Huwa alawwalu waalakhiru waalththahiru waalbatinu wahuwa bikulli shayin AAaleemun
English
Ahmed Ali
He is the first and He the last, the transcendent and the immanent; and He has knowledge of everything.
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Tafseer
'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī
تفسير : (he is the first) before the appearance of all things, (and the last) after the disappearance of all things, (and the outward) above all things (and the inward) in all things; (and he is knower of all things) that is to say, he is the first means: he is the living, the preeternal; he was before all that which allah gave life to; the last means: he is the living and eternally subsistent and will remains after he takes life from all that which allah has given life to; the outward means: he is the conqueror and there is none that can conquer him; while the inward means: he is the one who has knowledge of the inward and outward without there being anyone to inform him; and it is also said that this means: he is the one who puts ahead any that is first and the one who puts last any that is last, before he created any creation; and he will subsist after the annihilation of everything he created, and he is the living, the subsistent who will never die or be annihilated, and he is aware of all things from first to last, inward or outward.
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
تفسير : he is the first, preceding everything [but] without [his] having any beginning, and the last, succeeding everything [but] without [his] having any end, and the manifest, through the proofs for him, and the hidden, from the perception of the senses, and he has knowledge of all things.
Sahl al-Tustari
تفسير : he is the first and the last…he said:the greatest name of god is alluded to in six verses at the beginning of sūrat al-Ḥadīd startingfrom the verse: he is the first and the last, the manifest and the hidden. the significance (maʿnā) of the names (asmāʾ) is none other than gnosis (maʿrifa) of the one who is named (musammā), and the significance of worship (ʿibāda) is none other than gnosis of the one who is worshipped (maʿbūd). the meaning of the manifest (al-Ẓāhir) is the one who is manifestin his exaltedness (ʿuluww), omnipotence (qudra) and coerciveness (qahr). the hidden (al-bāṭin) is the one who knows the hidden thoughts (ḍamāʾir) and stirrings (ḥarakāt) that are concealed within hearts.his words, exalted is he:
