وَلَقَدْ نَعْلَمُ أَنَّهُمْ يَقُولُونَ إِنَّمَا يُعَلِّمُهُۥ بَشَرٌۭ ۗ لِّسَانُ ٱلَّذِى يُلْحِدُونَ إِلَيْهِ أَعْجَمِىٌّۭ وَهَٰذَا لِسَانٌ عَرَبِىٌّۭ مُّبِينٌ
Wa laqad na'lamu annahum yaqooloona innamaa yu'allimuhoo bashar; lisaanul lazee yulhidoona ilaihi a'ja miyyunw wa haaza lisaanun 'Arabiyyum mubeen
And We certainly know that they say, "It is only a human being who teaches the Prophet." The tongue of the one they refer to is foreign, and this Qur'an is [in] a clear Arabic language.
Themes in this ayah
Explore in Habl →Scores run 0–100: how strongly this ayah speaks to a theme. 70+ is central, 50+ is clear, under 50 is weak.
4 other themes with weak connections
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16:103Ayah 1128
12 ayahs in An-Nahl are strongly about the Quran and revelation. This is one of them.
← Previous on The Quran & revelation16:102Say, [O Muhammad], "The Pure Spirit has brought it down from your Lord in truth to make firm those who believe and as guidance and good tidings to the Muslims."Next on The Quran & revelation →16:104Indeed, those who do not believe in the verses of Allah - Allah will not guide them, and for them is a painful punishment.
Tafsir
Scholars largely agree on this ayah
And verily wa-laqad is for confirmation We know that they say ‘It is only a human that is teaching him the Qur’ān’ — this was a Christian blacksmith whom the Prophet s used to frequent. God exalted be He says The tongue the language of him to whom they refer to whom they incline with the accusation that he is the one teaching him is foreign’; while this Qur’ān is in a clear Arabic tongue one of lucidity and clarity so how can a foreigner be teaching him?
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (ﷺ) used to talk so clearly that if somebody wanted to count the number of his words, he
could do so. Narrated `Urwa bin Az-Zubair: `Aisha said (to me), "Don't you wonder at Abu so-and-so
who came and sat by my dwelling and started relating the traditions of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) intending to let
me hear that, while I was performing an optional prayer. He left before I finished my optional prayer.
Had I found him still there. I would have said to him, 'Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) never talked so quickly and
vaguely as you do.' "
A desert Arab came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and began to speak. Thereupon the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: In eloquence there is magic and in poetry there is wisdom.
that 'Aishah said: "The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) did not speak quickly like you do now, rather he would speak so clearly, unmistakably, that those who sat with him would memorize it."
that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "Whoever says (something) about the Qur'an according to his own opinion and he is correct, yet he has committed a mistake."
This Hadith is Gharib. Some of the people of Hadith have criticized Suhail bin Abi Hazm.
This is how it has
been reported from some of the people of knowledge among the Companions of the Prophet (ﷺ), and others. They were very stern about this - about explaining the
Qur'an without knowledge. As for what has been related from Mujãhid, Qatadah and others, among the people of knowledge, that they would interpret the Qur'an, then it should not be thought about them that they would say something about the Qur'an, or interpret it without knowledge, or according to their own intellect. Rather that which
proves what we have said has been reported from them, that they would not say something from themselves without knowledge.
Husain bin Mahdi Al-Basri narrated to us (he said: AbdurRazzaq narrated to us, from
Ma'mar, from Qatadah who said):
"There is no Ayah in the Qur'an except that I have heard something about it."
Ibn Abi 'Umar narrated to us (he said): "Sufyan bin 'Uyainah narrated to us, from Al-A'mash who said: 'Mujãhid said: If you
recited the recitation of Ibn Mas'ud, you would not need to ask Ibn 'Abbãs about much of what you ask him regarding the Qur'an."
The same hadith has been narrated by Abu Huraira, but instead of the word laghauta the word laghita has been used. Abu Zinad (one of the narrators) says that laghita is the dialect of Abu Huraira, whereas it is laghauta.
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