The Descent

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The Quran existed before the man who received it, before the language he received it in, and before the earth he stood on when it came.

WHERE IT WAS BEFORE IT WAS HEARD

Al-Buruj, chapter 85, verses 21 to 22

بَلْ هُوَ قُرْءَانٌۭ مَّجِيدٌۭ

فِى لَوْحٍۢ مَّحْفُوظٍۭ

Bal huwa Qur'anun Majid. Fi Lawhin Mahfuz.

Rather, it is a glorious Quran, in a Preserved Tablet.

Lawh al-Mahfuz means the Preserved Tablet, the record kept with Allah beyond time and beyond alteration.

Az-Zukhruf, chapter 43, verse 4

وَإِنَّهُۥ فِىٓ أُمِّ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ لَدَيْنَا لَعَلِىٌّ حَكِيمٌ

Wa innahu fi Ummi al-Kitabi ladayna la'aliyyun hakim.

And it is, in the Mother of the Book with Us, exalted and full of wisdom.

Umm al-Kitab means the Mother of the Book, the source from which the sent scripture comes.

TWO DESCENTS, NOT ONE

Al-Qadr, chapter 97, verse 1

إِنَّآ أَنزَلْنَٰهُ فِى لَيْلَةِ ٱلْقَدْرِ

Inna anzalnahu fi Laylati al-Qadr.

We sent it down on the Night of Decree.

Al-Baqarah, chapter 2, verse 185

شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أُنزِلَ فِيهِ ٱلْقُرْءَانُ هُدًۭى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَٰتٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْهُدَىٰ وَٱلْفُرْقَانِ

Shahru Ramadana alladhi unzila fihi al-Qur'anu hudan lin-nasi wa bayyinatin mina al-huda wal-furqan.

The month of Ramadan, in which the Quran was sent down as guidance for mankind, and as clear proofs of the guidance, and as the criterion.

Ad-Dukhan, chapter 44, verse 3

إِنَّآ أَنزَلْنَٰهُ فِى لَيْلَةٍۢ مُّبَٰرَكَةٍ ۚ إِنَّا كُنَّا مُنذِرِينَ

Inna anzalnahu fi laylatin mubarakah. Inna kunna mundhirin.

We sent it down on a blessed night. We have always been warning.

These verses speak of a single night. The Prophet received revelation across twenty three years. Ibn Abbas resolved it: the Quran descended in one complete act from the Preserved Tablet to the lowest heaven on Laylat al-Qadr, the Night of Decree, to a place named Bayt al-Izzah, the House of Might. From there Jibril brought it down to the Prophet in portions across the years, as events called for it.

That report from Ibn Abbas is preserved in al-Hakim's al-Mustadrak and in al-Bayhaqi, and it is cited by Ibn Kathir in his commentary on Al-Qadr and by al-Suyuti in al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Quran.

One night for the descent. Twenty three years for the delivery.

THE CARRIER

Al-Baqarah, chapter 2, verse 97

قُلْ مَن كَانَ عَدُوًّۭا لِّجِبْرِيلَ فَإِنَّهُۥ نَزَّلَهُۥ عَلَىٰ قَلْبِكَ بِإِذْنِ ٱللَّهِ مُصَدِّقًۭا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَهُدًۭى وَبُشْرَىٰ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

Qul man kana 'aduwwan li-Jibrila fa innahu nazzalahu 'ala qalbika bi-idhni Allahi musaddiqan lima bayna yadayhi wa hudan wa bushra lil-mu'minin.

Say, whoever is an enemy to Jibril, it is he who brought it down upon your heart by the permission of Allah, confirming what came before it, and as guidance and good news for the believers.

Ash-Shu'ara, chapter 26, verses 192 to 195

وَإِنَّهُۥ لَتَنزِيلُ رَبِّ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ

نَزَلَ بِهِ ٱلرُّوحُ ٱلْأَمِينُ

عَلَىٰ قَلْبِكَ لِتَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلْمُنذِرِينَ

بِلِسَانٍ عَرَبِىٍّۢ مُّبِينٍۢ

Wa innahu latanzilu Rabbi al-'alamin. Nazala bihi ar-Ruhu al-Amin. 'Ala qalbika litakuna mina al-mundhirin. Bilisanin 'arabiyyin mubin.

And it is a revelation from the Lord of all the worlds. The Trustworthy Spirit came down with it. Upon your heart, so that you would be among the warners. In a clear Arabic tongue.

Ar-Ruh al-Amin means the Trustworthy Spirit, one of the names of Jibril. Note the landing site named in the verse. Upon your heart. Not into his hands and not onto a page.

THE THREE MODES

Ash-Shura, chapter 42, verse 51

وَمَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَن يُكَلِّمَهُ ٱللَّهُ إِلَّا وَحْيًا أَوْ مِن وَرَآئِ حِجَابٍ أَوْ يُرْسِلَ رَسُولًۭا فَيُوحِىَ بِإِذْنِهِۦ مَا يَشَآءُ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ عَلِىٌّ حَكِيمٌۭ

Wa ma kana libasharin an yukallimahu Allahu illa wahyan aw min wara'i hijabin aw yursila rasulan fayuhiya bi-idhnihi ma yasha'. Innahu 'Aliyyun Hakim.

It is not for any human being that Allah should speak to him except by revelation, or from behind a veil, or that He sends a messenger who then reveals by His permission whatever He wills. He is Most High, Most Wise.

Wahy means revelation cast directly, without an intermediary and without ordinary speech.

Sahih al-Bukhari 2 records al-Harith ibn Hisham asking the Prophet how revelation comes to him. Two forms are named in the answer. Sometimes like the ringing of a bell, and that form is the hardest on him, leaving him once it departs with what was said held fast. Sometimes the angel comes to him as a man and speaks, and he retains what is said. Aisha adds her own eyewitness line to the same report. She saw revelation come down on him on a bitterly cold day, and when it left him his forehead was running with sweat.

HIRA

Sahih al-Bukhari 3, from Aisha. Solitude in the cave of Hira. The angel comes and says, read. He answers that he is not a reader. He is seized and pressed until he cannot bear it, released, and told again. Three times. Then the first five verses arrive.

Al-Alaq, chapter 96, verses 1 to 5

ٱقْرَأْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ

خَلَقَ ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ

ٱقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ ٱلْأَكْرَمُ

ٱلَّذِى عَلَّمَ بِٱلْقَلَمِ

عَلَّمَ ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ

Iqra' bismi Rabbika alladhi khalaq. Khalaqa al-insana min 'alaq. Iqra' wa Rabbuka al-Akram. Alladhi 'allama bil-qalam. 'Allama al-insana ma lam ya'lam.

Read, in the name of your Lord who created. He created man from a clinging clot. Read, and your Lord is the Most Generous. The One who taught by the pen. Taught man what he did not know.

He returned with his heart shaking and asked to be covered. Khadija took him to Waraqa ibn Nawfal, who named what had come to him as the same Namus that came to Musa.

THE PAUSE

Sahih al-Bukhari 4, from Jabir ibn Abdullah. Revelation stopped. The classical term is fatrat al-wahy, the pause of revelation. Then the Prophet, walking, heard a voice from the sky and saw the angel who had come to him at Hira seated on a chair between the sky and the earth. He returned home and asked to be wrapped.

Al-Muddaththir, chapter 74, verses 1 to 5

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْمُدَّثِّرُ

قُمْ فَأَنذِرْ

وَرَبَّكَ فَكَبِّرْ

وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ

وَٱلرُّجْزَ فَٱهْجُرْ

Ya ayyuha al-muddaththir. Qum fa-andhir. Wa Rabbaka fakabbir. Wa thiyabaka fatahhir. War-rujza fahjur.

You who are wrapped in a cloak. Stand and warn. And magnify your Lord. And purify your garments. And keep away from defilement.

Silence, then a command to stand. The order of those two is the lesson.

THE WEIGHT

Al-Muzzammil, chapter 73, verse 5

إِنَّا سَنُلْقِى عَلَيْكَ قَوْلًۭا ثَقِيلًا

Inna sanulqi 'alayka qawlan thaqila.

We are about to cast upon you a heavy word.

Qawlan thaqila means a heavy word, and the weight was not only figurative.

Sahih al-Bukhari 4592. Zayd ibn Thabit was writing the verse of An-Nisa about those who sit back and those who strive, with the Prophet's thigh resting on his own, and the revelation came down so heavily on him that Zayd feared his thigh would break.

The man carrying it felt its mass. The people around him watched him carry it.

IN PORTIONS, AND WHY

Al-Furqan, chapter 25, verse 32

وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ لَوْلَا نُزِّلَ عَلَيْهِ ٱلْقُرْءَانُ جُمْلَةًۭ وَٰحِدَةًۭ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ لِنُثَبِّتَ بِهِۦ فُؤَادَكَ ۖ وَرَتَّلْنَٰهُ تَرْتِيلًۭا

Wa qala alladhina kafaru lawla nuzzila 'alayhi al-Qur'anu jumlatan wahidah. Kadhalika linuthabbita bihi fu'adaka wa rattalnahu tartila.

And those who disbelieve say, why was the Quran not sent down to him all at once. It came this way to make your heart firm with it, and We arranged it in careful order.

Revelation answered live events. A slander is spoken and the answer comes down. A woman disputes with the Prophet over her husband and the opening of Al-Mujadila comes down naming her case. A question is asked and the reply arrives as scripture.

The classical discipline that catalogues this is asbab al-nuzul, meaning the occasions of revelation, the circumstances a passage came down addressing. Its two standard works are al-Wahidi's Asbab al-Nuzul and al-Suyuti's Lubab al-Nuqul.

A book handed over complete would have been a book. This was a companion.

THE GUARANTEE

Al-Qiyamah, chapter 75, verses 16 to 19

لَا تُحَرِّكْ بِهِۦ لِسَانَكَ لِتَعْجَلَ بِهِۦٓ

إِنَّ عَلَيْنَا جَمْعَهُۥ وَقُرْءَانَهُۥ

فَإِذَا قَرَأْنَٰهُ فَٱتَّبِعْ قُرْءَانَهُۥ

ثُمَّ إِنَّ عَلَيْنَا بَيَانَهُۥ

La tuharrik bihi lisanaka lita'jala bih. Inna 'alayna jam'ahu wa qur'anah. Fa idha qara'nahu fattabi' qur'anah. Thumma inna 'alayna bayanah.

Do not move your tongue with it to hurry it. Upon Us is its gathering and its recitation. So when We have recited it, follow its recitation. Then upon Us is its clarification.

He was told to stop straining to hold it, because holding it was not his job.

Al-Hijr, chapter 15, verse 9

إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا ٱلذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُۥ لَحَٰفِظُونَ

Inna nahnu nazzalna adh-Dhikra wa inna lahu lahafizun.

We Ourselves sent down the Reminder, and We Ourselves are its Guardian.

The guarantee is stated by the One giving it. The instruments He used were ordinary: men who memorized, and men who wrote.

THE FINAL REVIEW

Sahih al-Bukhari 3623 and 3624 preserve Fatima's account, transmitted through Aisha. The Prophet told her in confidence that Jibril used to review the Quran with him once every year, and that he had reviewed it with him twice that year, and that he took this to mean his time had come.

The classical name for that review is al-mu'aradah, the presentation. The text as he had received it was checked against its source, twice, in the last year of his life.

THE COMPLETION

Al-Ma'idah, chapter 5, verse 3, first clause

ٱلْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِى وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ ٱلْإِسْلَٰمَ دِينًۭا

Al-yawma akmaltu lakum dinakum wa atmamtu 'alaykum ni'mati wa raditu lakumu al-Islama dina.

Today I have perfected your religion for you, and completed My favour upon you, and approved Islam as your religion.

Sahih al-Bukhari 45. A Jewish man told Umar that if a verse like this had come down to them they would have taken that day as a festival. Umar answered that he knew the day and the place it came down. It came down while the Prophet stood at Arafah on a Friday.

The scholars did not agree on which verse was the last to be revealed. Ibn Abbas is reported holding that it was the verse of Al-Baqarah about the day you are returned to Allah. Others named the closing verse of An-Nisa, and others the verse of Al-Ma'idah quoted above. The disagreement is real and it is reported here as disagreement, not resolved.

Twenty three years to come down. He was given a lifetime to receive it. You have been handed the finished thing on the first day.

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Open it.

By Mike Rashid King

Allah's Humble Servant