There are a number of ways to reconcile these verses:

1. What some of the scholars have beautifully stated that the reason for referring to it with the near demonstrative is that this Qur’aan is close, present in the ears, upon the tongues and in the hearts. And the reason for referring to it with the distant demonstrative is due to its high status and position, far above that of the speech of the creation, and far removed from what the disbelievers think – that it is magic, or poetry, or stories of the ancient.
2. The chosen opinion of ibn Jareer at-Tabaree that the distant demonstrative refers to the subject matter of ‘Alif Laam Meem’, and that Allaah referred to it in this way because these words that are being referred to have passed and it’s meaning, in truth, is close due to these words just having been referred to. He propounded a parable for this of a person who on one occasion says, "by Allaah that (dhaalika) is as you have said" and on another occasion he says, "by Allaah this (haadhaa) is as you have said." So he used the distant demonstrative due to taking into consideration that the words (he was testifying to) had passed, and he used the near demonstrative due to taking into consideration that the words had just passed.
3. That the Arabs sometimes referred to something that was close with the distant demonstrative, so this verse was merely employing the conventions of the language. This opinion was related by al-Bukhaaree from Mu’mar bin al-Muthnaa Abu Ubaidah as stated by ibn Katheer.

But, no matter how one looks at it, the generality of the commentators have taken the dhaalika in this verse with the meaning of haadhaa.

• (ins) The saying of the Exalted, "in which there is no doubt": The grammatical construction of this verse shows that that every aspect of doubt in this Book has been negated. But there are other verses that show that there is some doubt in it for some people, such as the doubting disbelievers, this in His sayings,

The reconciliation of these verses lies in the fact that the Qur’aan is complete with respect to the clarity of it’s proofs and manifestation of it’s miracle in a way that totally negates any possibility of being in doubt concerning it. However the doubt of the disbelievers concerning it is due to their blindness as Allaah has clarified in His saying,

So He made clear that the one who does not know that it is the truth does not know this due to his own blindness.

But it is known that the blindness of the one who is actually blind does not prevent him from being certain in the existence of the sun due to it’s obviousness. Some of the scholars replied to this point by saying that the verse ‘in which there is no doubt’ is a statement whose intent is to spread and make known this fact, so therefore it means ‘do not be in doubt concerning it’ and there is no difficulty left in this verse when taking to this explanation.

• The saying of the Exalted, ‘guidance for those that fear Allaah’: clarifying in this verse that the Qur’aan is a guidance for those that fear Allaah, and it is understood from the implications of this verse - from the opposite understanding of the verse - that this Qur’aan is not a guidance for those who do not fear Allaah. This understanding has been clarified in other verses, like His sayings,

And it is known that meaning of guidance in this verse is a specific type of guidance which is honouring one by conforming with the Religion of Truth, not the general type of guidance which is just clarifying the truth (ins) not taking into consideration whether the person to whom it has been clarified traverses the path of guidance or not. With this respect is the saying of Allaah,

Meaning: We made clear to them the True Way upon the tongue of our Prophet Saalih, upon him and our Prophet be peace and blessings, despite the fact that they did not traverse this way as proven by His saying, "but they preferred blindness over guidance."

With this respect also is His saying,

Meaning: We have made clear to him the Way of Good and the Way of Evil as proven by His saying, "whether he be grateful or ungrateful."

As for the specific type of guidance, then it is Allaah bestowing His Grace upon the servant by making him conform to the Way of Truth. With this respect is His sayings,

So when you come to know and understand this, then know that the guidance for those who fear Allaah, is the specific guidance, and the guidance for mankind is the general guidance which is just to clarify the way of truth.

Also when you come to understand this then any difficulties in understanding the following sayings of Allaah will also be removed,

Because the aspect of guidance that has been negated is the specific guidance because this is in the Hands of Allaah Alone, and whosoever Allaah Wishes to put to trial than he has no ability to prevent this. As for the aspect of guidance that has been affirmed then it is the general guidance which is to make clear the Way of Truth. And the Messenger of Allaah (SAW) explained this to the extent that it became like a great white plain whose night was like its day.{1} And Allaah calls to the House of Islaam and Guides whomsoever He Wills to the Straight Path.

• The saying of Allaah, ‘and spend from that which We have provided them’: it is understood from this verse that one spends some of his property and not all of it (in charity) for the sake of Allaah, but there is no explanation here as to how much should be spent and how much should be kept. But this is explained in other places: that the amount that should be spent is that which exceeds ones needs and liabilities as in His saying,

The meaning of al-Afwa according to the most correct explanation is: that which exceeds ones needs - this being the opinion of the majority of scholars. And with this respect is His saying, "then we changed the evil for the good until they afaw and said: ‘our fathers were touched with evil and good’…" (7:95). And the meaning of afaw here is: increase in number, wealth and offspring.

And some of the scholars said: the meaning of afaw is: the opposite of exertion, meaning that he spends, but not so as to reach the extent that he devotes all his time and energy in doing so. And with this respect is the saying of the poet:

And what has been mentioned thusfar is the strongest opinion and the other opinions are weak.

The saying of Allaah, "and let not your hand be tied (like a miser) to your neck, nor stretch it forth to it’s utmost reach (like a spendthrift) so that you become blameworthy and in severe poverty." (17:29)

So He forbade us from miserliness in His saying, "and let not your hand be tied (like a miser)" and He forbade us from extravagance with His saying, "nor stretch it forth to it’s utmost reach" and so a middle path between the two extremes has been designated as Allaah clarifies further in His saying, "and those, who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor niggardly, but hold a medium (way) between those (extremes)" (25:67). Hence it is obligatory upon the one who spends that he distinguish between generosity and extravagance, and between miserliness and economisation, for generosity is not the same as extravagance and miserliness is not the same as economisation. Prevention (of giving in charity) at the time that it is required is blameworthy and Allaah forbade His Prophet (SAW) from this in His saying, "and let not your hand be tied (like a miser)". Also giving (in charity) at the time that it should be prevented is blameworthy as well, and Allaah forbade His Prophet (SAW) from this in His saying, "nor stretch it forth to it’s utmost reach."

The poet said,

Do not praise ibn Abbaad even if his hands flow

Like heavy rain clouds to the extent that even the continuous rain is embarrassed

For indeed this arises from mere flights of his fancy

He gives and prevents but not out of generosity or kindness

And Allaah has explained in other places, (endorsing the meaning of above lines of poetry), that the praiseworthy spending cannot be considered praiseworthy until it is spent in a way that pleases Allaah as in His saying,

And He made clear that spending in that which does not please Allaah is a loss for the one who spends in His saying,

And the poet has said,

Until the way of performing that action is correct.

So if it said: what you have established thusfar dictates that the praiseworthy spending is spending that which exceeds ones needs, but Allaah has praised those that spend in charity while they are in need of what they spend. This in His saying,

The obvious answer - and Allaah knows best - lies in what some of the scholars have mentioned that there is a ‘place for everything and everything in it’s place’, so on some occasions giving preference (over oneself to others) is forbidden - for example when the one who spends has an obligation upon him such as spending on his wives and the likes - then he would have contributed in something that was not obligatory and left the obligation. This (case is forbidden) due to his (SAW) saying, "start with those whom you support." Therefore it is as if this person cannot tolerate the opinions of the people and hence (to avoid this) spends his wealth (in that which is not obligatory upon him) and then goes (boastfully) to the people asking them about how they spent their wealth, and this is not permissible for him. As for the case of the one who is not restrained by any obligations, and is confident that he would be able to persevere, live modestly and not beg, then his giving preference (to others over himself would be permissible).

As for taking the opinion that the verse ‘and spend from that which We have provided them’ refers to zakaah (and is not general to all type of sadaqah), then the matter is clear. And the knowledge (of what is correct) lies with Allaah.

• (ins) The saying of the Exalted, "Indeed those who disbelieve, it is the same to them whether you warn them or do not warn them, they will not believe.": The literal meaning of this verse is that the disbelievers will not believe. But there are a number of other verses that prove that some of the disbelievers did believe in Allaah and His Messenger (and hence became Muslims) such as His sayings,

The reconciliation between these verses is obvious; this being that the verse in question is from those verses that are general in wording but specific in meaning, because it specifically refers to the damned, wretched ones whose end is known by Allaah from the onset, those referred to in His saying,

This restriction in meaning is also proven by His saying, "Allaah has set a seal on their hearts."

Some of the scholars reconciled these verses by saying that the meaning of the verse is that the disbelievers will not believe as long as there is a seal on their hearts and ears and a covering on their eyes. So if Allaah were to remove this by His Grace then they would believe.

• The saying of the Exalted, "Allaah has set a seal on their hearts, and on their hearings, and on their eyes there is a covering": it is clear that the ‘and’ in His saying, "on their hearings and on their eyes" can be taken to be connected to what is before it or that it be the start of a new statement but this is not explained here. But it is explained in another place that His saying, "and on their hearings" is connected to "on their hearts" and that His saying, "and on their eyes" is the start of a new statement - ‘on their eyes’ is the genitive which takes the place of a predicate to a nominal clause, the subject of this clause being ‘covering’, and it is allowed to start the sentence with an undefined clause due to it’s depending upon the genitive that comes before it. This is why it was necessary to precede the sentence with this predicate, because this is what allowed the sentence to be started with the subject to the nominal clause, as is firmly established in ‘al-Khulaasah’ with the saying:

And the likes of ‘I have a dirham’ or ‘I have a wish’

Necessitate giving precedence to the predicate

Hence in summary, the seal is on the hearts and the hearings, and the covering is on the ears. The proof for this lies in His saying,

Khatm (seal): is a binding on something such that the thing enclosed cannot exit, and anything outside cannot enter. Ghishaawah (covering): is a covering over the eyes that prevents them from seeing.

And taking to the recitation of those that recite ‘covering’ as an accusative (and not nominative), then it would be the object to the verb which has been omitted in this case i.e. "and He placed a covering on their eyes" as occurs in Surah Jaathiyah (45:23).

If it is said: but the seal is upon the hearing as well as can be discerned from His saying in Surah an-Nahl, "they are they upon whose hearts, hearing and eyes Allaah has set a seal." (16:108). Then the answer is: the seal upon the eyes mentioned in the verse of Surah Nahl is the same as the covering on the eyes mentioned in al-Baqarah and al-Jaathiyah. And the knowledge of what is correct lies with Allaah.

(ins) The literal meaning of this verse is that the disbelievers are forced to be so, because the one who has a seal placed upon his heart and a covering on his eyes is thereby deprived of the ability to believe. But there are a number of verses that show that their disbelief came about by their own choice and volition such as His sayings,

The reconciliation between these verses lies in the fact that the seal and covering placed upon their ears, eyes and hearts is done as punishment from Allaah for their insisting upon disbelief and their denying the Messengers out of their own choice. So Allaah punished them for their doing this in a fitting and reciprocal way as He has clarified with His sayings,

And other verses.

• The saying of Allaah the Exalted, "and of mankind there are some who say: ‘we believe in Allaah and the Last Day while in fact they believe not.": there is no further clarification here as to who these hypocrites are, but some of them are clearly mentioned in His saying,

• The saying of the Exalted, "Allaah Mocks at them": there is nothing mentioned here as to how He Mocks them, but an example is mentioned in Surah Hadeed in His saying,

• The saying of the Exalted, "they are deaf, dumb, and blind": The literal meaning of this verse is that the hypocrites are depicted to be deaf, dumb, and blind, but the Exalted has explained in another place that the meaning of their being deaf, dumb and blind is that they do not benefit from their ears, hearts and eyes. This in His saying,

• The saying of the Exalted, "or like a rainstorm (Sayyib)": Sayyib means: rain. Allaah has set forth a parable in this verse for the guidance and knowledge that the Messenger of Allaah (SAW) came with, likening it to rain. Because knowledge and guidance is a source of life for the souls just as water is a source of life for the bodies. This aspect of the parable was indicated by Allaah in His saying,

And the Messenger (SAW) explained this parable that is indicated here clearly in the hadeeth of Abu Musa (RA) reported by both Bukhaaree and Muslim wherein he (SAW) said, "the similitude of the guidance and knowledge that Allaah has sent me with is like abundant rain falling on the earth, some of which has fertile soil that absorbed the rain water and brought forth vegetation and grass in abundance. And another portion of it was hard and held the rain water and Allaah benefited the people with it and they utilised it for drinking, making their animals drink from it and for irrigation of the land for cultivation. And a portion of it was barren which could neither hold water nor bring forth vegetation…"

• The saying of the Exalted, "wherein is darkness": Allaah has set forth a parable in this verse regarding the doubts and suspicion that have afflicted the hypocrites with respect to the Qur’aan - comparing these to the darkness in the rainstorm which in turn has been set forth as a similitude to the Qur’aan. And Allaah has illustrated a number of occasions, in other verses, which are like darkness for them, because they increase them only in blindness. Like His saying,

Because the abrogation of the Qiblah (from Jerusalem to the Ka’bah) made the people having weak conviction think that the Messenger (SAW) was not certain of his affair (i.e. Prophethood), for one day he was facing one direction in prayer and another day another direction! This is why Allaah has said, "the fools from amongst the people say: ‘what has made them change from the Qiblah that they used to face?’" (2:142) So Allaah has made clear that the abrogation of the Qiblah was hard upon those whom Allaah did not guide and strengthen his conviction in His saying, "Indeed it was a great test except for those whom Allaah guided."

And like His saying,

Because what he (SAW) was shown on the night of Israa and Mi’raaj was from amongst the miracles and wonders (bestowed him), and was therefore a means of strengthening the belief of the disbelievers that he (SAW) was a liar because they thought that what he was informing them of could not possibly occur. So this event was a means by which the misguided increased in misguidance. And similarly the accursed tree in the Qur’aan, which is the tree of Zaqqum, was also a means of increasing the misguided in misguidance, for when they heard the Prophet (SAW) reciting, "indeed it is a tree that springs out of the bottom of Hellfire," (37:64) they said, "his lie has become clear, for a tree will not grow in a desert so how can one grow in the bottom of Hellfire?"

And like His saying,

Because when he (SAW) recited the verse, "over it (Hell) are nineteen (angels as guardians)" (74:30) some of the people said, "this is such a small number that we are capable of killing them and then taking over Paradise by force, due to this small number guarding this Fire that Muhammad (SAW) thinks that we shall enter."

And Allaah the Exalted did this as an examination and test for them, and He has an all-encompassing Wisdom behind doing so, and He is Exalted, far Above what the unbelievers say.

• The saying of the Exalted, "and thunder": Allaah has set forth a similitude to thunder due to what the Qur’aan contains of rebukes that ring in the ears and stir the heart, some of which are mentioned in other verses such as His sayings,

And it is established in the Saheeh of Bukhaaree, in the chapter pertaining to the commentary of Surah at-Tur, from the hadeeth of Jubair ibn Mut’am (RA) who said,

"I heard the Messenger of Allaah (SAW) reciting at-Tur in Maghrib prayer, and when he reached this verse, ‘were they created by nothing, or were they themselves the creators? Or did they create the heavens and the earth? Nay, but they have no firm belief. Or are with them the treasures of your Lord? Or are they tyrants with the authority to do as they like?’ my heart almost jumped a beat."

And other such rebukes and cataclysmic announcements from which the hypocrites were in continuous fear of, to the point that Allaah said of them, "they think that every cry is against them, they are the enemies, so beware of them." (63:4)

And the verse that we are in the process of explaining, even if it is with regards to the hypocrites, then the consideration is given to the generality of the wording and not to the specific reason for it’s revelation.

• The saying of the Exalted, "and lightning": Allaah has set forth a similitude to lightning due to what the Qur’aan contains of the light of decisive evidences and radiant proofs. And it has been made clear that Qur’aan is a light by which Allaah uncovers the darknesses of ignorance, doubt and shirk, in the same way that the natural light uncovers the dark recesses, such as in His sayings,

• The saying of the Exalted, "but Allaah ever encompasses the disbelievers": some of the scholars said the ‘encompasses the disbelievers’ means ‘your destroyer’ and this opinion is testified to by the saying of Allaah,

Meaning: unless (an enemy) destroys you to your last man. And it is said that it means ‘overcome’ and the two opinions are close because the one who is destroyed is not destroyed until he is surrounded on all sides and their remains no way for him to escape to safety and the same applies to the one who is overcome. In this respect is the saying of the poet:

We surrounded them until they became certain (of defeat)

Due to what they saw and inclined towards peace

Also in this respect - understanding ‘surrounded’ to mean ‘destroyed’ is His sayings,

• The saying of the Exalted, "the lightning almost snatches away their sight": meaning that the light of the Qur’aan blinds their eyes due to it’s extreme brilliance, just as the flash of lightning almost snatches way the sight of the onlooker due to it’s extreme light, and more so if the sight is weak because as the sight gets weaker the light affects it more severely as the poet said:

Like the day increases the sight of mortals

Due to it’s light and blinds the eyes of the bats

And the saying of another:

The bats are blinded by the light of day

And the covering of the dark night agrees with them

The eyes of the disbelievers and the hypocrites are completely weak, and the severity of the dazzling light (of the Qur’aan) increases them in blindness. And Allaah has clarified this blindness in His sayings,

Some of the scholar said: ‘the lightning almost snatches away their sight’ means that the clear and unequivocal verses of the Qur’aan reveal the weaknesses and defects of the hypocrites.

• The saying of the Exalted, "whenever it flashes for them, they walk therein, and when darkness covers them, they stand still.": Allaah sets forth a similitude for the hypocrites in this verse that when the Qur’aan agrees with their desires and expectations they act according to it, like the favours they scrounge off the believers such as their inheriting from them, their receiving a share of the war booty, and their being secure from being killed despite the disbelief that is in their hearts. And whenever it does not agree with their desires such as their being commanded to expend their selves and wealth in Jihaad in the way of Allaah they hold back and delay. And Allaah has pointed this out in His saying,

Some of the scholars said: "whenever it flashes for them they walk therein" means that whenever Allaah favours them with wealth and well-being they say, ‘this religion is the truth, ever since we have held onto to it we have not acquired anything but good.’ "And when the darkness covers them, they stand still" means that when they come across poverty or illness, or they have daughters born to them rather than sons they say, ‘this has not happened to us except due to the evil of this religion’ and they apostate from it. This explanation is proven by the saying of Allaah,

Some of the scholars said: it’s flashing for them means their cognition of some of the truth, and it’s darkness means the doubt that presents itself to them concerning it (the Qur’aan).

FOOTNOTES: