Ayah 53:10
فَأَوْحَىٰ إِلَىٰ عَبْدِهِ مَا أَوْحَىٰ
“Then He revealed to His slave whatever He inspired”.
Themes: revelation, purposeful ambiguity, chain of transmission.
Language insights
“Whatever He inspired or revealed”. It is left general and is not specific. This inspires curiosity to know and discover what it is that He inspired to His ‘Abd ﷺ.
- مَا unlike الَّذِي alludes to إِبْهَام in the case where what it is attached to is not explicitly clear or specified.
- An implication here is that the Qur’an will keep on giving more and more, and that there will never be a time when we have exhausted the Qur’an or gained from it everything that it has to offer.
The language here can leave an element of ambiguity in respect to whom the pronouns are attributed to. Is it directly to Allah or is it to Jibreel (as).
This purposeful openness preserves the reader’s attention on what is being revealed and invites contemplation.
Ambiguity and the chain of revelation
This ambiguity in language captures the continuous chain that is highlighted in this Surah between Allah, Jibreel (as) and His Messenger ﷺ in respect to the revelation.
Key takeaways
The general wording “whatever He inspired” is intentional, inviting the reader to seek, explore, and discover.
The choice of مَا (instead of الَّذِي) embeds إِبْهَام —a purposeful ambiguity.
The Qur’an will keep on giving more and more; it cannot be exhausted of the meanings and benefits it offers.