The Quran in Faṣṣ Ibrāhīm

﴿ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ﴾

• «ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ»¶2

  The opening words of the Fātiḥa (and of other suras) are quoted to establish that all praise ultimately belongs to God.

﴿وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِۦٓ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَن تَذْبَحُوا۟ بَقَرَةً ۖ قَالُوٓا۟ أَتَتَّخِذُنَا هُزُوًا ۖ قَالَ أَعُوذُ بِٱللَّهِ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلْجَـٰهِلِينَ﴾

• أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِنَ الجَاهِلِينَ¶5

  Moses' words to his people in the episode of the cow are quoted verbatim, and Ibn ʿArabī applies them to himself as refuge from ignorance of the presence in which mutual knowledge takes place.

﴿وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ دِينًا مِّمَّنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهَهُۥ لِلَّهِ وَهُوَ مُحْسِنٌ وَٱتَّبَعَ مِلَّةَ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ حَنِيفًا ۗ وَٱتَّخَذَ ٱللَّهُ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ خَلِيلًا﴾

• سُمِّيَ خَلِيلًا¶1

  This echoes «وَاتَّخَذَ اللَّهُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ خَلِيلًا», the Qur'anic source of Abraham's title, which Ibn ʿArabī here explains etymologically.

• سُمِّيَ خَلِيلًا¶10

  Echoes 'wa-ttakhadha llāhu Ibrāhīma khalīlan', the verse that gives Abraham the name being explained here.

﴿قُلْ فَلِلَّهِ ٱلْحُجَّةُ ٱلْبَـٰلِغَةُ ۖ فَلَوْ شَآءَ لَهَدَىٰكُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ﴾

• فَلِلَّهِ ٱلْحُجَّةُ ٱلْبَـٰلِغَةُ¶6

  The verse 'God's is the conclusive argument' is quoted and applied to the veiled, who complain about what God did to them and are answered by the unveiling of their own realities.

• فَمَا شَاءَ، فَمَا هَدَاهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ¶8

  This reworks 'فَلَوْ شَاءَ لَهَدَاكُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ' and reads the counterfactual 'law' as a statement of fact: He did not will it, so He did not guide them all.

﴿وَلِلَّهِ غَيْبُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَإِلَيْهِ يُرْجَعُ ٱلْأَمْرُ كُلُّهُۥ فَٱعْبُدْهُ وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَيْهِ ۚ وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِغَـٰفِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ﴾

• «وَإِلَيْهِ يُرْجَعُ ٱلْأَمْرُ كُلُّهُۥ»¶2

  The verse on the whole affair returning to God is quoted to extend the return to both the praised and the blamed.

﴿مَّا جَعَلَ ٱللَّهُ لِرَجُلٍ مِّن قَلْبَيْنِ فِى جَوْفِهِۦ ۚ وَمَا جَعَلَ أَزْوَٰجَكُمُ ٱلَّـٰٓـِٔى تُظَـٰهِرُونَ مِنْهُنَّ أُمَّهَـٰتِكُمْ ۚ وَمَا جَعَلَ أَدْعِيَآءَكُمْ أَبْنَآءَكُمْ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ قَوْلُكُم بِأَفْوَٰهِكُمْ ۖ وَٱللَّهُ يَقُولُ ٱلْحَقَّ وَهُوَ يَهْدِى ٱلسَّبِيلَ﴾

• وَاللَّهُ يَقُولُ ٱلحَقُّ وَهُوَ يَهْدِي السَّبِيلَ¶11

  The closing words of Q 33:4 are quoted verbatim to seal the passage, asserting that God speaks the truth and guides to the way.

﴿إِن يَشَأْ يُذْهِبْكُمْ وَيَأْتِ بِخَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ﴾

• «إِن يَشَأْ»¶8

  Ibn ʿArabī quotes the conditional 'إِن يَشَأْ يُذْهِبْكُمْ', which also occurs at 4:133, 6:133 and 14:19, and argues that the condition is never fulfilled because the divine will has a single object.

﴿وَٱلَّذِينَ يُحَآجُّونَ فِى ٱللَّهِ مِنۢ بَعْدِ مَا ٱسْتُجِيبَ لَهُۥ حُجَّتُهُمْ دَاحِضَةٌ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ وَعَلَيْهِمْ غَضَبٌ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ﴾

• فَتَنْدَحِضُ حُجَّتُهُمْ¶6

  This echoes 'their argument is refuted (dāḥiḍa) with their Lord' to describe the collapse of the veiled's complaint against God.

﴿هُوَ ٱلْأَوَّلُ وَٱلْـَٔاخِرُ وَٱلظَّـٰهِرُ وَٱلْبَاطِنُ ۖ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمٌ﴾

• هُوَ الظَّاهِرُ، وَاسْمُ الفَاعِلِ هُوَ البَاطِنُ¶2

  The divine names al-Ẓāhir and al-Bāṭin from 'He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden' are applied to the pervaded and the pervader, and to God and creation.

• وَإِنْ كَانَ الخَلْقُ هُوَ الظَّاهِرُ فَالحَقُّ مَسْتُورٌ بَاطِنٌ فِيهِ¶3

  This echoes the divine names al-ẓāhir and al-bāṭin from 'huwa al-awwalu wa-l-ākhiru wa-l-ẓāhiru wa-l-bāṭinu', and here assigns the manifest aspect to creation and the hidden aspect to al-Ḥaqq within it.

﴿يَوْمَ يُكْشَفُ عَن سَاقٍ وَيُدْعَوْنَ إِلَى ٱلسُّجُودِ فَلَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ﴾

• فَيَكْشِفُ لَهُمْ عَنْ سَاقٍ¶6

  This adapts 'the day the shank is uncovered' (يَوْمَ يُكْشَفُ عَن سَاقٍ) into an active form with God as subject, as the eschatological disclosure that refutes the veiled.