Sūrah Al-Aʿlā The Most High: Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī The Source Commentary

Surah Overview

DetailInformationClassificationSignificance

SurahالأعلىMakkī 19 versesDivine name glorification, preservation promise, scrolls of Ibrāhīm and Mūsā

Key DisagreementWhat are the "scrolls of Ibrāhīm and Mūsā" (87:18–19)?Historical scrolls identityAl-Ṭabarī: revealed scriptures given to both prophets through chains from Ibn ʿAbbās on their content: the ethical and theological principles of those prophetic missions

Competing OpinionsWhat does "except what Allah wills" (87:7) exclude from the forgetting-promise?Exception scopeAl-Ṭabarī: the abrogated verses Allah may cause the Prophet to forget what He intends to abrogate; through chains from Ibn ʿAbbās and Qatādah

MethodologyChain analysis to interpret the exception in the preservation promiseException analysis methodAl-Ṭabarī uses chains from Ibn ʿAbbās and Qatādah to narrow the scope of the exception in 87:7 to abrogated verses only

Key Themes from Al-Ṭabarī

The preservation promise (87:6–7) "We will make you recite so you will not forget, except what Allah wills" is analyzed by al-Ṭabarī through chains from Ibn ʿAbbās: the exception ("except what Allah wills") refers to verses Allah intends to abrogate. Allah may cause the Prophet to forget an abrogated verse as the mechanism of its abrogation. This connects the preservation promise to al-Ṭabarī's broader analysis of abrogation (naskh) throughout the Quran divine wisdom sometimes involves abrogating earlier rulings through controlled forgetting.

The scrolls of Ibrāhīm and Mūsā (87:18–19) are analyzed through chains from Ibn ʿAbbās on what these scrolls contained. Al-Ṭabarī traces chains presenting their content: the scrolls of Ibrāhīm contained theological principles (tawḥīd) and ethical teachings; the scrolls of Mūsā were the Torah. He notes these are referenced as containing the same essential message as the Quran the principle that success comes through purification and remembrance of Allah is an ancient divine principle, not a Quranic innovation.

سَنُقْرِئُكَ فَلَا تَنسَىٰ إِلَّا مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ Sa-nuqriʾuka fa-lā tansā illā mā shāʾa Allāh "We will make you recite, so you will not forget, except what Allah wills." (87:6–7) Al-Ṭabarī presents chains from Ibn ʿAbbās limiting the exception to abrogated verses Allah's will to cause forgetting is specifically His will to abrogate, not a general possibility of Quranic forgetting.

إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَفِي الصُّحُفِ الْأُولَىٰ صُحُفِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمُوسَىٰ Inna hādhā la-fī l-ṣuḥufi l-ūlā ṣuḥufi Ibrāhīma wa-Mūsā "Indeed, this is in the former scrolls the scrolls of Abraham and Moses." (87:18–19) Al-Ṭabarī traces chains from Ibn ʿAbbās on what the scrolls contained establishing that the core Quranic message (purification, divine remembrance, success through obedience) is an ancient prophetic principle.

Preservation exception: Al-Ṭabarī's chain-based narrowing of the exception to abrogated verses is his most careful treatment of Quranic abrogation and preservation together.
Scrolls content: The chains on the content of Ibrāhīm's and Mūsā's scrolls establish the Quran's message as continuous with prophetic tradition not a new departure.
Subḥāna rabbika al-Aʿlā: The surah's opening command to glorify generates chains on the prophetic practice the Prophet would say "subḥāna rabbiya l-Aʿlā" in sujūd, connecting the surah directly to prayer practice.
Purification primacy: 87:14's "successful is he who purifies himself" is analyzed through chains as the Quran's primacy of spiritual purification over ritual alone.
Worldly preference critique: 87:16's "but you prefer the life of this world" is analyzed through chains as the Quran's persistent critique of worldly prioritization over eternal benefit.

Surah Overview

Key Themes from Al-Ṭabarī

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