Surah An-Najm Ayat 10 (53:10 Quran) With Tafsir

Ala-Maududi

(53:10) Then he revealed to Allah’s servant whatever he had to reveal.^[9]

9. The sentence faauha ila abdihi ma auha of the text can have two translations:

(1) He (Gabriel) revealed to His (Allah’s) servant whatever he revealed.

(2) He (Allah) revealed to His own servant whatever He revealed.

According to the first translation, the meaning would be: Gabriel revealed to the servant of Allah whatever he had to reveal; according to the second: Allah revealed through Gabriel to His servant whatever He had to reveal. The commentators have given both these meanings; the first meaning, however, fits in better with the context, and the same has been reported from Hasan Basri and lbn Zaid. Here, the question may be asked: How can the pronoun of abd-i-hi turn to Allah instead of to the subject of auha, whereas Allah has nowhere been mentioned from the beginning of the Surah to this place? The answer is that wherever it becomes apparent from the context that the antecedent of a pronoun refers to a particular person, the pronoun turns to him automatically whether it has been mentioned before or not. There are several instances of this available in the Quran itself. In Surah Al-Qadr, Ayat 1, Allah says: We have sent it down in the night of glory. There is no mention of the Quran in this sentence, but the context explicitly shows that the antecedent of the pronoun is the Quran. At another place Allah says: If Allah were to seize the people because of their misdeeds, He would not leave any creature (unpunished) on its back. In this sentence there is no mention of the earth anywhere, but the context clearly shows that its back implies the earth’s back. In (Surah YaSeen, Ayat 69), it has been said: We have not taught him poetry, nor does poetry behoove him. Here, there is no mention of the Prophet (peace be upon him), neither before this sentence nor after it, yet the context is explicit that the antecedent of the pronouns is the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself. In (Surah Ar-Rahman, Ayat 26), it has been said: Whatever exists on it shall perish. There is no mention of the earth either before or after it, but the style clearly shows that the pronoun of alaiha turns to it. In Surah (Al-Waqiah, Ayat 35), it has been said: We shall have created them especially. There is no noun or pronoun before or after it to which the pronoun of hunna may be referring. It is apparent from the context that it signifies the women of Paradise. Thus, as auha ila abdi hi cannot at all mean that Gabriel revealed to his servant, the meaning necessarily would be that Gabriel revealed to the servant of Allah, or that Allah revealed to His own servant through Gabriel.

Ibn-Kathir

The tafsir of Surah Tur verse 10 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Tur ayat 5 which provides the complete commentary from verse 5 through 18.