Su̅rat al-Aʻla̅, Fi̅ Riya̅ḍ al-Tafsi̅r, Shaykh Ibra̅hi̅m Niass, pp.

306-9
Translated by: Simone Dario Saʻeed Nardella

Su̅rat al-Aʻla̅ (the Highest), Makkan, 19 a̅ya̅t.

In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the All-Compassionate. Glorify the Name of your Lord.
Exalt your Lord. The word ‘Name’ is extra.1 Say ‘Glory to my Lord, the Highest’, exalt your
Lord above what is not appropriate for Him.
The Highest. The Highest Lord is Allah, Blessed and Exalted. When ‘So glorify the Name of
your Lord, the Great’2 was sent down, the Messenger - peace and blessings be upon him -
said: ‘Do it in your bowing’, that is why you find the one bowing saying ‘Glory to my Lord, the
Great’. So when ‘Glorify the Name of your Lord, the Highest’ was sent down, he said: ‘Do it
in your prostration.’, so the one prostrating says ‘Glory to my Lord, the Highest’. The
connection in this is that in su̅rat al-Wa̅qiʻa, the tree is mentioned, and the one bowing is
closer to the state of the tree than the one prostrating. Here,3 black stubble is mentioned,
and the one prostrating is closer to black stubble. For this reason the legislator placed that
dhikr there and this here.
Who created and formed evenly. He created the whole creation and made its parts
harmonious with each other, not disharmonious.
And Who destined what He wanted and then guided to what He had determined of good or
evil.
Who brings out the pasture. He makes the herbage grow.
And made it, after being green, stubble, dry straws, black, dark and dry.
We will make you recite the Qur’a̅n so you will not forget. The Real Blessed and Exalted
guaranteed that He will make the Prophet - peace and blessings be upon him - recite the
Qur’a̅n so he will not forget it.
Except what Allah has willed that you would forget with the abrogation of its recitation and
ruling.4 The Prophet - peace and blessings be upon him - used to recite audibly in front of
Jibri̅l out of fear of forgetfulness, so the Real Blessed and Exalted guaranteed to make him
recite the Qur’a̅n and that he would not forget it and that He will gather the Qur’a̅n in his
chest, and He will gather the Qur’a̅n, recite it and explain it, and He has fulfilled His promise,
Blessed and Exalted. He made him recite the Qur’a̅n so he did not forget anything of it
except what Allah willed. What is this that Allah willed? It is that which has been abrogated,
and the divisions of what is abrogated have been presented before: that whose recitation
and ruling have both been abrogated, like ‘ten known breastfeeds have been forbidden’:5 this
was an a̅ya that used to be recited, but its recitation was abrogated along with its ruling; ‘the
married man and the married woman, if they commit adultery, stone them without doubt’ was
an a̅ya that was recited and its recitation was abrogated while its ruling remains to this day of
ours; something whose ruling was abrogated while its recitation remained, like His saying,
Most High, ‘it is prescribed for you, when one of you is close to dying, if he leaves some

1
Za̅’ida, meaning that it does not alter the meaning of the sentence, which is to glorify ‘your Lord’ and
not only His Name.
2
In su̅rat al-Wa̅qiʻa. Q 56:74.
3
In the fifth a̅ya of su̅rat al-Aʻla̅
4
I.e. the legal rulings given in an a̅ya.
5
Meaning that ten breastfeeds established a maḥram relation, preventing marriage. This was reduced
to five and then even the five was abrogated.
good, to make a will for the parents and the relatives’ and the rest of the a̅ya in su̅rat
al-Baqara [Q 2:180], and likewise the mourning period of a year with maintenance for a year
[Q 2:240], its recitation remained while its ruling was abrogated. This which has been
abrogated, the Chosen one [al-muṣṭafa̅] - peace and blessings be upon him - may forget it or
not forget it until he has delivered it. When revelation descends, the Real guarantees that He
will make the Chosen one - peace and blessings be upon him - remember it until it reaches
the Umma. It does not negate that he after this, like with the rest of the Qur’a̅n, used to recite
in his ṣala̅h and could stop or leave an a̅ya, so when he would say the sala̅m, he would say:
‘Where is so-and-so? I left the such-and-such an a̅ya and you did not remind me.’, so they
would say: ‘We thought it had been abrogated.’ He would say: ‘No.’ Something he has
delivered until it has been established, he may forget like the rest of the people, and it is the
meaning of his saying: ‘I forget or I am made to forget in order to establish the Sunna.’ Were
it not for the fact that he could forget or be distracted, we would not know the rulings
pertaining to that. However, what is impossible is for him to forget, before conveying it,
something that descended upon him and which he has the duty to convey. This would be a
deficiency in prophecy and in the Shari̅ʻa, and it is impossible. He does not forget a thing
until he has conveyed it and it has become established among people. This is His saying
except what Allah willed.
Indeed He Most High knows what is public of word or action and what is hidden. And we will
facilitate ease for you, the simple Shari̅ʻa, which is Isla̅m, so remind, admonish with the
Qur’a̅n, if the reminder benefits, as long as the reminder benefits, keep reminding; and it has
been said before that the reminder benefits the believers. Those will remember through it
who are fearful, who fear Allah Most High, and those will avoid it, i.e. the reminder, leaving it
to the side without turning to it, who are most wretched, the wretched or the disbeliever, who
will burn in the major Fire - it is the fire of the next life, while the minor fire is the fire of this
world. Indeed this fire is one seventieth of the fire of the next life. When Allah cast Adam
down to the Earth, and Allah knew that he would need some fire for his food, He instructed
Jibri̅l, so the latter took a spark from Jahannam, smothered it in the seas seventy times, and
brought it to this world and it burnt everything on the face of the Earth. So it flew and
returned to its origin, so Jibri̅l took it and smothered it in the water in the same way, and
continued this way until it came to the degree [of heat] that it has now, and it is not the fire of
the next life, but a seventieth part of that fire. This is the description of the fire of this world
as minor and of the next life as major. Then they will not die in it so they may rest nor will
they live a pleasant life, or a beneficial life. He has succeeded who purified himself, he who
cleansed himself with faith has won, mentioned the Name of his Lord proclaiming His
greatness, and then prayed the five prayers or Ṣala̅t al-Fiṭr, based on the view that this was
sent down about the Ṣala̅t al-Fiṭr. Rather, you prefer the life of this world, you choose this
world over the next due to its proximity, while the next, including al-Janna, is better and more
enduring. Everything that is more enduring is better, and especially if it is better and more
enduring: and the next is better and more enduring and Allah is better and more enduring.
The next life is better than this world and more enduring and Allah is better and more
enduring than both of them. Indeed this, i.e. the success of those who purify themselves and
the next life being better and more enduring, is in the previous scrolls, those sent down
before the Qur’a̅n, the scrolls of Mu̅sa̅ and Ibra̅hi̅m, and these are those sent down to
Ibra̅hi̅m, the Intimate Friend (al-khali̅l), and those sent down upon Mu̅sa̅ b. ʻImra̅n according
to the ḥadi̅th of Abu̅ Dharr: ‘I entered the mosque and found Allah’s Messenger - peace and
blessings be upon him -, so I sat next to him and he said to me: “O Abu̅ Dharr, indeed the
mosque has a greeting, and its greeting are two rakʻas, so stand and pray them”, so I stood
and prayed two rakʻas and sat next to Allah’s Messenger - peace and blessings be upon him
-, then I said: “O Messenger of Allah, indeed you have instructed me to pray, so what is this
prayer?” Allah’s Messenger said: “It is a good that has been laid down, so do much or little of
it.” So I said: “How many books has Allah sent down?” so he said - peace and blessings be
upon him -: “One hundred and four books: ten upon A̅dam; fifty to Seth; thirty upon Enoch;
ten upon Ibra̅him̅; the Torah; the Inji̅l; the Zabu̅r and the Furqa̅n. What were Ibra̅hi̅m’s
books? They were all proverbs: ‘“The intelligent must adopt three times: a time to converse
intimately with his Lord; a time to take himself to account; and a time in which he is alone to
enjoy the ḥala̅l from his food and drink. And the intelligent must walk only to three: to procure
his livelihood, to procure the reward for a merit for the next life, or to enjoy what is not
forbidden. And the intelligent must guard his tongue, tending to his affair.