, life and afterlife are used together idiomatically, the meaning of the newly formed phrase differentiates from the specific meaning of the individual terms and gets richer.

When used together as a phrase, the antonyms Ins and Jinn mean “seen-unseen, known-unknown, recognized-unrecognized, all and everything”. The  Qur’an contains many examples thereof.

⁵⁰ Ilah, literal meaning of which is “to cover up oneself, hide, get used to and servitude, used, in general, as a common name for any object that is “worshipped, adored, idolized”. The reason to use Ilah in the meaning of “an entity that is worshipped” may be that this word is attributed to the meaning of “one that supplied the needs, one that rewards the good deeds, one that gives peace and comfort, sovereignty, one that rules and protects, one that spares in case of a disaster”.

Ilah is used in the Qur’an to mean “an entity, divine or falsehood, that is worshipped by people” and also “the true deity that is fit to be worshipped”.

⁵¹ Samad has many different meanings and can not be translated using a single word. These meanings can be listed as follows: the master to turn to/ask for all needs, sublime; the one that is not hollow, the one that does not accept anything in, the one who requires nothing; the one who knows everything; lenient; the most honorable and most glorious; the one who creates all; the one who is asked/begged for what is desired; the one who is asked for help in case of distress; the one who does what he pleases, judges at his sole discretion while being not accountable or questionable for what he did; the only honorable person; wealthy/rich; the one who is dominant over his servants, the most supreme, the one who is not obliged to show respect to his minions, the one who is asked for all needs; the one who does not eat, drink, the one who feeds but is not fed, the one who will survive to eternity after all his creations die; the one who is eternal; the one who does not die, the one who has no successors; the one who does not sleep and is not woken up; the one who can not be defined with qualities of others; the one who has no deficiencies, faults, errors; the one who never involves in a trouble; the one who is the most exalted in quality and deeds; the one who always prevails and never fails; the one whom no one can meet personally, perceive the qualities and features; the one who can not be perceived by the eyes; the one who has a deficiency nor surplus.

If we have to summarize these qualities with a mathematical expression, the accurate phrase should be “the perfect and absolute entity existence of whom can not be calculated using a numerical system, from natural numbers to imaginary numbers”.

It is notable that a word with such a rich content is not used in the Qur’an for any deity before Allah.

⁵² The phrase istiva, which is mentioned in the original Ayah metaphorically means “he dominated, he ruled”. As can be seen in many Ayat, the expression “He dominated the Throne in the heavens/universe” means “He ruled the highest, the most glorious post, He took control”. This ambiguous concept is used in the Qur’an metaphorically. In the Official Mushaf, Istiva is also contained in the Surat Yunus/3, Ar-Ra’d/2, Al-Furqan/59, As-Sajdah/4, Ta-Ha/5, Al-A’raf/54, Al-Baqara/29. What is meant with the expression the one who dominates as mentioned in the Ayah is “Allah”. Because, “istiva” is one of the names of Allah but not of His angels or servants.

⁵³ A distance of bow, as mentioned in the Ayah, was a measurement unit used by the people at the time. As no international standard measurement units, such as “meter” was invented in that era, regional units and method were used. Like rumh [spear], sevt [scepter], ell, fathom, body length, isbi [finger], hatve [feet], shibr [handsbreadth], zirah [arm’s length] and arrow’s reach. Arrow’s length was a measurement unit used at the period. This approach to measurement was adopted in the Western World as well. For instance, “feet” that is based on the length of the human’s foot, “inch” that is based on the girth of the thumb at the root of the nail, etc. were the measurement units used in the ancient and medieval West. Therefore, Allah, the most glorious, used the measurement units that can be understood by the people He addressed.

⁵⁴ The expression he One Who has mighty powers, Who is supreme in intelligence, Who has established the dominion is addressed to “Allah”. However, when interpreting these words only metaphorical meaning of them should be considered and it must be known that the expression does not qualify Allah but merely the reflection of His manifestation and potency. Then, it is in the Qur’an that Allah manifested Himself as “a fire at the mountain, on the tree”.

The original meaning of wahy [Revelation], as mentioned in the Ayah, is “to inform secretly”. In time, this meaning evolved to mean “to speak secretly, to indicate, to command, to inspire, to imply, to whisper, to write a letter, to send a messenger”.

The literary meaning of wahy is “Direct revelation of Allah’s instructions and judgments to His prophets by Himself rapidly and secretly without anyone or any instrument”. Wahy is synonym of ilqa.

We do not and will not know how revelations happen. Then, as with the creation out of nothing, Allah qualifies this process as “one of His acts; a process that no one can not and will not be able to fulfill”.

⁵⁵ While Al-Lat, Al-Uzza and Manat can be detailed structurally and semantically, we opt to avoid detailing these three feminine names but provide only encyclopedic information. The reason these words are feminine is that Arabs assumed that these were three angels and daughters of Allah. Al-Lat was an ornamented and covered white rock that was located in a building in Taif, protected by guards and serviced by caretakers. People of Taif [the Tribe of Thaqif] believed that Al-Lat was the second most important temple after the Kaaba and prided themselves against all tribes except Quraysh. Al-Uzza was a tree located in a building which itself is located in a place between Mecca and Taif, called Nahle. According to certain accounts it was a rock. This object, having been respected by the Quraysh Tribe, was covered. Today, covering of the Kaaba makes us to think that this is a tradition survived the Jahiliyyah Era [Ignorance; the Pre-Islamic era]. Manat was located in a place between Mecca and Medina, called Mushallal. This also was a rock [statue]. Khuza’a, Aus and Khazraj tribes worshipped this rock-statue and started their pilgrimage from this location and asked her for rain.

Polytheists swear by these idols, which they considered divine, named their children with such names as Abdullat [servant of Al-Lat], Abduluzza [servant of Al-Uzza], Abdulmanat [servant of Manat], etc.

Other than these, each tribe used to have their own idols and temples, which all had their own guards and caretakers. They sacrificed Korban [sacrificed animals or offerings] to these idols as they did for the Kaaba. The main reason for the iteration of the names of these three idols especially is that these were deities worshipped by many in the Hejaz region.

⁵⁶ Malaika and its singular form malak are homonyms. Both of these words might be derived from the root uluk which means “to send a messenger” or malk which means “strength, authority to rule”. Malak and malaika which are derived from uluk which means “to send a messenger” represent “the prophets, the ayat of revelations”. Malak and malaika which are derived from the root malk represent “all material powers and energy in the nature”. According to our findings, in the Qur’an both derivatives are used and represent the meaning in accordance with their respective roots. That is, malaika is sometimes used in its primary meaning and other times in its secondary meaning. The actual meaning used in the Qur’an is determined according to the context of the passage it is used in.

Detailed explanation on the word malak can be found in Tebyinu’l Qur’an [Manifestation of the Qur’an].

⁵⁷ Shafaat is defined as “to add something to a similar thing and support it, to make something double and spare it”. The word evolved to mean “someone in a higher position to help, protect a poor or someone in need, have her/him be protected, accompany and support her/him”.

The literal meaning of the word, on the other hand, is “to ask an authority to forgive another individual, to ask somebody to help to another person, to ask somebody to stop acting against another individual, to pray and ask for help on behalf of others, to pray and prostrate before an authority to ask for help or favor”.

Ultimately, Shafaat means “to mediate, to help and to pioneer”. Shafaat may be in the world and in the Akhirat [Afterlife]. On the earth, shafaat may be from Allah, from angels, from prophets or from other people. In the Akhirat [Afterlife], on the other hand, shafaat only comes from Allah.

Shafaat is widely accepted to mean that “the Prophet would mediate between Allah and his people to ask Allah to forgive their sins; that the Prophet would support and use his authority to save his people”. i.e. “the Prophet would influence Allah’s will”, which severely contradicts with the message of the Qur’an.

⁵⁸ See Footnote No. 24

⁵⁹ See Footnote No.56

⁶⁰ The literal meaning of ruh, as mentioned in the ayah, is “soul”. This term may express “wujuh” i.e. it may be used in its literal as well as metaphorical form. Encyclopedically, ruh [soul] is defined as the “non-material aspect or essence of the existence”. In compliance with the literal and encyclopedic meanings, which we mentioned above, ruh [soul] is accepted to be synonym with “spiritual self” and “life”. Meaning “vitality, emotion” and “life” in general, ruh [soul] has a metaphorical meaning that represents the “essence, the most important and vital part of an object”. For instance, the adjective “soulless [lit. without a soul]”, which we use for passive individuals, constitutes an example for the general meaning of the word while a phrase such as “this is the soul of the issue” can be given as an example for the metaphorical meaning of the word. In conclusion, hundreds of idioms have been derived from the abovementioned meanings of the word ruh [soul].

The traditional religious meaning of ruh [soul] can be defined as the “vitality blown into the body of human by Allah after having created its material shell”.

In the Qur’an, ruh [soul] is used in the meaning of “divine breeze, wahy/knowledge”, thus has no correlation with the traditional meaning of the word. The ruh [the divine breeze/wahy], as mentioned in the Qur’an, is “anything that owns and adapts the soul consciously and voluntarily to its life; that gives individuals and communities a meaningful vitality; and that protects them from corruption”.

⁶¹ Here, according to the structure of the sentence, Salam means “happiness, salvation, prosperity”.

⁶² The “actual” meaning of the phrases in the Ayah is as follows: “The sun and its brightness, and the moon as it follows, the day as it brightens it, the night as it enshrouds it, the heavens/universe and the One who created it, the earth and the One who formed it round, the will and the One who controls it; -that He inspired him his fujur and taqwa- are the evidences…”. In our interpretation, we preferred their metaphorical meanings.

⁶³ Here, “social relief and support institutions” are described as the [she]camel of Allah; and striving to maintain these institutions is, on the other hand, described as the “watering of the [she]camel”. Cutting of the shins of the [she]camel, on the other hand, actually means the depletion of such resources as zaqah, taxes, fees, etc. that helps maintaining these institutions. While the Qur’an provides any provision related to the former people in a symbolic manner, this matter is made into principle for its direct audience using the following statements: “Salah, establishment of Salah and giving of zaqah”.

⁶⁴ The meaning of the Ayat group according to the “actual” meaning of the phrases they contain is as follows: “The heavens/universe that possesses many constellations, the promised day, those who witness and those who are being witnessed are the evidences that the seizure of your Rabb is truly severe”. In our interpretation we preferred the metaphorical meaning.

⁶⁵ See Footnote No. 37

⁶⁶ The order of Ayat of this Surah in the Official Mushaf is erroneous technically and semantically. We rearranged it within the frame of grammar and semantics.

⁶⁷ While the “actual” meaning of the phrases in the Ayah is “Figs, olives, the Fertile Mountain and this Safe Region are the evidences”, we used their metaphorical meanings. The regions mentioned in the Surah were known to Arabs lived in the time of the Qur’an but the phrase actually meant the whole world.

⁶⁸ This house means the “Baitullah” [House of Allah], i.e. the Kaaba. Alah used the expression “My house” for the Kaaba in the Qur’an. While House of Allah means “a house that belongs no one but Allah” thus implying that it is a public property. That, in turn, means that it is the right place to discuss social matters, to find a solution for public needs, to decide on such public matters as education, justice, execution, etc.

Rabb of This House: As we already explained in the 2nd note hereabove, the term Rabb means “one who disciplines and educates, one who guides his creations to a certain target/targets within the frame of a schedule, one who programs and manages the development”. Accordingly, attribution of Rabb to the house by the expression Rabb of This House implies that the construction of Kaaba and all its functions were programmed and implemented by Allah. Truly, it is the first house ever built on the earth in the name of Allah, and it is fruitful and fertile.

People of the Quraysh Tribe used to share the services provided to all people visiting the Kaaba for hajj [pilgrimage] and umrah [ordinary visit]. Each family had its own duty. Many services as guarding and maintaining the Kaaba, providing water to pilgrims, helping and supporting pilgrims, collecting contributions for pilgrims, catering, establishing justice between pilgrims, etc. were performed by the Quraysh. This divine tourism  provided the Quraysh not only with a hard-to-reach advantage and prestige but also very high revenues. However, this pleasurable life enjoyed by the Quraysh in Mecca was not a result of their efforts but of the plans established by Allah for the Kaaba. Accordingly, this plan of Allah for the Kaaba still operates today and the divine tourism supports the Saudi Arabian nation.

⁶⁹ See Footnote No. 24

⁷⁰ Qariah means “things that bash, push hard; disasters that shock people”. People will be shocked upon such unexpected events as rupturing of the heavens/universe, extinguishing of the sun and the moon, blurring of the stars, moving of the mountains, boiling of the seas, i.e. scrambling of all things and will clash each other while scattering around without control. On that day, no one will be able to turn back or escape.

For this very reason, the day of judgment [Qiyamah] is named Al-Qariah which means the “knocking of the greatest disaster”.

⁷¹ Here defined is the moment of death “wafat”. Wafat means “submitting completely, fulfill without any missing part”. Wafat is the process that Allah will make each and every person to experience moments before their death, during which everyone will be shown and informed on all his deeds, whether done or omitted, completely without any missing parts. In other words, wafat is the reporting of all records of an individual’s life by Allah, like a “z-report”, in every detail moments before the death of the respective individual. This “disclosure” is performed by means of “guards, memories, messengers, memory cells” which are integrated into the very nature of all humans. Due to the importance of this matter, our Rabb does not call it “death, killing” but the names of tuses those mysterious events the occur before the death. Detailed information on the “Wafat” can be found in Tebyinu’l Qur’an [Manifestation of the Qur’an].

⁷² Actual meaning of the words contained in the Ayat is as follows: “Those who were sent in masses, in groups, and in flocks – therefore those who bend and overwhelm -, those who revived and animated – therefore those who separate and split -, and those who left a reminder whether as an excuse or to warn are the evidences that what you have been threatened for will certainly occur”. In our interpretation, we used its metaphorical meaning.

⁷³ See Footnote No. 8

⁷⁴ While the 22nd Ayah of the Official Mushaf is a Oath [Qaseem] Sentence, contrary to the Tartil and Arabian nature of the Qur’an, it is not properly placed. We placed the Ayah where it belongs thus reclaiming its meaning.

⁷⁵ See Footnote No. 87

⁷⁶ See Footnote No. 43

⁷⁷ The Promise mentioned herein is a principle set forth by our Rabb for the “filling of Jahannah [Hell] with the ins and the jinn [everyone]” as mentioned under the Surat Sad/84-85 and As-Sajda/5. This decision of our Rabb is mentioned in the Qur’an as al-qawl or kalimatu’l rabbiq.

⁷⁸ Meaning of the actual definition of the phrases contained in the Ayah and the Oath [Qaseem] Sentence Is as follows: No! This region – which you enter – and the father and the newborn are the evidences that We surely formed man into trouble (Al-Balad/1-4). In our interpretation, we used the metaphorical meaning of the phrase.

⁷⁹ The actual meaning of the phrases mentioned in the Ayah is “The heavens and the Tariq [the Night Star] are the evidences that  – and what made you know what Tariq is? (It) is the star that penetrates. – no self is without a guard [surely every man has guards over him]”, however in our interpretation, we used the metaphorical meaning.

The guards mentioned in the Ayah are such bodily functions as the “immune system, endocrinal system and mental functions as focusing and vigilance”.

⁸⁰ The actual meaning of the phrases mentioned in the Ayah is “The heavens/universe that returns and the earth that cracks open are the evidences that, surely it is a distinguishing decision. And it is not a joke”. In our interpretation, we used the metaphorical meaning.

⁸¹ Allah sets traps for no one. Mushakala,  the “figure of speech” used here, is widely used in other languages as well. Mushakala can be defined as the “using a word to substitute its antonym” or “reiterate a word of another person other than its intended meaning”. For instance, the second ignorantly in the threatening Arabic phrase “Do not act ignorantly against us or we will act ignorantly against you!” actually means “or we will punish you; we will act harshly”. English has such examples as well. For instance, the second “sad” in the Turkish phrase “do not make me sad or I will make you sad” actually means “to punish”. As can be seen in the above examples, the act [offence] and the reaction [punishment] are defined with the very same word. The Qur’an contains many Ayat that may be given as example thereof: Ash-Shu’ara/40; Al-Hashr/19; Al-Imran/54; Al-Sajda/14; An-Nisa/142; An-Naml/50; Ta-Ha/126; Al-Jathiyah/34; Al-Baqara/14-15, 194; At-Tawbah/79; Ar-R’ad/42; An-Naml/50; Ibrahim/46; Al-Anfal/30.

Accordingly, in the Ayah, in which it is stated that Allah set traps, it is actually meant to say that Allah will punish those who set traps, mu’minun [believers] will be warned thereof by the warnings contained in this Ayah and traps and plots of polytheists will fail thanks to the precaution Allah induces herein. Then, this is what exactly happened; the light that polytheists made their best efforts to prevent has spread all over the world.

⁸² The “actual” meaning of the phrases mentioned in the Ayah is “the Moon has/will be split”. We preferred the metaphorical meaning.

⁸³ The term naqa, as originally mentioned in the Ayah, means “a she-camel in its most productive age”. What actually meant here is the “social relief institutions”. It is identical with the Qur’anic term Salah. What actually meant with the phrase its allocated water is the “zaqah and aids that sustain the social support institutions”. And the phrase killed by cutting its shins means that “they failed to provide giving zaqah; fees, taxes and the aid they should have, thus precluding the existence of these institutions”. In our interpretation, we used the metaphorical meaning.

⁸⁴ See Footnote No. 8

⁸⁵ By their technical structure, the Ayat are reorganized in our interpretation in 1, 3, 2 form.

⁸⁶ See Footnote No. 44

⁸⁷ The Companions of the Thicket [Ashab Al-Ayka] were “a people lived in Median, an ancient city located in the coastal region of the Red Sea”. “Ayka” means “a thicket, a jungle with tangled, intertwining branches”. This community used to live in a region that had an extremely pleasurable climate and was fertile.

⁸⁸ The paragraph that consists of the 27^th and 29^th Ayat of the Official Mushaf is relocated between the Ayat 48 and 49 in accordance with their contextual integrity.

⁸⁹ The actual meaning of Malah, as mentioned in the Ayah, is “a full [warehouse]”. However, it has evolved in time to metaphorically mean “leaders/rulers, seniors of a community, intellectuals of a community”. These people are called malah As they are full of knowledge and understanding. Starting from the metaphorical meaning of malah, which is “leaders, seniors [committee]” and due to the existence of the adjective a’la [supreme], mentioned in the phrase al-malahi’l a’la, former interpreters of the Qur’an concluded that the phrase meant “the supreme committee”. However, since there is no solid evidence as to the actual definition of this supreme committee, they suggested such unsupported theories as these are “angels in the heavens/universe” or “qerrubiyyun/muqarrabin [the angles that are closest to Allah]”. Moreover, demons [shayatin] were considered to have ascended to the heavens to heed the conversations of the archangels [the supreme committee] and to have been bombarded there by the stars.

In our opinion, on the other hand, what actually meant with the phrase malah-i a’la, the literal meaning of which is “full to the brim, the supreme warehouse”, is the “wahy [revelation], the Ayat of the Qur’an”. The reason for this is that the Qur’an is full of everything needed by all people; it contains all the knowledge that is/will be needed by all people. The content of the Qur’an is not trivial but the most valuable and supreme. When the 69^th Ayah is comprehended fully, it becomes obvious that what meant with the phrase malah-i a’la is “the Qur’an” itself. Accordingly, the object that is stated to have been revealed in the 70^th Ayah and mentioned in the 68^th Ayah, from which the infidels “turn away”, is the Qur’an. As we see in the Surat we have analyzed so far and what we will always see, polytheists have always been disputing over the Qur’an. This matter is detailed in Tebyinu’l Qur’an [Manifestation of the Qur’an].

The phrase malah-i a’la is also mentioned in the Surah As-Saffat/8 and used in the meaning of “the supreme warehouse” and attributed to the Qur’an as one of its properties.

⁹⁰ See Footnote No 56

⁹¹ Blowing of the soul in implies the meaning that “Allah informs the man, sends revelations, provides little information; gives information by the pinch”. The Surat Al-Hijr/29 and As-Sajda/9 deal with the information of the created man; the reception of the first revelation; sending the first messenger. Detailed information thereof can be found in Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

⁹² See Footnote No.39

⁹³ Earth represents the substance while fire represents the energy. Detailed information thereof can be found in Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

⁹⁴ See Footnote No.8

⁹⁵ See Footnote No.56

⁹⁶ As can clearly be seen in the Surat Sad/72, Al-Hijr/29, As-Sajda/9, Al-Baqara/31 of the Official Mushaf, the term Adam, as originally mentioned in the Ayah, represents the “first man who was informed, received the first revelation, the first messenger”. The revelations [wahy] sent down to Adam are clearly explained in this division and in the Surah Al-Baqara/37-39 (division 403).

⁹⁷ See Footnote No.39

⁹⁸ Shajar [intricate, source of dispute] and waraq al-jannah [leaves of lush gardens/paradise], as mentioned in the passage, mean “wealth and fortune”. For details, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an [Manifestation of the Qur’an].

As shown by the actual meaning of the phrases and words mentioned in the Ayat that contain the story, Allah banned Adam and his wife from being fond of wealth as He wanted the man free from the passion for wealth, but Iblis, on the other hand, allured Adam and his wife with wealth.

As you can see, statements mentioned in the Ayah truly reflect the facts of life. Indulging of Adam and his wife to the blessing as of the moment they tasted them, clinging to those blessing that they bonded with passion are attitudes that can still be seen today. There are many of those who possess or desire to possess any and all ornaments of the temporary worldly life; those who have become an ornament hoarder by virtually sticking all these ornaments onto themselves. Therefore, words of our Rabb should not be considered a story and one should know that, the abominable human behavior that manifest itself by the “expression of the immorality inspired to him by the influence of Iblis” goes back to  Adam and his wife.

⁹⁹ While the narration of the passage is figurative, our Rabb narrated the material and spiritual nature and weaknesses of the human like the stage of a theater. This incident never happened in the past. It takes place in the life of every person.

¹⁰⁰ Masjid is the mim infinite of the verb sajada, yasjudu [name of a place] and represents the place where “one submits/is made to submit”, which has no correlation with the sajda [prostration] performed during the prayer today. This means; “the place where those who think divergently, act divergently are subdued and convinced to submit toward the truth, where they submit”; i.e. “a place of education and persuasion”.

¹⁰¹ Ashab al-A’raf  are “those who have knowledge on the Qur’an, and who know the divisions of the Qur’an even a few”.

With the knowledge they possess, these people can predict who will be sent to Jannah [Heaven/Paradise] and who will be sent to Jahannah [Hell]. In our opinion, those who learned at least ten divisions of the Qur’an can distinguish between those who will be sent to Jannah [Heaven/Paradise] and who will be sent to Jahannah [Hell], without a need for further social knowledge or education just by observing the lifestyles of individuals.

¹⁰² Pursuant to the technical rules and semantics, 46^th and 49^th Ayat have been relocated after the Ayat 50 and 51.

¹⁰³ See Footnotes No. 37 and 52

¹⁰⁴ See Footnote No. 22

¹⁰⁵ Namaz [prayer] was first borrowed from Hindi into Persian, and from Persian into Turkish in the era of the Great Seljuq Empire. The original meaning as used in Persian was “to prostrate before the fire”. It is possibly the Persian past form of the Sanskrit word Namaste, which means “to feel/show respect to”. This word itself should have been derived from the root nam, which means “to greet/salute”. As can be observed in the modern Indian culture, both nam [greeting] and Namaste [to feel/show respect to] represent an action performed by bowing. Definition of the Persian word namaz as “to pray being bowed with respect” is expressed in Arabic by the phrase; “ad-dua’u bi’t-tazarru” [to invoke, lowering oneself continuously].

Tadharru’an, as originally mentioned in the Ayah, is a word that is derived from the Arabic trilateral root d-r-a. The meaning of the root is “lowering oneself and modesty”. Tadharru’an, on the other hand, means “lowering oneself continuously” by its structure and by the context of being “case/conditional” aspect. As can be clearly understood from the Ayah, this service does not have a form that may be institutionalized. The believer makes lowering of himself to his Rabb as he wishes. Namaz imposes no such prerequisites as performing rakah [prescribed movements], facing the qibla, performing wudu [cleaning procedure performed before the prayer], enshrouding, reciting of certain Ayat and prayers, etc. These were invented and added later. In brief, namaz is the “supplication of the heart and the form to Allah”.

Hufyeten, as mentioned in the original Ayah, which is in the second “case” position, is a word that is derived from the trilateral root h-f-v. That is, it represents the two contradicting meanings and means “showing clearly, shining brilliantly” and also “hiding”. Therefore, the Ayah should sport both meanings and serve this function in both cases.

¹⁰⁶ See Footnotes No. 63 and 83.

¹⁰⁷ According to the classical accounts, the exact meaning of asa is “accumulation; something held tight”. In this form it defines “the Qur’an” exactly. It is uses as the specific name for “the scepter” not only because “the hand and the fingers are gathered on it” but it “accumulates (embodies) in itself many benefits such as being a support to lean upon, a tool to shake leaves, a weapon, a shovel, etc”.

When this word is attributed to Moses, it means “knowledge of Moses; something that Moses held tightly/firmly”, which – as can be understood from the respective Ayah – represents the “revelations sent to Moses and his empirical know-how”. The scepter of Moses is defined very explicitly. When the Surat Al-Baraqa/63, 93; Al-A’raf/145, 171; Maryam/12 are examined, it can be found that “the object that is held tightly” is “the Scripture/the Divine Wahy”. Furthermore, as can be seen in the division 181, our Rabb stated in the Surah Yunus: “And when the scholars who speak influential words came, Moses said to them: “Throw whatever you will throw!”. And when they threw Moses said, “That which you have brought is an illusion/a deception. Surely, Allah will disclose that it is fake and useless. No doubt that Allah does not amend the works of corrupters. And Allah establishes the truth by His words and implements it even though sinners do not like”.” thus implying that the magicians were defeated not by the scepter but by the “words of Allah”.

Asa [scepter] appears 6 times in the Qur’an. Asa in the Surah Ta-Ha/18 is “the shepherd’s staff”, i.e. a common “scepter”. Our Rabb made  Moses leave his scepter during the first revelation. Others, on the other hand, stand for the “empirical know-how of Moses and also the knowledge he learned from the revelations”. The asa that Moses used against Pharaoh, to cross the sea and to chastise the stonyhearted Israelites is actually the “knowledge of Moses” [What was revealed to him and what he had learned and experienced to that time].

¹⁰⁸ Sub’an is derived from the word seab, meaning of which is “flux of water and blood”. Meandering course of the gullies in the valley, curly hair of the beloved one are defined by the poet by using this word. Plural of this word is Sub’an. In its singular form, Sub’an means “a long and strong, rat-hunting snake”.

That means, the literal meaning of sub’an is “a flood that wipes all that is before it”. The reason for the use of this word to name a snake that hunts rats is that snakes do look like meandering rivers by its long and curly form and they devour any rat they come upon. The reason to make an analogy for the knowledge of Moses is that the divine wahy [revelation] will eventually devour and eliminate all plans and plots of the men/the falsehood.

¹⁰⁹ Yad-i Baiza: Yad is generally translated as “a hand” but it metaphorically means “power, wealth, authority, reign, blessing, bow, all works performed by hand”.

The power mentioned here is defined as “the strength in his pocket/bosom” in other Ayat and in the Official Mushaf: AnNaml/12, Al-Qasas/32; and this strength is Aaron.

Following information on the word Baiza can be found in widely available vocabulary books: “The original meaning of this word is an egg. Bayaz means “white as an egg”. The bayzae form of this word expresses “excessive whiteness, brightness”. The sun, a woman with a smooth, white complexion, the bare soil with no plants on it, 14^th and 15^th nights of the Lunar Months are all named baiza. The phrase Yad-i Baiza represents “anything that is proven; an evidence”. According to these explanations, this word can be used as an adjective that means “snow white” which, in turn, is the expression of perfection and flawlessness.

The white [flawless] look of the “power” as mentioned in the Ayat stems from the excellent talent of Aaron in expression and rhetoric. As it is understood from the Ayat, Moses was not good at expressing himself due to his lack of knowledge in Hebrew or an anomaly on his tongue. This defect of Moses was compensated by appointing his brother, Aaron, as his vizier, secretary, spokesman. This matter is related explicitly in the respective passage of the Surah Ta-Ha.

¹¹⁰ Sihr [Magic] means “to manipulate the perception to show something in other forms than what it actually is by means of illusion and hand tricks or by other means”, however, it does not always involve “illusion”. A good rhetorical expression or conference may also be expressed with the words; “we are mesmerized (cast under sihr)”. Therefore, we defined seherbaz as “fascinating; an influential scholar”.

¹¹¹ Yamm, as originally mentioned in the Ayah, means “bahr[sea]/large body of water”. Leys defined this word as “a sea, depth and limits of which are unknown”. However, this suggestion can not be true as in the Surah Ta-Ha/39 of the Qur’an, it is explicitly stated that the chest that carried Moses stranded on the yamm. Then, Moses was set into the Nile and the chest that carried Moses stranded to the coastline of the Nile.

This word is believed to have been borrowed into Arabic from Assyrian.

Furthermore, it is worth thinking that this word that is mentioned in the Holy Scripture has been translated into English as either “the Red Sea” or “the Reed Sea”.

This word appears in the Surat Al-A’raf/136, Ta-Ha/39 (twice); 78,97, Al-Qasas/7, 40 and Adh-Dhariyat/40.

When the places where Moses and his family and also Pharaoh lived are considered, the words bahr and yam should be translated as “large body of water/the river” when they appear in the passages that are related to Moses. When these Ayat are examined, it can be seen that Pharaoh certainly drowned in the same waters, in which the baby Moses was put, but not in a sea/the Red Sea.

¹¹² Good promise that is mentioned in the Ayah can be found in the Official Mushaf; in the Surat Al-Qasas/5-6, Al-Ma’idah/21 and Ad-Dukhan/25-28.

¹¹³ Bahr means “large body of water, whether fresh- or saltwater”. This word is the antonym of “land”. The original meaning of this word is “to split”. This is because the water splits the land. In the ancient Arabic poetry, the Euphrates was named as a bahr. It is common to define large saltwater bodies [seas] as bahr. (Lisan, entry “bhr”; Tac, entry “bhr”)

Again, when the places where Moses and his family and also Pharaoh lived are considered, it is obvious that what meant with bahr is the Nile.

The word Bahr appears in the Official Mushaf; in those Surat that are related to Moses: Al-Baqara/50, Al-A’raf/138, Yunus/90, Ta-Ha/77, Ash-Shu’ara/63 and Ad-Dukhan/24.

¹¹⁴ In this passage, what actually the asa of Moses is explicitly explained. As you remember, in the 85^th footnote, we stated that the reason to name a “scepter” the asa is that “the fingers and the hand gather on it; it is held tightly”. Here, that which is held tightly is expatiated. Moreover, in the Official Mushaf; in the Surat Al-Baqara/63, 93; Al-A’raf/145, 171; Maryam/12; it is stated that the “object that is to be held firmly is the Book/the Divine Wahy”.

¹¹⁵ The “actual” meaning of the phrase, as originally mentioned in the Ayah, is “they adopted a calf; a corpse that bellowed [that had an attractive, alluring voice]”. In our interpretation, we used the metaphorical meaning. The actual matter that is dealt here is that the Israelites were allured to the gold and took it as their idol. We will see this matter in the Surat Ta-Ha and Al-Baqara as well. For detailed information thereof, please see Tebyinu’l Qur’an [Manifestation of the Qur’an].

¹¹⁶ While having been appeared in the Surah Muzzammil/20 (division 13), here is where the word zaqah chronologically appears for the first time. Therefore, we wish to provide a brief information on zaqah. Zaqah means “cleanliness, reproduction, proliferate, abundance and praise”. In the Qur’an, the verb form of this word is used in all these meanings. The form Az-Zaqah is used as a name for the purification of a commodity; delivery of a commodity after all rights that belong the poor, the deprived and the public are deducted. That is, it is “the tax paid by all believers as their debt of faith and servitude to sustain their nation, to furnish the Salah”. We simply call it “tax”. However, this is not a tax as we know it, but it is a tax that is determined and spent within the Islamic frame. According to the Qur’an, the proper time to pay the “tax” is the very moment when the revenue is received. The amount and ratio of it is not specified in the Qur’an but is left to the public authority. The public authority determines the ratio required to establish a balanced budget.

¹¹⁷ We have learned in the Ayat above that asa is the “knowledge of Moses”. Now, let us deal with what the “stone” that Moses hits with his knowledge [asa] actually is. As may be known, “stone” is the symbol of hardness/strictness. Our Rabb revealed that the Israelites were stonyhearted, even stricter. Therefore, what meant with the stone is “the stonyhearted Israelites”. This matter is mentioned in the Official Mushaf; in the Surah Al-Baqara/74.

¹¹⁸ The “actual” meaning of darb is “to built something upon something else”. Starting from this “actual” meaning, this word is used in various meanings such as “to hit, to clash, to split, to squeeze, to set off, heartbeat, pulse, to exemplify, etc.”. Within the scope of Tebyinu’l Qur’an [Manifestation of the Qur’an], we detailed it in the analysis of the section that is related to Ayyub [Job]. The word means, as used herein, “to build something upon something else”.

¹¹⁹ The term ayn, as mentioned in this Ayah, was defined in ancient lexicons in more than hundred meanings such as “sight, eye, sun, spring, rain, commodity, gold, human, life, community, people of a region…”. For whatever reason, the word ayn has always been translated as “the spring”. Yet, it should have been translated as “community, the people of the region” for the passage “Moses”. Then, when He wishes this term to be understood this way, our Rabb stated at the beginning of each respective Ayah as “And We divided them into twelve tribes who are led by grandsons”.

You can see it in the Surah Al-Ma’idah:12.

Division of Israelites into twelve groups/tribes and assigning of a governor for each of them is also mentioned in the Holy Bible; Numbers 1:1-16. This means, the Qur’an acknowledges this part of the Holy Bible.

The phrase, “Implement¹¹⁸ your knowledge upon your stonyhearted people”, which is mentioned in these Ayat, must be emphasized as well. As can be understood from the lines mentioned in those Ayat; “And when his people asked him for water, Each of those people learned well/marked where they receive water, then Moses had once asked for water for his people”, people of  Moses suffered water shortage that would eventually cause disputes among them. At the time, our Rabb revealed to Moses to use his knowledge/experience.

Moses had learnt what water shortage might cost by the Midian water when he escaped Egypt and went to Midian. He had experiences thereof. This matter is detailed in the Official Mushaf: Surah Al-Qasas/23-25 (Division 150).

All these mean that Moses divided Israelites into twelve tribes to live in twelve different locations due to the fact that a communal life would eventually cause problems among his people. And thus solved the water shortage problem. As it is known, settlements are founded by or on seaside or riverside.

¹²⁰ The terms hut, hitan, as originally mentioned in the Ayah, are perceived as “fish” in the classical view. Since fish have no sense of satiation and eat themselves to death, they are called hut. Here, hut means “distress caused by insatiability”. For detailed information please see Tebyünu’l-Kur’an.

¹²¹ Instructive and statement phrases mentioned in the Qur’an that are related to the fulfillment of Salah have usually been translated as “perform your prayers straight; they perform their prayers straight”. Our analysis on the semantic structure of the words, however, shows that these translations fall short or even are wrong at all in terms of conveying the actual meaning of the phrase.

Iqam, which consists of the trilateral root of q-v-m, is the infinitive form of qiyam, which itself is the antonym of the verb “sit”, and this term is usually defined in available dictionaries as “to stand someone up, erect, keep something upright”.

Accordingly, the phrase iqami’s-salah means; “to overcome problems, to carry out business and maintain this status, i.e. sustain and institutionalize the works through spiritual and financial support and assistance”. If we have to explain it in a materialized manner, the phrase iqami’s-salah means; A) in its spiritual/mental aspect, to establish and maintain education institutions, schools, communal training courses; B) in its financial aspect, to create new business fields, to establish such social security systems as Retirement Plans, Self-Employment Social Security System, etc, to support the poor and orphans – including fulfillment of matrimonial procedures of singles and widows/widowers -, to assume their problems, to establish, maintain and sustain public institutions to solve their problems. This matter is detailed in Tebyinu’l Qur’an [Manifestation of the Qur’an].

¹²² See Footnote No. 333

¹²³ When the Messenger of Allah was conveying the messages that had been revealed to him, Yathribians (Medinans) became aware of this and sent a committee to secretly meet the Messenger of Allah in Mecca and he recited the Qur’an for them. In the preamble of the Surah mentioned was the secret meeting and its consequences. This incident was the Pledges at Aqabah, which was a milestone in the history of Islam. The group of jinn, as mentioned in the Ayah, has no correlation with the folkloric view on the jinn. Detailed definition of the term Jinn is given in the Footnote 49 above.

¹²⁴ As can be understood from the expressions given in this Ayah, there was a secret organization that allegedly used to encourage people who lived in the region the organization originated to receive education and thus enlighten themselves. Here, those foreigners who were recited the Qur’an and realized the truth criticize themselves and state that before they know about the Qur’an they have been distracted and deceived by the nonsensical inculcations of that organization. Because, narrating jinn states that they used to deal with astrology, pin their hopes upon the information they expected to get from the stars, sit in observatories for this purpose but they saw that the sky is full of stars and meteors so they could not receive the information they sought after and consequently they failed to know what future will bring for them. The information deciphered from this paragraph, the secret organization, origins of which is attributed to David and Solomon, and the information submitted are all “initiation/rite of passage/” of them.

¹²⁵ See Footnote No. 100

¹²⁶ See Footnote No. 8

¹²⁷ See Footnote No. 77

¹²⁸ See Footnote No. 27

¹²⁹ See Footnote No. 77

¹³⁰ In this Ayah, the furqan [criterion] nature of the Qur’an is emphasized. As we previously explained in the Surah Al-Mursalat, being one of the names of the Qur’an, furqan is derived from the term farq, which means “to separate two things apart”, and means the same as the word fariqa. When its commonly used meanings are examined, it can be found that the words derived from the term farq; tafriq, firaq, firqat, firqah, fariq; are used for concrete concepts [perceptible]; while the terms; fariqat, faruq and furqan are used for abstract concepts.

Since the term furqan that is said to be given to Moses in the Official Mushaf: Surah Al-Baqara/53 and Al-Anbiya’/48 separates the abstract concepts truth and falsehood, faith and disbelief, beauty and ugliness, good and bad, it is also used as a name of the Qur’an.

¹³¹ See Footnote No. 37, 52

¹³² ANGELS: As we stated earlier, meaning of the term malak varies depending on the root used. The terms malak and the plural malaika are derived either from uluk or malk. Accordingly, malaika can mean either “the messenger” or “power to rule”. Determination of the exact meaning of any instance of this word is performed in accordance with the context of the respective passage it is used in.

TWO, THREE, FOUR WINGED: According to the belief widely adopted by the Arabs of the era of the ignorance, angles were believed to be daughters and assistants of Allah and were winged creatures, who were responsible for natural events such as wind, rain, earthquakes, etc. These beliefs of the era of the ignorance have been partially integrated into the hadith and it was alleged that our Prophet said that Gabriel [Jibril] had 600 wings. Furthermore, such exaggerations were embellished with such fantasies as Raphael [Israfil] had 12.000 wings, each of which spanning from the east to the west, and carried the Throne of Allah on his wings. Especially in Ka’ab Al-Ahbar’s hadith, number of angels’ wings exceed millions.

We, however, think that the word wing is used here to metaphorically mean “power”. That is; here wings are used like the term HP (Horse Power) use in physics as a unit of power. Multitude of wings of malaika represents the level of their power. Accordingly, wings of angles express; A) the “severity of natural disasters such as rain, wind, flood, etc.” when the term malak is used in the meaning of “power to rule”; B) “effects of the ambiguous Ayat of the Qur’an on the mankind” when the term malak is used in the meaning of “the messenger”. Upon the abovementioned descriptions, Ayat can be interpreted in two different manners in accordance with the various meanings of the words: A) Blessed is Allah Who created the heavens and the earth from nothing, rendered His Ayat as messengers with two, three, four meanings. He increases as He will in the creation. Surely, Allah is the Omnipotent. B) Blessed is Allah Who rendered natural forces as messengers that would split and crack open the heavens/universe and the earth in various severity levels. He increases as He will in the creation. Surely, Allah is the Omnipotent.

Our interpretation about the angels being two, three, four winged messengers is that ambiguous Ayat of the Qur’an which mention about descended messengers are meant to provide multiple meanings. The reason that leads us to adopt this view is the clue that we get from the terms rahmat [mercy] and hakim [judge/dominant] mentioned in the 2^nd Ayah.

The phrase mentioned at the conclusion of the Ayah, “Allah increases…” means the limitless potency of Allah and He can create what He wishes and His creation is endless”.

¹³³ See Footnote No. 8

¹³⁴ See Footnote No. 60

¹³⁵ Certain passages of the Ayat contained in the Official Mushaf, which relate about Jesus, are arranged erroneously either due to carelessness or intentionally. As a consequence of this arrangement, Jesus has become a non-human-superhuman entity; he was depicted as if he spoke while he was still in cradle, levitated to the heavens and the belief that he would descend from the heavens was established.

All these are the consequence of reassignment of sentences contained in the passage and the difference in the interpretation created this way.

Since, in the original form of the Ayah, the pronoun used for the person, to whom Mary points, is “him”, it is generally accepted that the “he” is “the baby Mary holds”. In our opinion, on the other hand, “he” must be Zachariah, who was present at the meeting, knew everything about Mary, instructed Mary when she was giving childbirth and he was the one “who was below her” as mentioned in 24^th-26^th Ayat. Moreover, this is the actual meaning of the phrase contained in the Surah Ali-Imran/37, “He made Zechariah a guarantor to her [Mary]”.

Also we have made our interpretation, considering it as the adjective form of the phrase “Jesus, son of Mary” that is mentioned in the 34^th Ayah of the Ayat that include words of Jesus, starting from the recitation of the word mehd as mühd; and the term nukellimu as yukellimu; and the lack of “fa-i taqibiyyah” at the beginning of the 30^th Ayah. See Tabyinu’l Kur’an for further information.

¹³⁶ See Footnote No. 204

¹³⁷ 98^th Ayat has been replaced after 95^th Ayat of the Official Mushaf pursuant to semantic aspects.

¹³⁸ See Footnote No. 8

¹³⁹ The “actual” meaning of the phrases mentioned in the Ayah is “Rahman ascended upon the Throne [dominate]”. In our interpretation, we used its metaphorical meaning. For detailed explanation on phrases, you may see footnotes 34 and 47.

¹⁴⁰ The Moses phenomenon that is detailed in other Surat is only summarized in Ta-Ha/9-99 (division: 120). It should not be assumed that what mentioned in this Surah happened at once. What mentioned here does not follow a chronology either.

¹⁴¹ Literal meaning of the phrases, as originally mentioned in the Ayah, is “remove two horseshoes”. However, what actually meant here is “leave your relatives and belongings here”. Therefore, in our interpretation, we gave the actual meaning of the phrase.

¹⁴² In this paragraph, duties assigned to Moses during his prophethood are summarized. The phrases; “And I have chosen you; then heed that which will be revealed to you; heed the ¹⁴warning of “¹⁴Surely, I am Allah Himself. There is no deity except Me. Then worship me and establish Salah [establish and maintain the institutions that support financially and spiritually; enlighten the community] to remember me. ¹⁵Indeed, that hour/the Qiyamat [Resurrection] will come. I will almost conceal it so that everyone may be recompensed for his work.” is the expansion of the phrase “what is to be revealed”.

¹⁴³ Arrangement of the Ayat that are in the preamble of Moses passage in the Official Mushaf is erroneous. For that reason, 24^th Ayah has been rearranged as the continuation of the 19^th Ayah. And the following paragraph is reorganized as follows: “20, 25-36, 21-23”.

¹⁴⁴ The word Hayyah is one of the terms that have critical importance in the proper comprehension of the Moses passage. Therefore, we wish to provide details on this word: Derived from the word Hayat, hayyah means “to live once”. Arabs use this word with many examples: snake is called hayyah due to its long lifespan. Anyone who happens to have sharp sight is called “he sees better than hayyah”. Anyone who is malevolent-insidious is called “he is more cruel than hayyah”. Those who are beneficial and protective to his community is called “he is the hayyah of the earth/his region”. Those who live long, whether female or male, is called “she/he is such a hayyah”. When the individual is his prime in terms of intellect, mental capacity and genius, he is called “she/he is the hayyah of the valley”. Hayyah, in the context of simile, is used to describe the stars that lie between the twin quasar of the constellation Ursa Major and Alcaid [the dead/dormant star]. (Lisan, clause “hayyah”; Tac, clause “hayyah”)

Tahhiyah/salutation [May Allah give you a long life] is derived from the same root as well.

In short, meaning of this word is “life and vitality”. Basically, hayyah does not describe the snake itself, instead it describes the long life of the snake. Also mentioned here is the phrase hayyatun tes’a [tes’a that runs continuously]. The exact literal translation of this phrase would be “the one with seven lives” which means “even though facing the death,  evading it”. While this word may be used for those who survived many illnesses, troubles and disasters, it is also used for cats and snakes.

To better comprehend hayyah, as mentioned in this Ayah, it must be considered that the object held by Moses in his right hand is described differently by Allah. In An-Naml/10 and Al-Qasas/31, the object held by Moses in his right hand is described as “it moves it like an invisible entity”. That is, that which Moses holds in his right hand resembles an invisible entity that causes to move”. So, what is this invisible entity that causes to move? It is the life/soul of humans and animals.

This expression represents the spiritual property of the revelation. Soul [ruh] is a name of the Qur’an while at the same time it is the name of that object [book] in the right hand of Moses. Then, in Ash-Shu’ara/193, it is stated that the ancient Scripture also had soul/life with the statement: The Trustworthy Soul [divine messages, trustworthy knowledge] descended into your heart in an explicit Arabic language so you may be of those warners with that explicit book. ¹⁹⁶And indeed, the Trustworthy Soul [divine messages, trustworthy knowledge] was certainly in the books of those before you.

¹⁴⁵ In the case the word hayyah, as mentioned in the 27^th Ayah, is interpreted as “the snake”, the term “fear”, as mentioned in the 21^st Ayah, will naturally be interpreted as “fear the snake”. Yet, the fear mentioned here is fear of Moses for his duties as mentioned in the 45^th and 46^th Ayat of this same Surah and also in Ash-Shu’ara/10-15, An-Naml/10 and Al-Qasas/30. Subject of the verb tahruju [it will get out] that is mentioned in the 22^nd Ayah is not “the hand” but “you”. What meant here is that appointment of Aaron by Moses, who was assigned to assist Moses, to convey his messages flawlessly, perfectly and completely.

In the 20^th and 23th Ayat mentioned are the two Ayat revealed to Moses. First of these two Ayat is the revelation [Book/Torah] that was given to him as a replacement of his scepter; and the second is the backup/Aaron, who would increase his strength when necessary. In the following Ayat, we will find out that Moses had an insufficient ability of expressing and asked the assistance of his brother, Aaron, and this wish of him was fulfilled.

Asa [scripture] and yad-i baize [absolute power] are detailed in the passages of the Surah Al-A’raf which are related to Moses.

The two evidences/signs that are stated in the 20^th and 23th Ayat to be given to Moses is summarized in the Surah Al-Furqan as follows: “And surely We gave to Moses the Book and appointed his brother Aaron as his assistant and supporter. Then We said: “Go to those people who deny Our Ayat!”. Ultimately, We destroyed with a complete destruction those people who denied Our Ayat. (Al-Furqan/35,36)

¹⁴⁶ Ayat of this paragraph are differently organized in the Official Mushaf as well in the following order: “20, 25-36, 21-23”.

¹⁴⁷ See Footnote No. 111

¹⁴⁸ See Footnote No. 110

¹⁴⁹ The “actual” meaning of the phrase, originally mentioned in the Ayah, is “Their ropes and scepters”. We stated above that the term asa, which is the singular form of the term issiyihim, means “knowledge”. And the term hibal,  originally mentioned in the Ayah, is the plural of the term habl. The literal meaning of habl is not “the material rope” but “the rope with which one is tied”. Furthermore, this word means “promise/covenant”. Then, what meant with the term hablullah [the rope of Allah], that is mentioned in the Qur’an [Official Mushaf; Surah Ali-Imran/103], is the Qur’an that connects people to Allah. What dealt with here is the uselessness and worthlessness of their experience, ancient beliefs, knowledge, theories and what they cling onto. These words can correspond to English terms, “debris, ramble, meaningless, trivial”.

¹⁵⁰ Conveyed in these Ayat is the revelation of the instruction to Moses that stated the tribe of Moses to travel by night without fearing to be caught up, and that dry paths would be opened in the Nile; then Pharaoh would drown in the Nile with his army following him.

The point in this Ayah to be emphasized is that the path would be opened in the large body of water thanks to traveling by night. This phrase implies that “this would be done by having people work by night, without letting others to find out about it, without drawing attention”.

According to the Qur’an, these events did not happen within minutes or hours but in a rather long time. When Moses returned to Egypt, he worked safely for years with his people under the rule of Pharaoh.

Hashiat, as mentioned in the Ayah, is a warning for him not to think that what he had done was not a betrayal against Pharaoh. Yet, we understand from the phrases mentioned in Ash-Shu’ara/18,19; “Pharaoh said: “Did we not raise you among us when you were a child? Did you not remain among us for many years of your life? ¹⁹Then you did the deed which you did. And you are one of ungrateful…” that Pharaoh blamed Moses of treachery and ungratefulness.

¹⁵¹ See Footnote No. 115

¹⁵² This passage is arranged differently in the Official Mushaf due to technical and semantic reasons. Form of the arrangement is shown below the passage. You can find detailed information thereof in Tebyinu’l Qur’an [Manifestation of the Qur’an].

¹⁵³ See Footnote No. 56

¹⁵⁴ See Footnote No. 39

¹⁵⁵ See Footnote No. 98

¹⁵⁶ See Footnote No. 200

¹⁵⁷ See Footnote No. 8

¹⁵⁸ The “testifiers” mentioned herein are the same witnesses mentioned in the Division 6 (2/68, Al-Qalam/17-33). 90^th-93^rd Ayat of the Surah Al-Hijr in the Official Mushaf are not technically and semantically connected to their assigned place. As a consequence of our comprehensive studies, we have humbly determined the actual place of these Ayat to be the preamble of the Surah Ash-Shu’ara. Therefore, we examined these Ayat within the scope of the preamble of the Surah Ash-Shu’ara.

¹⁵⁹ See Footnote No. 107

¹⁶⁰ See Footnote No. 108

¹⁶¹ See Footnote No. 109

¹⁶² See Footnote No. 149

¹⁶³ What explained here is that Moses was revealed to build dams over the river that would collapse in the future to drown Pharaoh and his soldiers. What narrated in these Ayat is that Moses was revealed to build dams over the Nile using his knowledge and then the water was divided into parts as the mountains; i.e. high dams were built. Oldest known dam was the 15 meters high “Sadd Al-Kafarah” that was built over the Nile between ca. 2900-2750 B.C. According to an explicit account found in the Qur’an, there were multiple dams rather than one.

Scenes depicting the collapse of the dam and Pharaoh drowning can be found in the Official Mushaf: Surat Ad-Dukhan/23-24, Al-Qasas/40, Adh-Dhariyat/40.

¹⁶⁴ The passage of the Official Mushaf that contain 52^nd-67^th Ayat has a problem. We rearranged the Ayat contained in this passage in the following order: “63, 52-56, 60-66, 57-59, 67”.

¹⁶⁵ See Footnote No. 21

¹⁶⁶ Literal meaning of the 155^th-157^th Ayat that are contained in the paragraph is He [Salih] said: This is a she-camel; she has the right to drink, and the right to drink for a specific day is yours, do not touch her with harm or the punishment of a great day seizes you”. Despite this, they killed the she-camel by cutting her shins and overnighted in regret. Salah and zaqah are used symbolically. Footnote No. 66 should also be referred.

¹⁶⁷ See Footnote No. 87

¹⁶⁸ The Ayah An-Naml/6, as mentioned in the Official Mushaf, has been rearranged between the Ayat 223 and 224 pursuant to the context.

¹⁶⁹ The 6^th Ayah is renamed as Ash-Shu’ara/224.

¹⁷⁰ The number “nine” can be understood here in two distinctive ways. A) Here this number is used metaphorically to express a multiplicity. Then, the number of Ayat/signs sent to Israelites is much more than nine. B) What meant here is the fact that the “Ten Commandments” contained in the Torah are written down in nine Ayat. The expression “You will not have other deities but Me”, which is mentioned two distinctive command sentences in the Jewish Torah, and the expression “you will not carve idols for yourself” are combined into a single command sentence in the Samaritan Torah. Thus, number of the command sentences, including the one that states, “do not envy your neighbor’s house”, is ten in the Jewish Torah and nine in the Samaritan Torah.

¹⁷¹ As can be understood from the Ayah, army of Solomon consisted Ins, Jinn and birds: A) The Ins Group are soldiers from the people of Solomon who constituted the fighter group of the army. B) The Jinn Group, which is also called as “the Fatigue Party”, consisted of foreign soldiers and served as the quartermaster and equipment wing of the army which provided logistic support. Members of this group, as mentioned in the Surah Saba’/13, built castles and high and strong buildings and forged and processed wood, iron and copper. These are the craftsmen who had been brought from the neighboring countries and lived there since the David [Peace Be Upon Him] era. While these craftsmen, who played an important role in the establishment of a solid infrastructure and transfer of arts and the culture to the places invaded by Solomon, were experts and artisans, they are defined as “devils” in the Qur’an since they plotted against Solomon. For detailed information on this subject, please refer to Tebyinu’l Qur’an. C) The Bird Group, on the other hand, consisted of birds, which were employed for communication and to procure water supply for the soldiers in the course, and their caretakers. This was the army of birds of Solomon. Not that Solomon gathered the birds from the mountains and employed them as soldiers.

Solomon [Peace Be Upon Him] is mentioned as a prophet in the Qur’an and it was reported that he received revelations, however, no information as to these revelations is given. It is impossible for a Muslim to accept that the “Psalms of Solomon” mentioned in the Holy Bible were revealed to Solomon.

Information relating to Solomon can be found, other than this Surah, in the Surat As-Sad, Al-Anbya, Saba’ and Al-Baqara of the Official Mushaf.

The Valley of Ants, mentioned in the Ayah, is not a valley with a high population of ant but is a proper name. According to Imam Al-Zabidi, the “Valley of Ants” is the name of a region that is located between Jirben and Ashkelon. It is understood that the people who lived in the valley in question were associated to ants due to their lifestyle and therefore called that way. Today, many tribes from around the world, who assumed a name that corresponds to their lifestyle just as the people of the Valley of Ants/Naml, there also live many tribes, clans and groups that are named after birds, trees or boulders.

The “Hoopoe” mentioned here is not the actual bird but the caretaker of the bird in question. Then, names of certain bird species such as eagle, falcon, hawk, etc.? are still used as first names and names of certain bird species, on the other hand, are becoming symbols. For instance, when the expression “the yellow canaries” is uttered, we do not imagine “a flock of yellow canaries” but a soccer team in Turkey. Such symbolizations, which can be found in every culture, are metaphorical expressions. Therefore, while the hoopoe mentioned here is the title given to the soldier who is responsible for procuring water supply for the army and researching water resources that lie within the route of the army, this name is probably chosen by the fact that this soldier utilizes a “hoopoe” when performing his duties. The tradition of naming individuals or giving nick names in correspondence with their occupation still survives in today’s communities. For instance, in Turkish Army, the privates who are responsible for procuring water supply for armies are called saka (root of which is the Arabic word Saqqa that means “the one who carries water”). This name is actually the name of a bird species in Turkish, namely the goldfinch, and the reason that bird species called with this name is that they splash water around them when drinking.

It is understood, on the other hand, that the hoopoe mentioned in the Ayat 22 to 26 is an intelligent one that has conscious and even theological knowledge. Also, when the fact that Solomon wants to punish the hoopoe is considered, it can be concluded certainly that the hoopoe in question is not a bird but a human.

¹⁷² Sheba was a country that was located in South Arabia, people of known for their role in trade. Its capital was the city of Ma’rib, which was located ca. 55 miles northeast from San’a, current capital of the North Yemen.  After the collapse of the Kingdom of Ma’in, Sheba rose to prominence in about 1100 B.C. and ruled over Arabia for a millennia. Thereafter, Himyarites succeeded them in about 115 B.C. Himyarites were another prominent people of South Arabia who ruled Yemen and Hadramaut in Arabian Peninsula and Ethiopia in Africa. Shebaean controlled all the trade activities in coastal Africa, India, Far East and inner parts of the Arabian Peninsula, and also carried our business with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome. This was the reason that they were famous in the ancient times for their wealth and prosperity. Furthermore, according to Greek historians, they were the wealthiest people at the time. Along with trade and business, another source of their prosperity was the dams they built all across their land to collect rain water for irrigation purposes. With these facilities they made their land a true garden. Greek historians conveyed the details of extraordinary greens of Sheba to this day. (Encyclopedias)

¹⁷³ Here, the expression “before you leave your throne” that is uttered by one of the Jinn, Ifrit [a powerful and strong man among the strangers], actually means “within the term of your rule; under your rule”. The term Ifrit means “the evil one who prevails over his peers, who makes them slaves” (Lisanu’l-Arab, vol. 6, pp. 326-331, entry “afr”). The expressions indeed, I am powerful and trustworthy about that uttered by this entity, who was one of those foreigners who lived in the land of Israel (Tebyinu’l Qur’an; vol. 2, pp. 392-397), actually means “I can carry it, I can bring it without breaking it; I will not escape, I will not betray”.

¹⁷⁴ The expression of the “one who has knowledge from the Book” as originally mentioned in the Ayah “qabla an yartadda ilayka tarfuka” does not mean, as given in other interpretations and translations, “in the blink of an eye” but “before your glance returns to you”. That is, “before you forget about this matter; you are now obsessed with the Queen of Sheba and the Sheba itself, you think about nothing else and your eyes see nothing else; you do not deal with any other matter than this, you do not look at yourself; so, I will bring it to you before you look at yourself, i.e. before you forget about this matter, before this drops off the agenda”.

¹⁷⁵ See Footnote No. 77

¹⁷⁶ DABBATUN MIN AL-ARZ: Dabbah, which is derived from the root dab, means “the one who walks slowly, moves, wallows, one who moves so slow that it can not be tracked or something movement of which can not be observed”. Dabbah is used in the Qur’an for “all creatures, small and large”. The term dabbah as mentioned in this Ayah, differently from other uses, use as a phrase, dabbatu’l-arz, which means “a ground dwelling creature”. Therefore, this Ayah should be reviewed individually, as with the Ayah An-Naml/82 – in which the term dabbah is used in a different phrase –. Dabbah is a kind of announcement tool to be revealed on the day of judgment, which consists of materials obtained from the earth and will announce that “humans did not believe in the Ayat of Allah as they should have”. For detailed information on this matter, please see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

¹⁷⁷ See Footnote No. 77

¹⁷⁸ See Footnote No. 27

¹⁷⁹ See Footnote No. 68

¹⁸⁰ See Footnote No. 8

¹⁸¹ See Footnote No. 109

¹⁸² See Footnote No. 68

¹⁸³ See Footnote No. 50

¹⁸⁴ What dealt here is the first revelation; the Messenger of Allah [Rasulullah] becoming a Prophet and the place where the first revelation was sent. Information thereof is given in the preamble of the Surah An-Naml in terms of form and place. According to the works of Waqidi, two of the first Islamic historians, namely Kitab Al-Maghazi and of Al-Azraqi, namely Akhbaru’l-Mecca, there are other masjid [school] than Masjid Al-Haram in different places of Mecca. Even certain houses are used by the Meccan as masjid [school]. One of those masjid [school] is the “Masjid Al-Aqsa” [the Farthest Masjid], so named because it is located in the upper part of the Jirane Valley, some 9 miles from Mecca. This masjid [school] was commenced by a member of the Quraysh tribe. In the light of this information, it can be understood from the expression “a part of which We made sacred” mentioned in the Ayah that Masjid Al-Aqsa is located out of/at the edge of the perimeter of the haram/sacred area. Then, Masjid Al-Aqsa is not located in Jerusalem but at the edge of the haram/sacred area that is located in Mecca and this statement mentioned in the Qur’an is consistent with the respective work of Waqidi, an early period historian and geographer. For detailed information on this matter please refer to Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

¹⁸⁵ See Footnote No. 77

¹⁸⁶ See Footnote No. 50

¹⁸⁷ For integrity of content, the Ayat 45-48 have been rearranged as a continuation from the Ayah 41; and the Ayah 40 has been rearranged as a continuation from the Ayah 42.

¹⁸⁸ See Footnote No. 37

¹⁸⁹ See Footnote No. 121

¹⁹⁰ This vision that was shown to our Prophet; 1) is the image that our Prophet saw on the last cedar during the occurrence of the first revelation on the night mentioned in the Surah Al-Isra/1, according to the Official Mushaf, details of which are explained in the Surah An-Najm; 2) is the vision, in which our Prophet saw his entrance to Mecca; this vision is mentioned in the Surah Al-Fath/27. It should be remembered that the visions mentioned herein are not those scenes “that are seen in one’s dreams” but are the visions “that are seen when someone is awake”.

The Cursed Tree is the tree that must be “stayed away, isolated”, and what actually meant is “gold, property”. Then, as we mentioned about the Surah Sad (see Tebyinu’l Qur’an; vol.2, pp. 444), the word curse means “to banish, to deprive of the good and benefits, to cast away a member of the family or lineage”. The tree that is banned to Adam (Al-Ar’af/19, Division 69) is actually “gold, wealth, property” (see Tebyinu’l Qur’an; vol. 2, pp. 534).

Likewise, it is stated in the Qur’an (Official Mushaf: Al-Anfal/28, At-Taghabun/15, Az-Zumar/49) that it is an incitement for the mankind and it is commanded to avoid it and not to become obsessed with it.

¹⁹¹ See Footnote No. 56

¹⁹² See Footnote No. 39

¹⁹³ Iblis [Devil] does not need to make an effort to become a partner of man in his properties and children. Individuals make him their partner of themselves and in their properties and children by serving Iblis, wasting their properties for the cause of Iblis, preventing their children to receive education thus making them ignorant.  Father of child who is not educated in the appropriate way becomes a half-Iblis and it is inevitable for that child to become an immoral tyrant or a polytheist who serves to the cause of Iblis.

These matters can be found in the Official Mushaf: An-Nisa/118-119, Al-Ma’idah/103, Sad/82-83, Al-An’am/136, Al-Baqara/268 and Al-Isra/31.

¹⁹⁴ These are the first Ayat that regulate the times to establish Salah [spiritual and financial support]. Even though they are in a Meccan Surah, these Ayat belong to the Medinan period. As we emphasized above, purpose of Salah [spiritual and financial support] is to support an individual spiritually and financially thus making him a person who is beneficial to himself and the community alike. Especially, since the spiritual aspects of salah allow people to become a mature person, our Rabb showed how He cares about education-training, which is the way to fulfill this important purpose, by commanding salah to be performed even under the attack of enemies. What is mentioned within the above mentioned Ayat is the spiritual aspects of salah. Therefore, salah is requested to be performed in predetermined intervals thus ensuring that the spiritual nourishment of man is satisfied. Being a duty for the believers that must be established in predetermined intervals, “Salah” is aimed toward the sustaining of faith of Allah within the mind of man. Therefore, establishing salah [establishing and maintaining spiritual and financial support] is an important duty for man. This duty is required to be performed in predetermined intervals within a day [morning, evening and night] due to this importance it bears. Commanding that salah must be served, Allah explicitly stated when to fulfill salah in the Surat Al-Isra/78-79 and Hud/114. When considered carefully, it can be realized that the statements given in Hud/114 and Al-Isra/78-79 are same and set forth the times to perform salah. However, these intervals are expressed in various stylistic manners using different terms in accordance with the general literary form of the Qur’an. The point that should be considered here is that all these different terms are actually synonyms. Consequently, regulation of the intervals on which salah is to be performed was made according to the geographical and social conditions of Arabia at that time and, in our opinion, appropriate salah times may be reorganized for different geographic and social environments.

¹⁹⁵ See Footnote No. 54

¹⁹⁶ See Footnote No. 170

¹⁹⁷ See Footnote No. 8

¹⁹⁸ The phrase of Qadama sidq, which comprises two separate terms, qadama [foot] and sidq [truth] means “the foot of truth” and therefore expresses that “the reward of good deeds of people would be good and auspicious”. This phrase is used in the Ayah to express that “believers will be recompensed fully or even exceedingly for what they do in their worldly lives”.

¹⁹⁹ See Footnotes No. 37 and 52

²⁰⁰ THE WORD CONVEYED BY OUR RABB. The word mentioned in the Ayah is the principle of our Rabb to “postpone His punishments for a predetermined time”. Allah the Sublime mentions about this principle and states that He will not amend this principle in the Official Mushaf: Surat Ash-Shuraa/14, Hud/110, Fatir/45, Fussilat/45 and Ta-Ha/129.

²⁰¹ See Footnotes No. 77

²⁰² See Footnotes No. 77

²⁰³ See Footnotes No. 8

²⁰⁴ One of the matters that should be considered here is that the statement in the 2-4 Ayat; “Indeed, I am a warner and the bringer of good tidings for you from Him. And ask your Rabb for forgiveness and repent to Him so He may let you enjoy until the end of a predetermined term. And so that He may give bounties to every person who has the virtue. And if you turn away, I fear the punishment of a great day which is against you. Your return is only to Allah. And He is the One Who is competent over everything” is made by the Qur’an. The statement in question is made by the Qur’an through anthropomorphism [a figure of speech that attributes human characteristics to object other than humans]. Interpreting this statement without considering this fact may lead to misunderstanding that it may be attributed to our Prophet. The anthropomorphism, a widely used figure of speech, is used in other Ayat of the Qur’an as well (Official Mushaf: Maryam/64, Adh-Dhariyat/50-51, As-Saffat/164-166).

²⁰⁵ The term al-mustaqqar, mentioned in the Ayah means “a permanent settlement” while the term al-mustawda means “a temporary settlement”. What is meant with the expression “Allah knows where every living creature lives “permanently” and where it is “temporarily”” means that Allah knows where the living creatures are placed and where they dwelled later. No matter how frequently these places change, that does not affect the knowledge of Allah about them. For instance: Anyone can move to another city or country other than the one he lives due to certain reasons; but wherever he may go, Allah knows where he exactly is; the place where a man will die may be different from the place where he sleeps every night; however, Allah knows the both. A sperm cell is created within the body of the father then it replaced into the ovary of the mother. Allah knows exactly where that cell is at any given moment. A bacteria is formed at a place and then penetrated to bodies of other creatures and becomes active there. Allah knows where that bacteria is and what its activities are.

The Ayah in question includes another meaning in addition to those we mentioned above. It is that “Allah knows where man will temporarily dwell with his information and without vanishing until the Day of Resurrection”. This matter is detailed in Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

²⁰⁶ See Footnote No. 37

²⁰⁷ The literal meaning of the expressions contained in this Ayah is as follows; “His throne was on the water”. Information on the terms Arsh [Throne] and Istiwah is given under the footnotes 34 and 43.

²⁰⁸ 35^th Ayah of the Official Mushaf is relocated to this position in compliance with the technical and semantic aspects.

²⁰⁹ The expression “When the oven/floor furnace boils” is an allegorical expression that represents the fact that the time for punishment gets closer, and is closely related to the idiom “The oven/floor furnace has warmed” that is used by Arabs to denote the climax of a war.

²¹⁰ The literal meaning of this expression is “to bring the purified calf”. The calf Abraham (Peace Be Upon Him) offered to his guests is described in this Ayah with the word haniz and the word samin in Adh-Dhariyat/26. Conservatives interpreted these two terms as “roasted” and “fat” respectively; thus they made a clear error by overlooking the fact that an alive and large calf can not be roasted and the contradiction between the adjective “roasted” that qualifies the same animal and the adjective fat that is used for alive animals.

When the above mentioned meanings of these words that are used to describe the calf, it can be concluded that the calf mentioned herein is “pure” and “giving power”. Therefore, we think that this calf is made of “gold” as “the dead calf with a deceiving voice” that is mentioned in the Surah Al-A’raf. Accordingly, Abraham gave to the messengers “gold” for the good tidings they had brought. The incident is not detailed here in its entirety. The incident is narrated in great detail in the Ayah Al-Hijr/51-58. Abraham must have given the gift after he had received the good tidings.

²¹¹ The expressions my daughters and your daughters mentioned in the Ayat 78 and 79 respectively do not represent the daughters of Lot (Peace Be Upon Him) but must be understood as “the women of the respective community”. Because it is impossible that the daughters born to Lot to be equal in number to all men of the community. Such equality can only be mentioned when the expression my daughter denotes all women of the community. Lot must have consider all women in his tribe as his daughters so such an expression is used in this Ayah. Likewise, the answer of men of the community; you have known that there is no right for us concerning your daughters, must be interpreted as follows; “We do not need your daughter, i.e. women; we are not interested in them sexually, we do not love nor want them, we do not covet upon them”.

²¹² The phrase “as long as the heavens/universe and the earth remain” mentioned in the Ayat represents the persistent nature of the offerings of Jannah [Heaven/Paradise] and the punishment of Jahannah [Hell]. Then, in classical Arabic, the phrase as long as the heavens/universe and the earth remain and the day and the night revolve around each other is used to denote “an eternal term [Abad]”. Otherwise, as can be understood from the following Ayat, there will not be the heavens/universe nor the earth in the Akhirat [Afterlife]; mountains will be demolished to the ground and the heavens/universe will be converted into another form: Official Mushaf: Al-Kahf/47, An-Naba’/18-20, Ta-Ha/105-107, An-Naml/88, At-Tur/9-10, Al-Ma’arij/8-9, Al-Qari’ah/5, Al-Waqi’ah/1-6, Ibrahim/48.

Furthermore, the expression “Except for what your Rabb wills” does not mean that some people will be exempted from this rule, instead it emphasizes that everything will happen by the will of Allah and all the authority belong to Allah.

²¹³ See Footnote No. 200

²¹⁴ See Footnote No. 8

²¹⁵ Although other stories are narrated in multiple Surah in short of longer forms, the story of Yusuf is narrated solely in this Surah. The story has a unique quality and beauty stylistically and in its contents. Then, this is explicitly expressed in the 3^rd Ayah with the expression We narrate you the best of the stories. With this story, in which such ageless principles of the mankind as unification, patience, justice, tolerance, forgiveness, relations with close relatives, economics, politics; conquering from inside and the fact that everyone, even prophets can make mistakes are emphasized, our Prophet was given the message to be patient like Joseph (Peace Be Upon Him), to carry on his duty without fearing nor despairing, and his affairs would conclude with “the good” as with the fate of Joseph; while the people of Quraysh were warned that they would eventually be defeated in their war against our Prophet and that it did not make sense to insist thereof.

²¹⁶ The story of Joseph starts with this Ayah in which Joseph tells his father about a vision he has seen. This “vision”, in which eleven stars, the sun and the moon submit [submit and come under command of Joseph] to him, is not a dream he saw while he was asleep but a vision Joseph saw while he was awake. This is emphasized with the use of the verb raeytu [I saw] twice in this Ayah. That is, Joseph emphasized that he saw these images while he was awake and not asleep with the expression “O my father! Indeed I have seen eleven stars, the sun and the moon; I have seen them submitting to me”.

Any image that is seen while being asleep and described with the term “dream” in English are described in the Qur’an with the use of the term fi’l-manami [while asleep]. Two of those dreams that are mentioned in the Qur’an as seen while being asleep belong to Abraham and our Prophet (see. As-Saffat/102; Division: 210, Al-Anfal/43-44; Division: 471).

Visions similar to those that Joseph saw would be seen by his companions in the prison and also the king of the land. That is, the visions of producing spirits, carrying bread over the head and birds feeding on this bread, and seven lean cows devouring seven fat cows and seven green spikes and seven withered spikes in the following parts of the story, are not dreams but real images. In fact, these are scenes about the “future”. Such scenes from the future were seen by our Prophet as well (see Al-Fath/27; Division: 670).

²¹⁷ The expression mentioned in the 76^th Ayat, “There was no way to keep his brother within the religion of the king/laws of the country”, is interpreted in some resources as “the law of the king on theft, beating of the thief and obligation to pay double the price of the stole object”; and as “at the time, anyone who stole was considered a slave for his evil deed” in others.

²¹⁸ See Footnote No. 8

²¹⁹ 12^th Ayah of the Official Mushaf relocated to this position.

²²⁰ As can be clearly understood from the Ayah, our Rabb has assumed the protection of the Qur’an and He will protect it and will not let it be spoiled. But, our Rabb will not protect the Qur’an by breaking wrists and ankles of those who try to alter it nor blinding them, … taking their lives nor keeping the Qur’an in locked steel safe boxes. Protection of our Rabb will be as follows:

The Qur’an, a miracle in its literary and structural style and contents, was sent down Arabbian [with the most perfect narrative style and grammatically accurate]. Therefore, any extraction, addition of alteration would show itself up immediately, so to speak: A) Muslims formed the Qur’an in the form of a book at the early periods; so early manuscripts and contemporary editions are same. B) From the first day forth, people have been reciting and memorizing the Qur’an easily thanks to the harmonic nature of its literary style; therefore, in every period there always were thousands of hafiz [anyone who has completely memorized the Qur’an] and the risk of corruption and alteration or being lost was never a case for the Qur’an. C) As soon as it was first revealed, the Qur’an was started to be recited and taught. Contrary to other religions, Islam does not sport a class of clerics, therefore recitation and teaching of it has been accessible for all, for the rural and urban population alike; the Qur’an has entered to every house with its many copies, and thus recited and taught by everyone. This has led to a wide spread awareness and knowledge on the Qur’an and efforts of the ill-minded to corrupt it has always failed. D) 610 A.D., the year the revelation of the Qur’an commenced, was a period of enlightenment in comparison with the time periods during which other religions had been revealed, and any and all incidents were recorded in a tactile form. Consequently, while some historians deny the very existence of Moses and Jesus (Peace Be Upon Them), there is no such doubt about our Prophet. Therefore, the sole miracle of our Prophet, the Qur’an, has survived to this day with such records that eliminate all possible doubts. E) Islam did not emerge among mistreated, poor, weak and miserable minorities, as in the time of Moses and Jesus (Peace Be Upon Them), but among those who were rich; those who had the authority and power; in the prosper, sovereign and free cities thus becoming the religion of powerful communities.

²²¹ The literal meaning of the phrases mentioned in the Ayah is as follows; “And We protected the heavens/universe from all demons that are stoned. Except for the demons who steal ears, they are clearly pursued by a column of fire”. In our interpretation, we have used the metaphorical meaning. For detailed information, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

²²² See Footnote No. 49

²²³ See Footnote No. 91

²²⁴ Same issue is mentioned in the Surah Sad/71-85 (Division: 66)

²²⁵ Same issue is dealt with in the Surah Hud/69-83 (Division: 191)

²²⁶ See Footnote No. 211

²²⁷ See Footnote No. 87

²²⁸ Since the Ayat 90-93 of the Surah Al-Hijr of the Official Mushaf are reorganized together with the Ayat 3-6 of the Surah Ash-Shu’ara, they are not given here.

²²⁹ See Footnote No. 24

²³⁰ The Surah Al-An’am (consists of 165 Ayat) is a summary of all principles that had been revealed until the time of its revelation. As we mentioned in the Tebyinu’l Qur’an, since it is stated that these Surat were revealed at once, we give them within a single division herein.

²³¹ See Footnote No. 71

²³² We reorganized 114^th Ayah of the Official Mushaf in the end of the 64^th Ayah and 104^th Ayah in the end of the 67^th Ayah.

²³³ See Footnote No. 205

²³⁴ We reorganized the Ayat of this passage different than the Official Mushaf due to technical and semantic reasons.

²³⁵ The literal meaning of the Ayah is “Indeed, We adorned the lower heavens with jewels/stars. And except for those who could catch a crumble from The Community of Angles [Al Mala al-Ala] and who are followed by shooting stars [Shahab al-Saqip], We protected it from all stubborn and transgressing devils who are in constant punishment, stoned from all around to be driven away and do not heed the Community of Angels. And We protected it from all rebellious stubborn devils”. A similar passage can be found in the Surah Al-Hijr/16-18. The term Mala al-Ala is explained in the Footnote 89 herein.

²³⁶ See Footnote No. 77

²³⁷ Due to technical and semantic reasons, we reorganized 88^th and 89^th Ayat differently than the Official Mushaf.

²³⁸ The events mentioned here are various phases of Abraham’s and Ishmael’s lives and did not happen in successive order. The submission [Islam] mentioned here is the event mentioned in the Surah Baqara/124-132 (Division: 420). For the details of this matter, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

²³⁹ See Footnote No. 204

²⁴⁰ See Footnote No. 8

²⁴¹ Due to technical and semantic reasons, we have reorganized the Ayat contained within this paragraph differently than the Official Mushaf.

²⁴² These Ayat deal with Solomon (Peace Be Upon Him), who is given as a model for the grateful servants and also the blessings bestowed. As can be understood from the Ayat, among the blessings bestowed to Solomon were utilizing winds to move sailboats and windmills, producing tools from melted copper, traveling to and from far places quickly, employing foreign-master craftsmen in crafting, mastery, engineering and architecture.

In the previous passage, his father, David (Peace Be Upon Him) is mentioned to process iron; in this passage, on the other hand, Solomon is mentioned to use copper. The ability to process iron and copper respectively, shows the grandeur of the blessings bestowed upon these two prophets/rulers.

The phrase “We We flooded molten copper for him” mentioned in the Ayah may imply that there were no copper mines in the land where Solomon lived and the copper mentioned was imported with ships from far places such as Cyprus. Then, the name of Cyprus originated from copper.

The phrase, “And whoever of them dared to go astray from Our command; We made him taste from the punishment of the blazing fire” mentioned in the end of the 12^th Ayah represents – as can be understood from the conclusion of the 14^th Ayah – the absolute dominion of Solomon over them and foreign workers worked for him unwillingly. A brief information on the Jinn of Solomon is given in the Footnote No. 171.

Demonic Jinn, who waged slandering and defamatory campaigns against Solomon and did their best to overthrow and eliminate him were capable craftsmen who worked reluctantly. Aware of this, Solomon employed them to the full extent by force.

²⁴³ In these Ayat, it is stated that the people of Sheba followed Iblis and transgressed while not being forced to do so by Iblis and consequently, they were punished. In the Ayah, certain messages, which are previously expressed using figurative narration (Official Mushaf: Surah Al-Araf/16-17, Division 69; Surah Al-Isra/62, Division 165; Al-Hijr/39-40, Division 199) were referred to.

In these Ayat, it is told that Iblis would make all the people, except for a group of few, transgress and ungrateful. The fate of the people of Sheba is a great example of this function of Satan. Because they were ungrateful thus supporting Satan’s intentions.

²⁴⁴ See Footnote No. 57

²⁴⁵ Orthographic and orthoepic errors were made in the 10^th and 53^rd Ayat of the Surah Az-Zumar. The word that we translated as “the Servants” is, according to the Official Mushaf, “My servants”. This orthographic error in the Official Mushaf has been omitted for centuries. This error, which emerges the notion that people should be servants to Muhammad and thus contradicting the creeds of Islam, must be corrected (for details about this matter see Tebyinı’l-Kur’an).

²⁴⁶ The term Taghut means “a transgressor, a one who has gone astray, a leader of evil and astray, a tyrant, a devil, an idol, the house of idols, an soothsayer (cohen), a magician, an individual and the establishment that turn away from the judgment of Allah and”.

²⁴⁷ The term Masani means “double, multiple”. The masani (double, multiple) nature of the Qur’an can briefly be explained as follows: A) The Method of Contradiction: Positive and negative concepts, as can be seen in the Surah Az-Zumar/22-23, are always given in conjunction with each other in the Qur’an using the Method of Contradiction. Abrar-Fujjar, good-evil, heavens-earth, ins-jinn, truth-falsehood, Jannah [Heaven/Paradise]-Jahannah [Hell], warning-good tidings, etc. B) Any message conveyed is always emphasized twice.

²⁴⁸ The phrase “Their skins soften” has the same meaning as the English phrase “Gives the goose-bumps”.

²⁴⁹ The verb of the phrase has been removed. The verb has been added to the Interpretation with the guidance of the Surah Fussilat/40.

²⁵⁰ See Footnote No. 245

²⁵¹ See Footnote No. 27

²⁵² See Footnote No. 56

²⁵³ See Footnote No. 37

²⁵⁴ In this Ayah, it is stated that the Companions of Jannah [Heaven/Paradise] will be shown, as the manifestation of Allah, His greatness and sublimity. This divine manifestation mentioned in this Ayah is expressed using a highly figurative allegory: Allah sits upon the throne of dominion while all forces of the universe circumambulate around Him, exonerating and glorifying Him. These forces (angels) mentioned here are similar to the angels mentioned in the Surah Al-Baqara/30-34. All the forces, systems created by Allah exonerate, glorify and hallow Allah in Jannah [Heaven/Paradise].

²⁵⁵ See Footnote No. 8

²⁵⁶ See Footnote No. 37

²⁵⁷ What is meant with the phrase “Those who carry the throne” is “Those who carry over the information about Allah”. These are all creatures who are the manifestation of the very existence, unity, divinity and nature of Rabb of Allah and those who are assigned by the Owner of the Throne to information of Allah, “the oneness” from one place to another, and the prophets who introduce and teach about Allah.

²⁵⁸ See Footnote No. 71

²⁵⁹ See Footnote No. 8

²⁶⁰ See Footnote No. 52

²⁶¹ See Footnote No. 77

²⁶² The purpose of polytheists of Mecca, as mentioned here, is to avert people’s  attention from the Qur’an, to distract those who listen and to prevent it from being understood by making it undistinguishable.

This plot has been continued by utilizing such approaches as disturbing the order of Ayat in the Official Mushaf, diverting the true meaning of the Qur’an with rumors, paraphrasing it for personal opinions, ensuring that people recite it without understanding it, alleging that it can not be understood by everyone, spreading the judgment that it may not be recited without exercising ritual ablution, concealing its social and political contents, refusing that it is the single resource of the religion, etc.

²⁶³ See Footnote No. 200

²⁶⁴ As of present time, some of the inner and extraterrestrial miracles are as follows: Inner miracles: Existence of protective cells found in every human’s organic system, creation in pairs, the fact that semen is a compound, determination of gender, clinging onto the wall of uterus, becoming a piece of flesh, formation of the bones and covering of them with flesh, creation in three darkness… Extraterrestrial miracles: Continuous expansion of the universe, creation from nothingness, gas state of the universe, perfectly set orbits found in the universe, revolution of the sun, difference between sun and moon, orbit of moon, layers of the atmosphere and the earth, the heavens/universe being protected, things returned by the heavens/universe, erection of the heavens/universe without pillars, geoid shape of the earth, diameter of the earth and the space, flattening of poles as a consequence of revolving, revolving of the earth, fecundating winds, amount of rains, recycling of water, stake shaped mountains, formation of petroleum, respiration and photosynthesis, difficulty to arise into the heavens/universe, Feminity and Masculinity of plants… All these biological, physical concepts and existence were unknown during the times when the Qur’an was revealed. Therefore, inclusion of the concepts that has only recently been discovered by science is a manifest and certain evidence that the Qur’an was revealed by Allah.

²⁶⁵ See Footnote No. 8

²⁶⁶ Due to technical and semantic matters, we reorganized 10^th Ayah of the Official Mushaf after 15^th Ayah.

²⁶⁷ See Footnote No. 200

²⁶⁸ See Footnote No. 54

²⁶⁹ See Footnote No. 8

²⁷⁰ We reorganized 60^th Ayah of the Official Mushaf into this position.

²⁷¹ We reorganized 61st and 62^nd Ayat of the Official Mushaf into this paragraph.

²⁷² See Footnote No. 37

²⁷³ See Footnote No. 8

²⁷⁴ According to prophetic biography [Siyar] and campaigns [Maghazi], in the first hears of Muhammad’s prophethood, Mecca experienced a period of severe famine. During the climax of the famine, Abu Sufyan came to the Messenger of Allah and, relying on the fact that they were relatives, asked him to invoke Allah to remove the famine; And he promised that had Allah removed the famine, they would believe. However, although Allah removed the famine, the polytheists broke their words and kept associating others with Allah.

²⁷⁵ See Footnote No. 8

²⁷⁶ See Footnote No. 8

²⁷⁷ See Footnote No. 49

²⁷⁸ See Footnote No. 77

²⁷⁹ Surah opens with an Oath [Qaseem] Sentence. In the passage, which consists of 6 Ayat, certain matters are listed consecutively and sworn upon thus the veracity of the promised events [recreation, resurrection, threat of gathering and questioning] are acknowledged. Accordingly, Qiyamat [Resurrection] will certainly come, everyone will be recompensed for what they do and rewarded for their good deeds. On the question whether the expressions listed in the passage are the Ayat of Allah in the universe or the Ayat of the Qur’an, we assume both may be meant. Therefore, the expressions in question should be considered in both approach: 1) RELATION OF QUALITATIVE EXPRESSIONS WITH THE EVENTS IN THE UNIVERSE: Our Rabb draws attention to the natural cycle of water. Vaporization from seas, lakes, rivers and all bodies of water from the smallest to the largest that occurs due to heat and also particles swept from the land by winds are made rain clouds that weight millions of tons then returned to the earth, being allocated to different places. And barren soil is revived with this returned waters. The “reviving effect” of the rain on the withered nature is one of the most significant evidences that the mankind may also be resurrected (Ar-Rum/46-50; Fussilat/39; Fatir/9; Al-Baqara/164; Al-A’raf/57; Al-Hijr/22-23). 2) RELATION OF QUALITATIVE AYAT WITH THE QUR’AN: It is possible that the Ayat of the Qur’an might be addressed with the expressions contained in the passage. Accordingly, the term that which scatter dust and other qualitative expressions that follow are actually the Ayat of Qur’an. Because, the Ayat of the Qur’an defeat everything that crosses their path, do not let any false acts and ideas to cultivate and their messages contain harsh statements; they help everyone and solve problems, flowing like oil from hand to hand, tongue to tongue and heart to heart. Another name for the Qur’an is soul [ruh] and it gives life to dead infidels and people.

As with this Surah, the Qur’an is many times introduced in the beginnings of various Surat using metaphorical expressions: Al-Mursalat/1-7 (Division: 55), As-Saffat/1-5 (Division: 205), An-Nazi’at/1-3, 26 (Division: 369).

²⁸⁰ The metaphorical meaning of the term sama is “the scholars”.

²⁸¹ The literal meaning of the term semin that is mentioned in the Ayah is “the calf that gives strength”. This – as we have mentioned in the Footnote No. 210 herein – represents “gold”.

²⁸² See Footnote No. 204

²⁸³ We reorganized these Ayat of the Surah Al-Kahf, which is the 18^th Surah in the Official Mushaf, differently.

²⁸⁴ The parables of the Companions of Al-Kahf and the Companions of Al-Raqim are scientific experiments to prove the veracity of the Akhirat [Afterlife]. Another matter to consider before starting to read the passage is that not only the Companions of Al-Kahf but also the Companions of Al-Raqim are mentioned in the parable. Therefore, some of the pronouns used in the passage are attributed to the Companions of Al-Kahf while the rest are attributed to the Companions of Al-Raqim. As can be understood from the text of the Ayat, in this section of the Surah mentioned are an event that had not yet occurred at the time when the Qur’an was revealed but would occur many centuries later; the fact that the mankind will not perish but when the time has come, scattered cells will be gathered and formed; and persons and events that will scientifically prove the veracity of Akhirat [Afterlife]. For detailed information thereof, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

²⁸⁵ We have provided information on the term hut which is mentioned in the Ayah under the Footnote No. 14 and stated that the term hut means “distress/depression”. The matter that distresses Moses is his anxiety about the task of killing Pharaoh and lead Israelites out of Egypt he was assigned. In this parable, Moses learns how he would fulfill this task successfully and that those who wage against Allah must be killed; therefore, why he must kill Pharaoh.

²⁸⁶ In this passage, Muhammad the Messenger is introduced with a different narrative style via utilization of various advanced figures of speech. The events mentioned herein had not yet occurred when these Ayat were revealed. When the myth of Dhul-Qarnayn was asked, a historical narration of Dhul-Qarnayn was given. This passage is a miracle in this respect. We studied this matter in Tebyinu’l Qur’an in detail. The literal meaning of the passage is as follows: “When he arrived between two walls, he found a people from among the subordinates of the two clans who could barely understand a word. They [the people who could barely understand a word] said: “O Dhul-Qarnayn! Surely, Ye’cuc and Me’cuc are corrupters on these lands. Then should we give you a tribute so [on the condition that] you may set a wall between them and us?”. He [Dhul-Qarnayn] said: “O my Rabb! They ask You about me and Dhul-Qarnayn”. Say: “I will recite a reminder from Him: Surely, We gave him [Dhul-Qarnayn] dominion in the world and reasons to follow for every matter. Then he followed a reason. And when he arrived the place where the sun sets, he found it [the sun] sinking into a dark clay. And he also found a people close by. We said: “O Dhul-Qarnayn! Either punish them or treat them nicely”. He said: “Whoever does evil deeds we surely punish him; Then he will be returned to his Rabb and will be punished with an unprecedented punishment. But whoever believes and does good deeds; he will be recompensed in the best way. And we will command him an easy task”. Then he [Dhul-Qarnayn] followed another reason. And he arrived the place where sun rises. He found it [the sun] rising over a people. Then We had made a shield for them from the subordinate of it [the sun]. Thus was it! And We had encompassed that which was beside it with science. Then he [Dhul-Qarnayn] followed another reason. Then the possibilities he had within himself were better. Now help me with your strength so I may set a very strong wall between them and you. Bring me the iron blocks/the texts of negotiation that you have prepared with your wisdom”. And when two hills/targets were level, he said: “Blow!”. And when he made it [the iron] into fire [melted], he said: “Bring me water so I may pour onto it”. Then they [the people who could barely understand a word] could not be able to overcome nor pierce it [the firmly made covenant]. He [Dhul-Qarnayn] said: “This [the firmly made covenant] is a mercy from my Rabb. And when the promise of my Rabb arrives, it will destroy it. And the promise of my Rabb is the truth”.

In our interpretation, We gave the direct meanings of otherwise metaphorical narrations.

²⁸⁷ The fact that Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) being the owner of the two ages can be explained in two ways: A) The reason may be that his emigration from Mecca to Medina was accepted as the beginning of the Islamic calendar. Therefore, his life was divided into two eras, namely “Before Hijra” and “After Hijra”; in the same fashion as the use of the terms “Before Christ” and “Anno Domini”. B) He could have been considered of the owner of Mecca, where the sun [revelation] rises, and Medina, where – according to the expression given in the passage – the sun sets.

²⁸⁸ Here, presidency of Muhammad in Medina and the covenant he made with the native community [The Certificate of Medina] is dealt with.

²⁸⁹ In this paragraph, emigration of Muhammad to the city he was revealed [to Mecca-Hudaybiyyah] and the covenant he made there is dealt with.

²⁹⁰ It is stated that the terms Ye’cuc and Me’cuc are not Arabic. According to various studies that have been conducted to determine the etymology of non-Arabic terms mentioned in the Qur’an, these two terms – as with Harut and Marut – were borrowed from a foreign language [Greek] and integrated into the Arabic language. Another point of interest is that these terms were integrated into Arabic with words that remind such words as “destroy, loot, devastate, etc.”.

According to the Holy Bible and the Bible and the Qur’an, the common features of Ye’cuc and Me’cuc are being raiders and invaders. Therefore, the power that comes to mind when these two terms are uttered must be the power of an army. In such case, Ye’cuc is the “commander” and Me’cuc are his “soldiers”.

From this viewpoint, it can be said that the commander [Muhammad] who invaded Kyber and his companions [Sahaba] were Ye’cuc and Me’cuc to the people of Kyber.

In the 94^th Ayah, – in the literal meanings of the terms – the people who could barely understand a word/defy laws/rules speak to Dhul-Qarnayn as if addressing a third party, saying: O Dhul-Qarnayn! Surely, Ye’cuc and Me’cuc are corrupters on these lands. Since it has not been studied in detail, this dialog that is mentioned in the Ayah is misinterpreted. In fact, the people who could barely understand a word/defy laws-rules do not address Dhul-Qarnayn as you and your army are corrupters on these lands, instead they use a more polite and diplomatic style and in a sarcastic manner, saying O Dhul-Qarnayn! Surely, Ye’cuc and Me’cuc are corrupters on these lands.

²⁹¹ Here the preparation stage and content of the Khyber Treaty is dealt with. Detailed information thereof can be found in history books, which deal with this subject and Tebyinu’l Qur’an

²⁹² See Footnote No. 246.

²⁹³ See Footnote No. 71.

²⁹⁴ Allah favors some of His servants over others in terms of wealth, children, lifetime and intelligence. Those who are favored in wealth do not pay their subordinates, employees, officers, workers equally; they pay them differently due to certain reasons. They consider none of them are equal with them and do not share with them. Our Rabb gives this message: Even you do not accept your employees [slaves, workers, officers] as partners [equal] to yourselves; and acknowledge the difference between the master and the slave, the employee and the employer, then how come you do not accept there is a difference between Allah and His creations? Does Allah ever accept His servants as partners [equal] to Himself? The reason for Allah to bestow His blessings more upon some of His servants thus favoring some of them above others is to maintain the social order: The relation between subordinates and seniors is a divine law that is imposed on the social life and enables people to socially interact among themselves thus allowing them to be tested with their manners and attitudes in establishing their relations. Raising in various degrees, as mentioned herein, is not a difference in terms of prophecy, superiority, prestige, but in economical power, wisdom, intelligence, understanding, knowledge-ignorance. In a community where all of the members are equal in terms of economical power, intelligence and understanding, employment and production, which in turn requires some people to employ other, can not be possible; and in an environment where employment and production is absent, the life literally stops. For detailed information see Official Mushaf: Az-Zukhruf/32 (Division: 258), Ar-Rum/28 (Division: 379).

²⁹⁵ Those who break their covenants as mentioned in the Ayah, are likened to a women who untwists her thread after having made it strong. A woman who untwists her thread which she has made is an allegory used to characterize those who break their covenants. Although this allegory, which is made according to Arabic tradition, is stated in certain interpretations to represent a woman, it is obvious that the person who is characterized in the Ayah represents all those who break their covenants, female or male.

²⁹⁶ The city mentioned herein must be the city of Sheba which is mentioned in 58/34, Sheba/5-21 (Division: 223).

²⁹⁷ The Sabbath, which is colloquially known as “Saturday” is the day when the people interrupt their daily [worldly] affairs and heed to and contemplate on the words of God thus resting their souls and bodies.

²⁹⁸ The idols names of which are given herein were so-called gods of the people of Noah. In the lifetime of the Messenger, there were such idols which were called with these names.

²⁹⁹ Due to technical and semantic reasons, We rearranged the 25^th Ayah of the Official Mushaf to the end of the 28^th Ayah.

³⁰⁰ See Footnote No. 8

³⁰¹ See Footnote No. 37

³⁰² See Footnote No. 290

³⁰³ The phrase  ma malaqat aymanuhum [their covenants possess] is usually interpreted to refer to “concubines”. It was widely accepted that there was no limitation on the number of concubines one can have while no official marriage is required for them. Therefore, it must be analyzed carefully to whom the phrase ma malaqat aymanuhum [their covenants possess] refers: When Islam emerged, slavery had been in existence in Arabia, as with all other regions of the world, and it was maintained by means of purchase, heritance, abduction, enslaving of prisoners, etc. Islam forbade taking prisoners except during hot-war and enslaving of the prisoners (Al-Anfal/62 and Muhammad/4) and thus completely abolished slavery utilizing a gradual method. And in the 19^th Century, other nations, led by British Empire, abolished and forbade slavery. Unfortunately, Ottoman Empire, so called an Islamic state, abolished slavery only in 1857 for black people and in 1909 for white people. For detailed explanation thereof, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an; vol. 2, p. 167.

During the period when slavery was in effect, in compliance with local and international traditions, female and male slaves were given into custody of guardian families under certain conditions and contracts and so-called guardian families would employ them and keep them under their protection. While slaves had the freedom of religion and conscience, they were not free economically and politically. Upon abolishment of slavery by means of heritage and taking prisoners, female prisoners of war, who were not subjected to amendment, for whom no ransom had been given and who had no relatives to guard them, were given under the protection of anybody under aforementioned conditions. In some cases, slaves were sent as gifts from neighboring nations, where slavery had not been abolished.

The phrase ma malaqat aymanuhum [their covenants possess] refers to the “women taken under protection under these conditions”. In order to have sexual intercourse with these women, consent of their guardians must have been obtained and a formal marriage must have been established upon provision of mehir [life insurance, honor wealth] (An-Nisa/24) according to the tradition. Islam disapproves extramarital sexual intercourse; in Islam, extramarital voluntary sexual activities are considered unlawful sexual intercourse and extramarital and involuntary sexual activities are considered rape.

Mention of these women in the Ayah as a secondary group by utilizing the conjunction “or” originates from unknown aspects of their past lives and the fact they were unequal to their legitimate fellow citizens in terms of mehir [life insurance, honor wealth]. While wedlock was basically equal, there were differences in details. The following names can be given as examples to such concubines: “Saffiyah”, one of Prophet Muhammad’s wives, was a prisoner of war; “Maria” was given to him as a gift. Our prophet married both of these women. These two women are mentioned in the Qur’an [in Surat At-Tahrim and Al-Ahzab] as “wives” of Rasulullah [Messenger of Allah].

Today, slavery has been completely abolished and traditions have been replaced by local and universal law. Under today’s conditions, this concept must be interpreted to cover women living in concentration camps, women’s shelter and social services and protection institutions.

³⁰⁴ See Footnote No. 77.

³⁰⁵ See Footnote No. 37.

³⁰⁶ See Footnote No. 27.

³⁰⁷ See Footnote No. 37.

³⁰⁸ See Footnote No. 8.

³⁰⁹ See Footnotes No. 37 and 52.

³¹⁰ See Footnote No. 91.

³¹¹ See Footnote No. 71.

³¹² See Footnote No. 49.

³¹³ The literal meaning of the Ayah is as follows: “The Tur [Mount], the Scripture that is written on spread thin hide [parchment], the prosperous house, raised ceiling, filled/ignited seas are evidences that the punishment of your Rabb will surely come and no one can prevent it”.

³¹⁴ The term sama as mentioned in this statement refers to beyond of all universe/material world, “the apex” (for detailed information on the term sama, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an; vol. 1, pp. 526-527). The mankind, by its nature, stares at the heavens/universe while thinking about Allah. Likewise, one holds his hands up to the sky when praying. And people invoke Allah when in trouble by looking up into the sky. And extraordinary cases are traditionally expressed with the phrase “dropped from the sky”. And all Scriptures sent down by Allah are collectively named “Celestial/Heavenly Books”. Therefore, whenever one thinks about Allah, by his nature, he looks up into the sky and not onto the ground.

³¹⁵ See Footnote No. 27.

³¹⁶ See Footnote No. 37.

³¹⁷ We rearranged this passage (Ayat 4-12) to the end of the main passage so “that which will be fulfilled” may be understood better.

³¹⁸ See Footnote No. 303.

³¹⁹ See Footnote No. 27.

³²⁰ The literal meaning of the Ayah is as follows: “Those who pull as if soaking into water/soaking; those who pull without forcing and those who swim away; and those who get ahead and do a trick are the evidences that that”. We used the metaphorical meaning.

³²¹We rearranged the Ayat of the Surah An-Nazi’at in the Official Mushaf differently due to technical reasons and semantics.

³²² See Footnote No. 8.

³²³ We rearranged this Ayah, which is the 46^th Ayah in the Official Mushaf, to this position due to its context.

³²⁴ See Footnote No. 303.

³²⁵ We rearranged this Ayah, which is the 47^th Ayah in the Official Mushaf, to this position due to its context.

³²⁶ See Footnote No. 8.

³²⁷ We rearranged Ayat 14-17 in the Official Mushaf between Ayat 23 and 24.

³²⁸ The 33th Ayah has been interpreted by Interpreters and Commentators as follows; “But they were not sent as guardians upon the believers”. This interpretation does not comply with the technical structure of the Ayah. Furthermore, those who were not sent as guardians/appointed as messengers, those who are accused of pervasive behavior and those whose affairs were laughed upon were, under guidance of the Surat An-Nisa/80; Al-Isra/54; Ash-Shura/48; Al-An’am104, 107; Hud/86; Al-A’raf/60-61; Ya-Sin/47; Al-Mulk/9, 29; and Az-Zukhruf/47 of the Official Mushaf, some of those believers, i.e. messengers of Allah.

³²⁹ Remaining Ayat of the Qur’an are considered as Medinan Ayat. The Messenger of Allah emigrated from Mecca to Medina and the people of Medina appointed him their president. The target group of Rasulullah [The Messenger of Allah] was the hypocrites in the first place, and then the Jews living in the vicinity of Medina. The Ayat of the Qur’an from this point forth deal with the statements aimed at the hypocrites and the Jews in general and the essential principles of the Islamic Nation.

³³⁰ See Footnote No. 8.

³³¹ See Footnote No. 52.

³³² See Footnote No. 96.

³³³ The events mentioned herein are those that are dealt with in the Surat Al-A’raf/138-155 and Ta-Ha/80-98 (Division: 120). The term fawq that is originally contained within the Ayah serves as both the particle “above”, antonym of “lower”; and also infinite form of the verb faqah which itself means being exalted above someone else in terms of honor and virtue. Moreover, the term fawq is usually used to express spiritual exaltedness. See. Official Mushaf: Az-Zukhruf/32; Al-Baqara/212; Ali-Imran/55; Al-An’am/18 and Al-A’raf/127. The Israelites mentioned herein are the lower ones and Moses is the exalted one.

³³⁴ In this passage, Allah shows how ambiguous statements should be interpreted. It is understood that the term cattle mentioned within the Ayat is used to mean “gold”. Therefore, the involuntary slaughter of the cattle implies that Israelites abstained from worshipping gold involuntarily.

³³⁵ Affairs of the leaders are always attributed to their people. Ultimately, a leader acts on behalf of his people. Although only a man from among the people of Thamud slaughtered the she-camel by cutting her ankles (abolished the duty of Salah), in some Ayat, this is attributed to the people of Thamud as a whole.

³³⁶ We rearranged the 62^nd Ayah, which is an independent division in the Official Mushaf, due to semantic reasons, so it now follows the passage that deals with Israelites.

³³⁷ See Footnote No. 329.

³³⁸ [ Jibril [Gabriel], which means “Allah’s recovery, Allah’s restoration”, is a quality of the Ayat of the Qur’an. Contrary to the public opinion thereof, there are actually no angels who convey revelations from Allah to His messengers. Allah imposes His revelations directly into the brain of His messengers. Jibril/Gabriel is not the one who brings down but what is sent down. Any interpretation or translation opposes this fact is incorrect and thus contradicts with the Qur’an. Likewise, the name Michael, which was borrowed from Hebrew into Arabic and means “the great chief who guards and protects”, represents the qualities of Rasulullah (which are mentioned in Tawbah/128). Concisely, Michael, who is mentioned in the Qur’an, is “Rasulullah/Muhammad” himself. For details see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

³³⁹ Due to semantic reasons, we rearranged the Ayat of this passage differently than the Official Mushaf.

³⁴⁰ Certain aspects mentioned in the passage of Hajj, given to ensure that the passage is understood appropriately:

The known months

In traditional interpretations, the “known months” mentioned in the Ayah are described with such approaches as “Shawwal, Dhul Al-Qa’da and Dhul Al-Hijja”; “the first ten days of Shawwal, Dhul Al-Qa’da and Dhul Al-Hijja”. These approaches are, in a sense, continuations of the understanding that predates the revelation of the Qur’an. And as a consequence, the Hajj (Pilgrimage) –unfortunately – has long been performed in the month of “Dhul Al-Hijja”.

As can be clearly understood from the Surah Al-Baqara/197 (Division: 422), for the Hajj, our Rabb sets forth a term that comprises multiple months (three months at least). This means, Muslims should form a “Hajj Organization Committee” or “Directory of Hajj”, an institution that will determine Hajj terms, and declare it to the public; so everyone will apply to the aforementioned Committee or Directory within the determined term.

Hady

Hady is “the livestock that is shipped (as gift) to Kaaba to provide catering needs of those who fulfill Hajj”. Livestock was the most appropriate item in the period when the Qur’an was revealed.

Ihram

According to the statements mentioned in the Surah Al-Baqara/196 (Division: 422) and also the Surah Al-Ma’idah/1, 2, 95, 96 (Divisions: 672 and 690); the one who fulfills Hajj will refrain from the lifestyle in his civil life, uttering evil talk, having sexual intercourse, committing petty or major crimes, bearing animosity and grudge and hunting.

These provisions entered into literature under the title “Ihram” (Prohibition). However, the term “Ihram” has taken on a new meaning and become the name of the seamless, shroud like clothing item that is worn during the Hajj. The reason for this is that this clothing symbolizes that anyone, who intends to go to Hajj (Pilgrimage) and has applied to the Committee or Directory of Hajj, as a believer who has been trained in the Abrahamic tradition, gets rid of his business, feudal, social, racial, sexual identity and his wealth, children and other assets, i.e. all his previous life; and goes as Abraham before Him, leaving his wealth and children behind and saying, “I go to my Rabb; to serve my Rabb”.

Arafat and Al-Ma’shar Al-Haram (Muzdalifah)

In the Surah Al-Baqara/198 (Division: 422), our Rabb commands the believers who have fulfilled pilgrimage: “And when you depart from Arafat; remember Allah immediately in Mash’ar al-Haram”. In order to fulfill this command, the terms “Arafat” and “Al-Mashar Al-Haram” must be comprehended fully.

Arafat

The term Arafat is a derivative of the root “arf” which means “the knowledge, the wisdom”. As is known, the word Arafat has become famous as the name of a region located in the vicinity of Mecca. In fact, as mentioned within the Qur’an, Arafat is “where teachers and students are; centers of education and knowledge”. It comprises all permanent and temporary education and training centers that are established within the vicinity of Mecca during Hajj period.

Al-Ma’shar Al-Haram

The term “Ma’shar al-Haram” mentioned in the Ayah takes the definitive form by being mentioned as “Al-Ma’shar Al-Harame” thus serving as a proper name. Its meaning is “the untouchable place, a place where one receives knowledge-becomes aware”. It is the name of the area that is located between the Arafat and the Mina region (some consider it being the name of a part of it).

The command of our Rabb, “And when you depart from Arafat; remember Allah immediately in Mash’ar al-Haram”, is fulfilled when the believers who study at the schools established in the vicinity of Mecca visit Al-Ma’shar Al-Haram on predetermined dates and perform “Remembrance Service for Allah”.

Dhikr (Remembrance) of Allah

“Dhikrullah = Remembrance of Allah” is not uttering the name of Allah repeatedly with beads in hand, as traditionally performed. “Dhikrullah = Remembrance of Allah” is to contemplate about the rights of Allah over us, His servants, and His blessings He bestows upon us; to continuously check if we fulfill our liabilities to Him; to fulfill each and every one of His commands; to repay for His blessings and to maintain this conscience.

The numbered days

In the Surah Al-Baqara/203 (Division: 422), our Rabb commands, “And remember Allah during the numbered days”. The “numbered days” mentioned by Allah here is both plural and indefinite. Therefore, these days will also be determined by the Hajj Organization Committee or Directory of Hajj.

Bara’e (Ultimatum); final declaration

As is known, Rasulullah (the Messenger of Allah) organized a travel to Hajj [Pilgrimage] in 10 After Hijra, and personally participated, and this travel to Hajj was called “Al-Hajj Al-Akbar” (The Greater Hajj) because of his participation. According to narrations thereof, about hundred and fourteen thousand Muslims participated this Hajj. The final declaration of this Hajj was made by our Rabb with the revelation of the first twenty nine Ayat of the Surah At-Tawbah (Division: 695).

For more detailed information on the Hajj, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

³⁴¹ Due to semantic reasons, we rearranged the Ayat of this passage different than the Official Mushaf.

³⁴² Sawm (fasting) means “refraining from eating, drinking, speaking and having sexual intercourse”. And the Sawm performed without taking the article of “no speech” into account is not the Sawm that is stipulated in Islam for the purpose of guiding the mankind to the piety/custody of Allah. Those who have liabilities and patients are not obliged to fast; yet those who do must do it appropriately.

³⁴³ Due to semantic reasons, we rearranged the Ayat of this passage different than the Official Mushaf.

³⁴⁴ The term ila, which basically means “the abstinence of husband from having sexual intercourse with his wife for a definite or indefinite term, under oath, or binding himself to certain conditions as sacrificing an animal or such another condition”, is a type of oath that may lead to abolishment of the marriage. Any man who was angry with his wife used this way to psychologically distress his wife.

Used as a means of divorce by the Arab population of the Hejaz region before Islam, ila was used to suppress women and harm or distress them due to long-term or indefinite nature of it. When a man who performed ila on his wife did not do his husbandly duties and because of that the marriage remains in effect until the end of the ila term, woman can not be considered divorced and live under distress for the duration of the said term. The Qur’an abolished this persecution by limiting the term of ila to four months. Husband must reconcile with his wife within this term by ransom, if not, the bind of marriage becomes invalid at the end of the four-month term. Islam brought new principles and radical solutions in marital law and many matters that than that thus abolished the absolute dominion of man within the family.

³⁴⁵ According to the Qur’an, Mehir is the “life insurance” of women. This rule is imposed not because of the weakness of women but they must be protected – due to the importance of their social and cultural role -. In the case a woman becomes a widow, providing her with an asset or a cash amount during the term of “iddah” (waiting period) would relieve her from struggling to make her living, away from her home and burdened with distress. Thus, women can live without the risk of harassment, rape or molestation. In short, Allah commands women to be provided with the mehir to honor, protect and save them from being a victim. For detailed information, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

³⁴⁶ The Salah, which is mentioned as As-Salah al-Wusta in this Ayah is the “Salah that is fulfilled on the day of gathering”. For detailed information, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

³⁴⁷ See Footnote No. 246.

³⁴⁸ The term Riba means “increase, reproduction, swelling”. While Riba also means “interest”, it is used as a legal term that means “uncovered surplus” in exchange. That is, riba covers not only the surplus in monetary transactions but also the surplus in the exchange/trading of assets. The Ar-Riba that is forbidden by Allah is the interest or payment received without any expense or service, i.e. taking a share from the revenue of the payee without any risk thereof whatsoever. In other words, Allah forbids the “surplus” that is obtained without any “service” or “risk”. For detailed information on the Riba, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

³⁴⁹ The war that is mentioned herein and the events occurred during that war are related to the Battle of Badr. Badr is a town that is located to the south-west of Medina, some 120 km to Medina and 20 km to the Red Sea and is one of the stations on the Spice Route.

Meccan polytheists were sending troops to Medina for the purpose of damage lest Rasulullah (the Messenger of Allah) and his companions who had settled in Medina would come back upon them. Furthermore, a group in Medina, who were uncomfortable with the settlement of the believers there led by Abd-Allah ibn-Ubayy ibn-Salul, who were about to be crowned but whose inauguration was called off with the arrival of Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah] was against their presence in Medina. The people of Medina chose Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah] as their president in place of Abd-Allah ibn-Ubayy ibn-Salul.

Upon such preference of the community and the fact that most of his relatives had converted to Islam, Abd-Allah ibn-Ubayy ibn-Salul decided that it would be better for himself and his companions to join with the Muslims so they pretended to have converted to Islam. This marked the beginning of the movement of hypocrisy in Medina.

The grudging polytheists serving in the government of Mecca cooperated with their ally in Medina, Abd-Allah ibn-Ubayy ibn-Salul and planned to evacuate Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah] and his companions out of Medina, even annihilate them; with this purpose, they wrote a letter to Abd-Allah ibn-Ubayy ibn-Salul, stating: “You have been hosting our people. You either kill Muhammad or drive him out of your city or we will attack upon you and kill your men and take your women as our prisoners”.

Upon receiving this letter, polytheists of Mecca and hypocrites of Medina cooperated. Accordingly, Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah] and the believer beside him would be killed or driven out of Medina.

Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah] and the believers became aware of this plan and plotted a countermeasure thereof. At the time, Allah was determining a new strategy for the believers; declaring them to fight [to die and to kill] when it is necessary to eliminate evil, injustice and chaos on the earth. Believers had to fight to protect their religion, lives and nation.

Meanwhile, Meccan polytheists were threatening the Muslims; marauding troops that they sent to Medina were causing damage to them. Most recently, they sent a trade caravan, which was formed with the cooperation of Meccan polytheists and commanded by Abu Sufyan, to Syria; their purpose was to wage a war by using the revenue obtained through that caravan and thus dealing the deathblow to the Muslims.

Having become aware of this, Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah; Peace Be Upon Him] consulted with his companions. They decided that the aforementioned caravan had to be prevented from arriving to Mecca so an army of 305 men – 83 Muhajirun [Emigrants], 61 from Banu Aws and the rest from Banu Khazraj – was gathered. They had 3 horses and 70 camels.

³⁵⁰ The “horses”, which were the most perfect battle tools of the time when the Qur’an was revealed, correspond to today’s “air troops, aircraft carriers, intercontinental missiles, nuclear weapons, etc.”.

³⁵¹ See Footnote No. 8.

³⁵² This passage, in which the misbelieves of Christianity are disclosed, deals with a committee that travelled from Najran to Medina to discuss with Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah].

³⁵³ Due to technical and semantic reasons, we rearranged this passage differently than the Official Mushaf.

The main subject here is the sending of Jesus to Israelites and reasons. Moses and Aaron were sent to teach the revelation and oneness to Israelites but also save them from slavery in Egypt. In this passage, it is summarized that, upon declaration of the revelation by Jesus, he was assigned such tasks as performing preventive medicine, optics, dermatology, teaching consumption of healthy food, preparation of canned food, pickles, molasses, brine, stocking of wheat, barley, legumes and protection of these from humidity and insects for saving Israelites from the epidemics surrounded them, taking precautions against recurrence of them and providing sustenance for them.

In the Ayah, which we translated as “surely, I design for you a clay; mud; ceramic object; thurible (censer) that resembles a bird”, object of the verb “design” was not mentioned in the original Ayah and left open for the interpretation of the readers. While no “bird figure” or “bird model” is mentioned within the Ayah, the phrase is so constructed to imply the meaning, “I will design something that resembles a bird figure or something like a bird model”. What mentioned here is that Jesus makes a clay thurible in the form of bird and blows the spices that he puts inside it thus repelling mosquitoes, flies and other insects that may cause eye diseases, etc. It is obvious that most of the thuribles made today are in the form of a bird.

Also, subject of the verb “fayaqunu (it will be)” is not mentioned in the ayah and left open for the interpretation of the readers.

These facts that are deducted from the literal meaning of the Ayat are supported by the Qumran (Dead Sea) Scrolls of Essenes, which have been deciphered recently. It seems like Jesus left the community he was born into and received training in medicine and preparation and preservation of food among the Essenes; then, when he became an adult, was sent to Israelites as a prophet. (QUMRAN (DEAD SEA) SCROLLS: Diagnosis of a skin disorder: [4Q266, sec. 6 I (4Q272, 273 4 ii, 269 7), 4Q266, sec. 6], Rules for Harvesting Crops and Collecting Tributes: [4Q271, sec. 2 (4Q269, sec. 8 i-ii; 270, 3 iii)], Book of the War: [4Q285, sec. 8], Book of the War: (11Q14), Parchment of the Temple: [(11QT=11Q19-21, 4Q365a, 4Q524), XLVI, XLVIII, XLIX], Tohorot (Purities): (4Q274 3 i-ii), Harvesting Crops: [(4Q284a) Section 1] “Dead Sea Rolls Qumran Scripture” Geza VERMES, translation: Nurfer CELEBIOGLU)

³⁵⁴ Here (Ayat 121,122, 140-144, 155-157, 165-168) brief information on the Battle of Uhud, causes and consequences is given. Encyclopedic level information thereof would be useful.

³⁵⁵ With this Ayah, a tradition of the era of the ignorance [Az-Zihar] was abolished. According to Arabic tradition, when a man resented his wife for whatever reason, he would say “You are to me as the back of my mother”. Thereupon, she would become forbidden [haram] to him although their marriage did not become void. However, as an actual divorce did not take place, woman had no choice but living in the distress of this situation. This is mentioned in the Surah Al-Mujadila/1-4 (Division: 641).

³⁵⁶ These Ayat deal with the Battle of the Trench (Khandaq) that took place in 5 AH. As with the Battle of Badr, Allah created many miracles during this battle. In this passage, certain scenes of the Battle of the Trench and Banu Qurayza are mentioned. In order to fully comprehend the passage and to learn about the details of the incident, encyclopedic information of the Battle of the Trench should be obtained.

Al-Ahzab [the Coalition, the Opposing Party] is the plural form of the word “Hizb” and means the Meccan clans, Banu Ghatafan, Banu Qurayza and other Arab clans (united polytheist groups) which united against the Muslims.

³⁵⁷ Zayd was a member of the Kalb Tribe. AS a boy, he was taken prisoner in the clan wars and sold at the Ukkaz slave market. One of the nephews of Hagira, Hakeem ibn-Hizam purchased and brought Zayd to Mecca and offered him to his aunt as a gift. When Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah] married to Hagira, he found Zayd at the service of his wife. He requested him from his wife due to his kindness and good nature. Thus, the lucky boy entered into the servitude of the perfect man who would become a prophet in a couple of years. At the time Zayd was 15 year old. When his father and uncles became aware that he was in Mecca, they visited Muhammad and demanded their son back against a ransom. Muhammad said to them: “I will ask the boy whether he wants to go with you or to stay with me; he will decide. Should he want to stay with me, I will never let go a person who wants to stay with me”. They agreed. Zayd preferred to stay with Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah]. Muhammad immediately set Zayd free and declared in the Kaaba before a group of Quraysh members, “Be my witnesses, from now on, Zayd is my son. I am his successor and he is mine successor”, thus adopting Zayd. Thereafter, Zayd would be called as Zayd ibn-Muhammad. All this happened before Muhammad was prophet. Zayd became one of the first four people who believed in Muhammad after he became prophet. At the time, Zayd was 30 years old and had been serving Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah] for 15 years. In 4 AH, Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah] married him to Zaynab, daughter of his aunt.

³⁵⁸ He will not send new book anymore by protecting the Qur’an and having it protected. Since there will be no new book, there will be no new messengers in the future.

Allah made Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) the last prophet and thus ending the prophethood. However, He obviously assigned this people with such tasks as warning, giving good tidings, conveying reminder, commanding the good, forbidding from the evil, which are otherwise assigned to a prophet,  – as can be understood from the Surat Al-Baqara/143 (Division: 421), Ali-Imran/10, 110 (Division: 494) and Al-Hajj/78 (Division: 638).

³⁵⁹ See Footnote No. 345.

³⁶⁰ See Footnote No. 303.

³⁶¹ See Footnote No. 303.

³⁶² Due to technical and semantic reasons, we merged the 73th Ayah of the Official Mushaf with the 63^rd Ayah. For detailed information, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

³⁶³ See Footnote No. 345.

³⁶⁴ See Footnote No. 303.

³⁶⁵ See Footnote No. 242.

³⁶⁶ Due to technical and semantic reasons, we rearranged this passage differently than the Official Mushaf. For detailed information, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

³⁶⁷ See Footnote No. 303.

³⁶⁸ See Footnote No. 345.

³⁶⁹ Due to technical and semantic reasons, we rearranged this passage differently than the Official Mushaf. For detailed information, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

³⁷⁰ See Footnote No. 303.

³⁷¹ The term Junub means “that which is far/detached”. When considered under the Surat An-Nisa/43 and Al-Ma’idah/6, it can be understood that this term basically means “a vagabond who has lost his balance and thus can not act with common sense due to surge in lust, incontinence”. Insomuch as, under such conditions, one can lose his ties with the real world and his common sense. So it seems that being Junub is not the condition of being not cleaned after ejaculation, but the tension that builds between the surge in lust and the ejaculation.

³⁷² The Surah Al-Ar’af deals with a group from among the Jews who were tested because of the Day of Mediation.

³⁷³ See Footnote No. 246.

³⁷⁴ See Footnote No. 246.

³⁷⁵ These expressions are usually interpreted as, “castrating animals, humans, etc.”. However, the “change” mentioned herein should be expounded as follows; “to mutate the genes of the living things, sanctifying and idolize such entities as the Moon, the Sun, the earth, soil, etc, which were created for the benefit of the mankind, forbidding the beasts which were created for the mankind to ride and eat, sanctifying such animals as Al-Bahira (animals milk of which is reserved for idols), Al-Saiba (animals which are set free in the name of deities so they may not be utilized for carrying burden), Wasila (a she-camel which delivers female cubs in its first and second pregnancies), and Ham (a male camel used for breeding), transgressing allowed limits for sexuality and performing homosexual acts, performing unauthorized circumcision, ultimately, disturbing the natural balance”.

³⁷⁶ See Footnote No. 333.

³⁷⁷ Due to technical and semantic reasons, we rearranged this passage differently than the Official Mushaf. For detailed information, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

³⁷⁸ Due to technical and semantic reasons, we rearranged this passage differently than the Official Mushaf. For detailed information, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

³⁷⁹ Due to technical and semantic reasons, we rearranged this passage differently than the Official Mushaf. Furthermore, we gave the Surah Az-Zalzala of the Official Mushaf as the adverb of manner of the Ayah 172. For detailed information, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

³⁸⁰ See Footnote No. 353.

³⁸¹ See Footnote No. 8.

³⁸² See Footnotes No. 37 and 52.

³⁸³ Due to technical and semantic reasons, we rearranged this passage differently than the Official Mushaf. For detailed information, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

³⁸⁴ See Footnote No. 353.

³⁸⁵ See Footnote No. 353.

³⁸⁶ See Footnote No. 49.

³⁸⁷ Due to technical and semantic reasons, we rearranged this passage differently than the Official Mushaf. For detailed information, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

³⁸⁸ See Division No. 450, 452, 514 and 601.

³⁸⁹ This passage deals with the exile of the Jewish clans, which betrayed their covenants with the believers, cooperated with Meccan polytheists and native hypocrites, from Medina. When reading the passage, one should take this historical background into account also at least encyclopedic information thereof should be obtained.

³⁹⁰ Due to technical and semantic reasons, we rearranged this passage differently than the Official Mushaf. For detailed information, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

³⁹¹ The “ifq” incident was a negating propaganda and defamation movement waged by the infidels against the private life of Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah] using the fanaticism among the local and clan members to wear out Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah] and the believers, disintegrate the Muslim community, sow discord among Rasulullah [the Messenger o Allah] and his companions, especially Abu Bakr, set Muhajirun [Emigrants] and Ansar [Helpers] against each other. This movement proved successful and two Muslim groups was about to fight each other with swords. Events were prevented by the intervention of Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah]. For detailed information, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

³⁹² See Footnote No. 353.

³⁹³ See Footnote No. 303.

³⁹⁴ See Footnote No. 303.

³⁹⁵ The literal meaning of the Ayah is as follows; “Whoever have thought that Allah would not help him in the world and in Akhirat [Afterlife], should extend a reason into the sky, then … cut it. Then he should observe if his plan would remove that which enrages him [that which preoccupies him]!”. When the Ayat of the Qur’an are considered, it can be seen that turning to the sky means “to expect the mercy of Allah and Allah rains good from the heavens”. For detailed review thereof, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

³⁹⁶ Due to technical and semantic reasons, we rearranged this passage differently than the Official Mushaf. For detailed information, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

³⁹⁷ See Footnote No. 355.

³⁹⁸ Request for “overstate yourselves” is a strategy that is used to intimidate the enemy in case of war and other extraordinary cases. Otherwise, it does not mean to leave.

³⁹⁹ See Footnote No. 91.

⁴⁰⁰ Here, the Hudaybiyyah Peace Treaty and the Pledge of Ridwan [Pleasure] are dealt with. It had been 6 years since the Hijra and no one could have contacted his nation and relatives. Longing and homesickness hit the Muhajirun [Emigrants] and Ansar [Helpers] were longing for the Kaaba. For this reason, Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah] instructed those who wished to travel to Mecca to prepare. On the first Monday of Dhu al-Qadah [March 13^th, 628 AD], 1400 men set out for Mecca. To show that their purpose was peaceful, they took no weapons but a blade called the traveler’s sword. Meccan polytheists, who became aware of this, decided to prevent Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah] from entering Mecca at all costs and to ensure that he would not get close to Mecca, they sent a troop of 200 horsemen led by Khalid ibn al-Walid. Meanwhile, Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah] and his companions arrived to the Hudaybiyyah area that is located in the vicinity of Mecca. Rasulullah sent an envoy to Mecca to declare their purpose and to learn about the attitude of the Meccan polytheists against their presence, who would inform that they did not intend to fight but only to visit Kaaba and they would return upon completion of their Umrah. However, the polytheists tried to kill the envoy by hitting his camel and causing him to fall. Some foreigners intervened and saved the life of the envoy. The envoy returned and informed Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah] thereof. The Meccan polytheists considered the entrance of the believers to Mecca a great dishonor to them and thought that in such a case Arabs would disgrace them. Upon such suggestion, Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah] sent Uthman ibn-Affan, who still had influence and many affluent relatives in Mecca, to Quraysh. Initially, Uthman ibn-Affan conveyed the message of Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah] and said: “We have not arrived to wage a war, we have come for Pilgrimage only”. The Quraysh said to Uthman ibn-Affan: “Visit Kaaba if you wish; but we can not let all of you to enter Mecca and visit Kaaba”. Upon his denial, they took Uthman ibn-Affan into custody in Mecca. While the belief that Uthman ibn-Affan had been killed had spread among the believers, Rasulullah invited all believers to pledge. All the believers pledged to him that they would not evade the war at all costs, even death. This is mentioned in the 10^th, 18^th and 19^th Ayat of the Surah. From these Ayat forth, this pledge was called “the Pledge of Ridwan [Pleasure] and the tree under which the pledge took place was called the Sajarat ar-Ridwan [the Tree of Pleasure]. Thereafter, it was learnt that the news of Uthman ibn-Affan’s death was false. In the meantime, envoys from both sides were shuttling between and a solution for agreement was sought. The polytheists were determined not to let the believers enter Mecca. On the other hand, Rasulullah offered peace bay stating: “We are not here to fight. Our only purpose is to visit Kaaba and Pilgrimage. The Quraysh have gotten weak in wars. I would like to sign a treaty with them if they will. It would be good if they accept but otherwise I will fight with them till I fall”. The Meccan polytheists could not risk to fight due to the determination of Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah] and released Uthman ibn-Affan and other Muslims who had been kept prisoner in Mecca. Then they sent a committee led by Suhayl ibn-Amr to Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah] to sign a treaty. Accordingly; 1) the Muslims and the polytheists would not fight for 10 years; 2) the Muslims would not visit Kaaba for one year and go back to Medina but visit Kaaba in the following year, they would stay in Mecca, evacuated by the polytheists, for three days and carry no weapons but aforementioned traveler’s sword; 3) should a Meccan citizen convert to Islam and takes refuge in Medina, he would be returned; yet should a Medinan citizen take refuge in Mecca, he would not be returned; 4) Arab clans would be free to sign a treaty with any party.

The Muslims frustrated upon seemingly disadvantageous nature of the conditions and said to Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah]; “Are you not Rasulullah [the Messenger of Allah]? Is our cause is the truth? Why should we accept this people?”. After camping 19 days in Hudaybiyyah, they set out for Medina. This Surah was revealed while they were travelling back to Medina.

⁴⁰¹ Due to technical and semantic reasons, we rearranged this passage differently than the Official Mushaf. For detailed information, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

⁴⁰² See Footnote No. 345.

⁴⁰³ The phrase, “Allah did not make Al-Bahira, As-Sahiba, Wasila and Ham. But the infidels; those who consciously deny the divinity of Allah and the fact that He is Rabb invent lies about Allah. And most of them do not reason” denies certain religious traditions of the Arabs of the era of the Ignorance. Arabs of the era of the Ignorance had many false beliefs regarding to animals such as: Al-Bahira: Arabs considered it a sin to ride and load a she-camel which had given birth for five times; they also would not cut its hair. If fifth cub was a male, they would sacrifice it but they would split its ears if it was female. This would mark it as having been sacrificed. As-Saiba: When one of them got ill or lost something or a misery emerged, they would wow to release a camel. When their patient got well or the lost item was found or the misery perished, they would set free a camel; they would not load, ride or sacrifice that camel. They would just set it free. Wasila: When an ewe delivered twins, a female and a male, they would not slaughter the male and say, “His sister has reached him”. And such an ewe was called an Wasila. Ham: When ten cubs were born of a male camel or a male camel saw the cub of his own cub (i.e. became grandfather), they would not load, ride it and say, “He has saved himself”.

⁴⁰⁴ The greatest Hajj was the one the Prophet participated and managed in person.

⁴⁰⁵ Due to technical and semantic reasons, we rearranged this passage differently than the Official Mushaf. For detailed information, see Tebyinu’l Qur’an.

⁴⁰⁶ Hunayn is a vast valley that is located between Mecca and Ta’if, in the Tihama Region. After the conquest of Mecca, Muslims and the polytheists of Hawazin fought the Battle of Hunayn in this valley.

⁴⁰⁷ The term nasee expresses the refraining of Arabs from following the haram [forbidden] months and their efforts to degenerate them.

⁴⁰⁸ In these Ayat, Muslims are reproached, behaviors of the hypocrites and the pleasure seekers are condemned and Muslims are instructed to make their best efforts in the path of Allah with their wealth and lives and without making any excuses, under any condition, harsh or insignificant.

The Battle of Tabuk mentioned within this passage (Tabuk is the name of a fertile area with abundant water sources and date palms that is located between Medina and Damascus) was a military expedition initiated in 9 AH from Medina toward Damascus with the intention to fight the 40.000 man Byzantium army. To fully comprehend this subject, at least encyclopedic level information on the Battle of Tabuk should be obtained.