Al-Isra 17:55–61

That Zabur (the Psalms) has been mentioned particularly in the last sentence of verse 55: وَآتَيْنَا دَاوُودَ زَبُورً‌ا ، (And We gave Dawud the Zabur) has been done, perhaps, because Zabur reports that the Holy Prophet ﷺ will be a ruler along with being a messenger and prophet. This is as it appears in the Qur'an: وَلَقَدْ كَتَبْنَا فِي الزَّبُورِ‌ مِن بَعْدِ الذِّكْرِ‌ أَنَّ الْأَرْ‌ضَ يَرِ‌ثُهَا عِبَادِيَ الصَّالِحُونَ (And We have already written in the Zabur, after the [ previous ] mention, that the land is inherited by My righteous servants - al-Anbiya', 21:105).

At this stage, Imam al-Baghawi says in his Tafsir that Zabur is a book of Allah revealed to Sayyidna Dawud (علیہ السلام) . It has one hundred and fifty surahs or chapters and all surahs are restricted to praises of Allah and prayers to Him. The areas of lawful and unlawful, obligations and limits have not been taken up there.

Commentary

The word 'al-wasilah' in: يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَىٰ رَ‌بِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ (seek the means of close ness to their Lord - 57) conveys the sense of that which is used as a means of reaching someone. As for reaching Allah, the wasilah or means is to always keep the pleasure of Allah in sight when learning or doing anything while adhering to the injunctions of the Shari` ah strictly. Thus, the sense of the sentence is that all of them are seeking the closeness of Allah Ta’ ala through their righteous deeds.

About the sentence which follows immediately after: يَرْ‌جُونَ رَ‌حْمَتَهُ وَيَخَافُونَ عَذَابَهُ (hope for His Mercy and fear His punishment - 57), Sahl ibn ` Abdullah said: Hope and Fear, that is, hoping for mercy from Allah as well as fearing Him are two different states one is in. When they stay at par, one keeps on course, correct and stable. And if any one of the two overcomes the other, one finds the equilibrium of his spiritual state subjected to disorder to the measure of that imbalance. (Qurtubi)

Commentary

The word fitnah' (فِتنَہ) appearing in verse 60: وَمَا جَعَلْنَا الرُّ‌ؤْيَا الَّتِي أَرَ‌يْنَاكَ إِلَّا فِتْنَةً لِّلنَّاسِ (And We showed you the scene [ in the Night of Ascent - al-Mi` raj ] only to make it a test for the people) is used in the Arabic language to convey many different meanings. It could mean falling into error and going astray, or trial or test or some disorder or upheaval as well. At this place, the probability of all these meanings exists. Early Tafsir authorities - Sayyidah ` A'ishah, Sayyidna Mu` awiyah, Hasan, Mujahid and others - have taken fitnah' as carrying the last sense given above. They have said that this fitnah' was that of apostasy (Irtidad) which relates to the time when the Holy Prophet ﷺ told people about Mi` raj, how he went on his nocturnal journey to Baitul-Maqdis, to the heavens from there and his return to Makkah al-Mukarramah before dawn. There were many neo-Muslims who had yet to become staunch in their faith fell into the error of belying his statement and turned apostates. (Qurtubi)

It also stands proved from this event that the word رُّ‌ؤْيَا (ru'ya) is though also used in the Arabic language in the sense of dream but, at this place, what is being recounted is no matter of some dream. Had that been the case, there was no reason why people would become apostates. Dreams are dreams. Everyone can see such dreams. In fact, the purpose of employing the word: رُّ‌ؤْيَا (ru'ya) at this place is to show that the marvel was witnessed while awake. While commenting on this verse, some commentators have interpreted it to be referring to other events too besides the event of Mi` raj. But, they do not apply here as a whole. Therefore, the majority of commentators have declared the event of Mi` raj alone as the relevant subject of this verse. (As described in detail by al-Qurtubi)