How the Quran Speaks, and How to Keep Reading

أَفَلَا يَنظُرُونَ إِلَى ٱلۡإِبِلِ كَيۡفَ خُلِقَتۡ ﴿١٧﴾ وَإِلَى ٱلسَّمَآءِ كَيۡفَ رُفِعَتۡ ﴿١٨﴾ وَإِلَى ٱلۡجِبَالِ كَيۡفَ نُصِبَتۡ ﴿١٩﴾ وَإِلَى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ كَيۡفَ سُطِحَتۡ ﴿٢٠﴾

Then do they not look at the camels - how they are created? And at the sky - how it is raised? And at the mountains - how they are erected? And at the earth - how it is spread out?

Context A Makkan surah, first heard by people who lived with camels, open sky, mountains and wide land.

Its argument often starts with a question about what you already see. 41:53 promises signs in the horizons and within ourselves.

أَلَمۡ تَرَ كَيۡفَ ضَرَبَ ٱللَّهُ مَثَلٗا كَلِمَةٗ طَيِّبَةٗ كَشَجَرَةٖ طَيِّبَةٍ أَصۡلُهَا ثَابِتٞ وَفَرۡعُهَا فِي ٱلسَّمَآءِ ﴿٢٤﴾ تُؤۡتِيٓ أُكُلَهَا كُلَّ حِينِۭ بِإِذۡنِ رَبِّهَاۗ وَيَضۡرِبُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلۡأَمۡثَالَ لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمۡ يَتَذَكَّرُونَ ﴿٢٥﴾ وَمَثَلُ كَلِمَةٍ خَبِيثَةٖ كَشَجَرَةٍ خَبِيثَةٍ ٱجۡتُثَّتۡ مِن فَوۡقِ ٱلۡأَرۡضِ مَا لَهَا مِن قَرَارٖ ﴿٢٦﴾

Have you not considered how Allah presents an example, [making] a good word like a good tree, whose root is firmly fixed and its branches [high] in the sky? It produces its fruit all the time, by permission of its Lord. And Allah presents examples for the people that perhaps they will be reminded. And the example of a bad word is like a bad tree, uprooted from the surface of the earth, not having any stability.

Context Makkah. Many commentators, following Ibn 'Abbas, take the good word as "there is no god but Allah".

A parable makes faith visible: deep roots, high branches, fruit in every season. A bad word is a tree with no roots at all.

It is He who has sent down to you, [O Muhammad], the Book; in it are verses [that are] precise - they are the foundation of the Book - and others unspecific. As for those in whose hearts is deviation [from truth], they will follow that of it which is unspecific, seeking discord and seeking an interpretation [suitable to them]. And no one knows its [true] interpretation except Allah. But those firm in knowledge say, "We believe in it. All [of it] is from our Lord." …

Context Madinah. Precise (muhkam) verses are clear; unspecific (mutashabih) ones bear several meanings or touch the unseen.

Clear verses are the foundation, and the others are read in their light.

Many early scholars pause after "except Allah": only He knows their full reality. Others, including Mujahid, read on: those firm in knowledge also know their interpretation.

۞مَا نَنسَخۡ مِنۡ ءَايَةٍ أَوۡ نُنسِهَا نَأۡتِ بِخَيۡرٖ مِّنۡهَآ أَوۡ مِثۡلِهَآۗ أَلَمۡ تَعۡلَمۡ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيۡءٖ قَدِيرٌ ﴿١٠٦﴾

We do not abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten except that We bring forth [one] better than it or similar to it. Do you not know that Allah is over all things competent?

Context Answers objections when rulings changed; 16:101 replies to the same charge.

Allah may replace a ruling with a better or similar one. This is called naskh.

Most scholars accept that some Quranic rulings were abrogated, though counts range from hundreds to a handful. A few, such as Abu Muslim al-Isfahani, read 2:106 as about earlier scriptures or signs.