Did He not find you perplexed, and show you the way?
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Tafseer
'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī
تفسير : gabriel then said: (did he not find thee) o muhammad (wandering) among people in error (and direct (thee)) and guided you by means of prophethood? the prophet (pbuh) said: "yes, o gabriel!"
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
تفسير : and did he not find you erring, from the [revealed] law which you [now] follow, and guided you?, that is, and then guided you to it.
Sahl al-Tustari
تفسير : and did he not find you erring and then guide you?he said:he found you without knowledge of your own worth, so he made you aware of your great worth. he found you erring away from [understanding] the implications (maʿānī) of [god’s] unadulterated affection (maḥḍ mawadda) for you, so he gave you to drink of the draught of his affection in the cup of his love. then he guided you to gnosis (maʿrifa) of him and invested you with the robe of his prophethood and his messengership, that he might guide [you] by them [these distinctions] to proximity (qurb) with him, and to his unicity (waḥdāniyya).he said:it also has another interpretation: and did he not find you, that is, your natural self (nafs al-ṭabʿ) in need (faqīra) of the way of gnosis (sabīl al-maʿrifa).
