تِلْكَ مِنْ أَنۢبَآءِ ٱلْغَيْبِ نُوحِيهَآ إِلَيْكَ مَا كُنتَ تَعْلَمُهَآ أَنتَ وَلَا قَوْمُكَ مِن قَبْلِ هَٰذَا فَٱصْبِرْ إِنَّ ٱلْعَٰقِبَةَ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ
tilka min anbāʾi'l-ghaybi nūḥīhā ilayk, mā kunta taʿlamuhā anta wa lā qawmuka min qabli hādhā, fa-ṣbir inna'l-ʿāqibata li'l-muttaqīn
"These are among the tidings of the unseen that We reveal to you. Neither you nor your people knew them before this. So be patient; the outcome belongs to those who are mindful."
| # | Expression | Its work |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | tilka min anbāʾi'l-ghayb | It reports the source of the tidings |
| 2 | mā kunta taʿlamuhā anta wa lā qawmuk | It closes off any prior knowledge |
| 3 | fa-ṣbir | It gives a command |
tilka is the demonstrative for what is distant. This use was treated at al-Shuʿarāʾ 26/2, and two explanations were recorded there: distance, or magnification (taʿẓīm).
The use here is worth recording: the narrative has only just ended, so it is "near"; even so it is referred to with the distant demonstrative.
The root ن-ب-أ: news that is weighty, that has some use. The root was worked out in al-Nabaʾ, and I rely on that treatment. The entry there: a nabaʾ is not just any piece of news; it is news that has consequences.
And the construction occurs in a few places in the Qurʾān, and all of them stand at the end or the beginning of a narrative (Āl ʿImrān 3/44; Yūsuf 12/102; Hūd 11/49; Hūd 11/100 — min anbāʾi'l-qurā).
There is a pronoun of emphasis in the sentence: taʿlamuhā anta. In Arabic, when the pronoun inside the verb would suffice, the addition of anta reports emphasis.
And the scope is widened: wa lā qawmuk. The claim, that is, is not about the Prophet alone but about the whole of his surroundings.
I record this as an observation about the word order: the sentence frames a verifiable claim — that the source of these tidings is not local knowledge.
The root ص-ب-ر: to hold a thing in one place, to confine it; and from there, to endure. The root was treated in al-ʿAṣr and al-Balad.
And the place of the command must be recorded: at the end of a narrative twenty-five verses long, a command of a single word.
This is the first of the four commands the sūra gives the messenger, and it was tabulated in the section on the backbone:
The root ع-ق-ب: to come after, to follow a trace. The root was treated at al-Raʿd 13/11 and 13/22. ʿĀqiba — what comes at the end.
And the construction of the sentence must be recorded: inna'l-ʿāqibata li'l-muttaqīn — the lām of ownership (the lām of belonging). The outcome, that is, is made to belong to those who are mindful.