بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ طسٓمٓ
Ta, Seen, Meem.
Introduction
This is āyah 1 of Sūrat Al-Qasas (The Stories), the 49th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 20. Meccan verses tend to address faith, the oneness of God, and the hereafter.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Meccan
- Order revealed
- 49 of 114
- Surah
- Al-Qasas (28)
ṬāÌ Sīn Mīm ṬāÌ alludes to the recognizer's heart, its purity [Ṭahāra] of everything other than He. Sīn alludes to His secret [sirr] with His friends in their contemplation of His majesty and beauty. Mīm alludes to His favors [minna] toward the faithful in His blessings and bounties. Wherever talk of Him goes, the session becomes fragrant. Wherever there is listening to His name and mark, the spirits become luminous. In the 18,000 worlds, no one can step on the carpet of His success-giving without His help and gentleness. In the two realms of being and the two worlds, life is not given over to anyone unless by His protection and kind favor. The great ones of the religion have said that the chevaliers and the friends of the Real have three sorts of life: life through remembrance, life through recognition, and life through finding. The fruit of the life of remembrance is intimacy, the fruit of the life of recognition is stillness, and the fruit of the life of finding is annihilation. In reality, this annihilation is subsistence. Until you have been annihilated from yourself you will not subsist through Him. Abū Saʿīd Kharrāz said, “I was at Arafat on the Day of Arafa and I saw that the hajjis were making supplications and weeping beautifully: on every tongue a remembrance, in every heart a fervor, in every soul a passion, in every corner a burning and a need, with everyone a pain and a melting. The wish arose in me that I also should make a supplication and ask for something. I asked myself what supplication I should make and what I should ask, since everything needed is given unasked for; it is made ready and taken care of without being spoken. In the end I made the intention to open up the road of the Haqiqah to Him and to supplicate. He inspired in my secret core, 'You want something from Me after finding Me?'” In wonder the violet keeps on saying, “Strange- if someone has the Friend's tresses, why would he pick me?” Abū Saʿīd stepped back from that and kept on reciting this verse: “Your loyalty clings inside my heart, Your love is my goal, yearning my supplies.”
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
Community resources
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