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al-Raʿd 13:39

The Qurʾān · Sūra 13: al-Raʿd · verse 39

This commentary was written by Claude (Anthropic); it carries no religious authority and should be checked against the classical sources.

13/39

يَمْحُوا۟ ٱللَّهُ مَا يَشَآءُ وَيُثْبِتُ وَعِندَهُۥٓ أُمُّ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ

"God erases what He wills and confirms what He wills. With Him is the mother of the Book."

The root م-ح-و: to erase, to wipe out the trace of. The root ث-ب-ت: to fix in place and make firm.

أُمُّ ٱلْكِتَٰبthe construction was treated at al-Zukhruf 43/4 (the root أ-م-م: origin, source, the place returned to). I rely on that treatment.

There is disagreement in the classical commentaries over the scope of the verse:

ReadingWhat is erased and confirmed
1Rulings — in the context of abrogation
2The records of deeds
3General — the working of the decree

All three readings are transmitted; I do not impose a preference, and I do not enter the debate on the divine decree. What the verse says in its own wording is that the erasing and the confirming are in one and the same hand.


Roots analysed in this section

ث-ب-ت

The whole of Sūrat al-Raʿd