Malfuzat - Volume VIII — Page 218
Malf uza t - English translation of Urdu Volume 8 218 Four Causes for the Holy Quran Everything has four causes. God Almighty has mentioned these ‘ilal-e-arba‘a [four causes] here as well, and those four causes are the ‘illat-e-f a ‘il i [efficient or the moving cause], ‘illat-e- su r i [for- mal cause], ‘illat-e-m a d i [material cause], and ‘illat-e-gh a ‘ i [the ultimate cause]. Here mention is made [by Almighty Allah] of the four causes for the Holy Quran. ‘Illat-e-f a ‘il i [efficient or the moving] cause for this Book is ّٓمٓلا ّٓمٓلا [ Alif , L a m , M i m ], and the meaning of ّٓمٓلا ّٓمٓلا in my view is ُمَلْعَا ُهّٰللا اَنَا ُمَلْعَا ُهّٰللا اَنَا [ AnAll a hu a‘lamu ]; that is, ‘I am Allah, the One who possesses more knowledge than anyone. ’ Moreover, the ‘illat-e- m a d i [material cause] is َكِلٰذ ُبٰتِكْلا َكِلٰذ ُبٰتِكْلا [ dh a likal-kit a bu ]; that is, this Book has come from God, who has more knowledge than any- one. Furthermore, ‘illat-e- su r i [formal cause] is اَل َبْيَر ِهْيِف اَل َبْيَر ِهْيِف [ l a raiba f i hi ]; that is, the beauty and excellence of this Book is that there is no doubt or suspicion in it of any kind whatsoever. Whatever it says is firmly established, and whatever claim it makes is supported by reason and manifestly evident. And ‘illat-e-gh a ‘ i [the ultimate cause] for this Book is ىًدُه َنْيِقَّتُمْلِّل۠ ىًدُه َنْيِقَّتُمْلِّل۠ [ hudal-lil mutta- q i n —a guidance for the righteous]; that is, the purpose and aim for the revelation of this Book is that it guides the righteous. Attributes of the Righteous After describing these four causes, Allah the Exalted has described the general characteristics of the righteous, as to who those righteous people are, who attain guidance: َو َنْيِذَّلا َنْوُنِمْؤُي ۤاَمِب َلِزْنُا َكْيَلِا َو ۤاَم َنْيِذَّلا َنْوُنِمْؤُي ِبْيَغْلاِب َو َنْوُمْيِقُي َةوٰلَّصلا َو اَّمِم ْمُهٰنْقَزَر َنْوُقِفْنُي۰۰ َو َنْيِذَّلا َنْوُنِمْؤُي ۤاَمِب َلِزْنُا َكْيَلِا َو ۤاَم َنْيِذَّلا َنْوُنِمْؤُي ِبْيَغْلاِب َو َنْوُمْيِقُي َةوٰلَّصلا َو اَّمِم ْمُهٰنْقَزَر َنْوُقِفْنُي۰۰ 1 َلِزْنُا ْنِم َكِلْبَق١ۚ َو ِةَرِخٰاْلاِب ْمُه َنْوُنِقْوُي۰۰ َلِزْنُا ْنِم َكِلْبَق١ۚ َو ِةَرِخٰاْلاِب ْمُه َنْوُنِقْوُي۰۰ 1. S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:4–5 [Publisher]