سورة الأعراف

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Muhammad ibn Qays that Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said: "Huyayy ibn Akhtab and his brother Abu Yasir ibn Akhtab, along with a group of Jews from the people of Najran, came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and said to him: 'Is الم [Alif Lam Mim] among what has been sent down to you?' He said: 'Yes.' They said: 'Did Jibril (peace be upon him) bring it down to you from Allah?' He said: 'Yes.' They said: 'Allah sent prophets before you, and we do not know of anyone other than you who has informed [foretold] the duration of the reign and the sustenance of his community.'" Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said: "Then Huyayy ibn Akhtab turned back to his companions and said to them: 'The letter Alif is one, Lam is thirty, and Mim is forty, so the total is seventy-one years. How strange it is for someone to embrace a religion whose reign and community's sustenance is seventy-one years!'" The Imam (peace be upon him) continued: "Then he returned to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and said: 'O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), is there any verse other than that?' He said: 'Yes.' He said: 'Say it.' He said: 'المص [Alif Lam Mim Sad].' He said: 'This verse is heavier and longer; Alif is one, Lam thirty, Mim forty, and Sad ninety, so the total is one hundred and sixty-one years.' Then he said to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): 'Is there anything else besides this?' He said: 'Yes.' He said: 'Say it.' He said: 'الر [Alif Lam Ra].' He said: 'This is heavier and longer; Alif is one, Lam thirty, and Ra two hundred. Is there anything besides this?' He said: 'Yes.' He said: 'Say it.' He said: 'المر [Alif Lam Mim Ra].' He said: 'This is longer and heavier; Alif is one, Lam thirty, Mim forty, and Ra two hundred.' Then he said: 'Is there anything besides this?' He said: 'Yes.' They said: 'Your matter has become confusing to us, and we do not know what has been given to you.' Then they left him. Then Abu Yasir said to his brother Huyayy: 'What do you know? Perhaps for Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) all of this and more has been gathered among them.'" Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said: "Of these verses, some were revealed as muhkam (clear-cut) — they are Ummul Kitab — and others as mutashabih (allegorical), and these verses apply in other aspects, other than what Huyayy, Abu Yasir and their companions interpreted." Then Allah the Mighty and Majestic addressed the people and said: Follow what has been sent down to you from your Lord, and do not follow, besides Him, any awliya (guardians) or gods other than Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family). Yet little do you take heed! (Al-A'raf/3).

Imam al-Askari (peace be upon him), from Imam Ali (peace be upon him), narrated: When Allah the Exalted commissioned the Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him and his family) in Mecca and sent him on to Medina and revealed the Qur'an to him, He placed الم at the opening of its great surah — meaning, that is the Book of great majesty (al-Baqarah: 2). This is the very Book of which My earlier prophets foretold that I would send it down upon you. As they said, it has been sent down, and falsehood finds no way into it; he and his community recite the Qur'an in all their various states. Then the Jews distort it against its true meaning and interpret it against its proper sense, and they continually seek to obtain knowledge of the duration of this community — knowledge which Allah has withheld from them. One of the Jews said: "If what Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) says is true, then the extent of his rule and the life of his community is seventy-one years — alif is one, lam is thirty, and mim is forty." Ali (peace be upon him) said: "Then what do you do with المص, which was also revealed to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family)?" They said: "That makes one hundred and sixty-one years." He said: "And what do you do with الر, which was also revealed to him?" They said: "Now it becomes two hundred and thirty-one years." Again Ali (peace be upon him) said: "And what do you say about المر?" They said: "Now it is two hundred and seventy-one years." Ali (peace be upon him) said: "Is one of these disjoined letters the witness to the duration of this community's life, or all of them together?" They answered inconsistently. Some said: "One of them." Others said: "All of them" — and altogether that comes to seven hundred and thirty-four years, after which power will pass to the Jews. Ali (peace be upon him) said: "Has a Book of Allah stated this, or is it your own interpretation?" Some said: "The Book of Allah has spoken this." Others claimed that it was their own assertion. He said: "Bring the Book that states such a thing." They could not bring it. He also said to the others: "Bring the proof of your claim." They said: "The proof of our statement is the reckoning of jummal (numerical values of letters)." He said: "By what proof do you say such a thing? There is nothing in these letters that witnesses to your claim. If someone were to claim that these letters are not a witness to the extent of the life and span of the community of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), but rather that these letters bear witness that each of you is cursed by Allah to the count of the numerical value of these letters, or that each of you owes people dirhams and dinars to the amount of these letters, or that each of you owes me to the sum total of the numbers of these letters [— what could you say?]" They said: "What you say can in no way be understood from الم, المص, الر, and المر." He said: "Nor can what you claim be understood from الم, المص, الر, and المر. If my statement is refuted by your reasoning, then your statement is likewise refuted by my reasoning." One of their orators said: "O Ali! Do not rejoice that you have refuted our statement by our lack of proof; your claim likewise has no proof. What proof do you have for your claim?" The Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) said: "No! The two are not equal. We have proof. Our proof is a miracle." He then turned toward the camels of the Jews and said: "O camels! Bear witness for Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and for his successor." The camels hastened to call out: "You have spoken the truth! You have spoken the truth, O successor of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! These Jews are lying."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Jumu'ah Rahmah ibn Sadaqah said: A zindiq (heretic) man from the Banu Umayyah came to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) and said: "What did Allah intend by المص [Alif Lam Mim Sad] in His book, and what lawful and unlawful matters are in it, and what beneficial thing exists in it for people?" Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) became angry and said: "Woe to you, be silent! Alif is one, Lam is thirty, Mim is forty, and Sad is ninety. What is their total?" The man said: "One hundred and sixty-one." The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "When the year one hundred and sixty-one comes to an end, the rule of your companions will also come to an end." He said: "We waited, and when the year one hundred and sixty-one ended, on the day of Ashura the black-clothed and black-bannered ones — that is, the Abbasids — entered Kufa, and their (the Umayyads') rule was destroyed."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Abu Labid al-Makhzumi that Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said: "O Abu Labid! Twelve of the children of Abbas will attain the kingdom; four of them will be killed after the eighth of them. One of them will die of a throat ailment. Their lives will be short, the duration of their rule brief, and their conduct wicked. Among them is the little transgressor titled al-Hadi, al-Natiq and al-Ghawi. O Abu Labid, in the disjointed letters (huruf muqatta'at) of the Quran there is abundant knowledge. When Allah revealed الم ذلِکَ الْکِتابُ [Alif Lam Mim. That is the Book] (Baqarah/2), Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) rose up until the light of his sacred being became manifest and his words took root in the hearts of the people. At the time of his birth, seven thousand one hundred and three years had passed from the beginning of the creation of Adam, the father of mankind." Then he said: "The explanation of this is in the disjointed letters of the Quran when you count them without repetition. Not one of these letters passes except that one of the Banu Hashim rises at the time of its passing." Then he said: "'Alif' is one, 'Lam' is thirty, 'Mim' is forty, and 'Sad' in المص is ninety, which totals one hundred and sixty-one. After that was the beginning of the rising of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him). الم اللَّهُ لا إِلهَ [Alif Lam Mim. Allah, there is no god…]. When his period ended, the Qa'im of the Banu Abbas rises, and when that passes, our Qa'im (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance) rises at الر. So understand this, keep it in mind, and conceal it from the enemies."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Abu Labid al-Bahrani that a man came to Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) in Mecca and asked him several questions, and he answered them. [Then he mentioned the hadith until he said]: He said to him: "What is المص?" Abu Labid said: "He gave an answer which I have forgotten." The man left. Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said to me: "This is the outward interpretation of [these verses of] the Quran. Would you like me to tell you its interpretation in the inner meaning of the Quran?" I said: "Does the Quran have an inner and an outer meaning?" He said: "Yes! Indeed the Book of Allah has an outer and an inner meaning, and meanings, and abrogating and abrogated verses, and clear (muhkam) and ambiguous (mutashabih) verses, and sunan (established practices) and parables, and separation and connection, and letters and variation. Whoever claims that the Book of Allah is obscure has himself perished and caused others to perish." Then he said: "Memorise this: alif is one, lam is thirty, mim is forty, and sad is ninety." I said: "That makes one hundred and sixty-one." He said: "O Abu Labid! When the year one hundred and sixty-one arrives, Allah will strip a certain people of their rule."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Sufyan ibn Sa'id al-Thawri that he said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "O son of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! What is the meaning of the word of Allah the Mighty and Majestic where He says: الم and المص and الر and المر and كهيعص and طه and طس and طسم and يس and ص and حم and حم عسق and ق and ن?" He said: "As for الم — alif, lam, mim at the beginning of Surah al-Baqarah, its meaning is: I am Allah the Sovereign; and at the beginning of Surah Aal Imran الم means: I am Allah the Noble and Bestower without prior entitlement; and المص — alif, lam, mim, sad means: I am Allah the All-Powerful, the Truthful."