Kalimat

A Word — كَلِمَة

فَنَادَتْهُ ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةُ وَهُوَ قَآئِمٌ يُصَلِّى فِى ٱلْمِحْرَابِ أَنَّ ٱللَّـهَ يُبَشِّرُكَ بِيَحْيَىٰ مُصَدِّقًۢا بِكَلِمَةٍ مِّنَ ٱللَّـهِ وَسَيِّدًا وَحَصُورًا وَنَبِيًّا مِّنَ ٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ

And the angels called to him as he stood performing the duty in the chamber: “God gives thee glad tidings of John, confirming a word from God, both honourable and chaste, and a prophet among the righteous.”

(3:39)

Muhammad Assad: In view of the fact that the expression kalimah is often used in the Qur'an to denote an announcement from God, or a statement of His will, or His promise (e.g., 4:171, 6:34 and 115, 10:64, 18:27, and so forth), we must conclude that in the above passage, too, the "word from God" which would be confirmed by the birth of John (described in the Gospels as "John the Baptist") refers to a divine promise given through revelation: and this, indeed, is the interpretation adopted by the famous philologist Abu Ubaydah Mamar ibn al-Muthanna, who lived in the second century after Hijrah. and devoted most of his labours to the study of rare expressions in the Arabic language; his identification, in the context under discussion, of kalimah with kitab ("revelation" or "divine writ") has been quoted by Razi in his commentary on this verse and is, moreover, agreeable with a similar announcement conveyed to Mary regarding the birth of Jesus (see verse 45 of this surah).

إِذْ قَالَتِ ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةُ يَـٰمَرْيَمُ إِنَّ ٱللَّـهَ يُبَشِّرُكِ بِكَلِمَةٍ مِّنْهُ ٱسْمُهُ ٱلْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ٱبْنُ مَرْيَمَ وَجِيهًا فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا وَٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ وَمِنَ ٱلْمُقَرَّبِينَ

When the angels said: “O Mary: God gives thee glad tidings of a word from Him. His name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary; esteemed in the World and the Hereafter, and among those brought near.

(3:45)

قَالَتْ رَبِّ أَنَّىٰ يَكُونُ لِى وَلَدٌ وَلَمْ يَمْسَسْنِى بَشَرٌ قَالَ كَذَٰلِكِ ٱللَّـهُ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَآءُ إِذَا قَضَىٰٓ أَمْرًا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُۥ كُن فَيَكُونُ

She said: “My Lord: how will I have a son when no mortal has touched me?” He said: “Thus is God; he creates what He wills; when He decrees a matter, He but says to it: ‘Be thou,’ and it is.

(3:47)

Kun Fa-yakun - Be thou — كُن فَيَكُونُ

إِنَّ مَثَلَ عِيسَىٰ عِندَ ٱللَّـهِ كَمَثَلِ ءَادَمَ خَلَقَهُۥ مِن تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ قَالَ لَهُۥ كُن فَيَكُونُ

The likeness of Jesus in the sight of God is as the likeness of Adam; He created him from dust; then He said to him: “Be thou,” and he was. 

(Quran 3:59) 

 

"The Word" is literally God's utterance "Be thou". This is held out by the Bible where thirteen verses later in John 1:14 we read: 

"And the Word was made flesh". 

 

In the Qur'an, we read: 

"The likeness of Jesus in the sight of God is as the likeness of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: 'Be thou', and he was."

وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِنۢ بَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ قَالُوا۟ بَلَىٰ شَهِدْنَآ أَن تَقُولُوا۟ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَـٰذَا غَـٰفِلِينَ

And when thy Lord brought forth from the children of Adam, from their backs, their progeny, and made them bear witness as to themselves: “Am I not your Lord?” — they said: “Verily, we bear witness.” — “Lest you say on the Day of Resurrection: ‘Of this were we unaware,’ 

(7:172) 

يَـٰٓأَهْلَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ لَا تَغْلُوا۟ فِى دِينِكُمْ وَلَا تَقُولُوا۟ عَلَى ٱللَّـهِ إِلَّا ٱلْحَقَّ إِنَّمَا ٱلْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ٱبْنُ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولُ ٱللَّـهِ وَكَلِمَتُهُۥٓ أَلْقَىٰهَآ إِلَىٰ مَرْيَمَ وَرُوحٌ مِّنْهُ فَـَٔامِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّـهِ وَرُسُلِهِۦ وَلَا تَقُولُوا۟ ثَلَـٰثَةٌ ٱنتَهُوا۟ خَيْرًا لَّكُمْ إِنَّمَا ٱللَّـهُ إِلَـٰهٌ وَٰحِدٌ سُبْحَـٰنَهُۥٓ أَن يَكُونَ لَهُۥ وَلَدٌ لَّهُۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَكَفَىٰ بِٱللَّـهِ وَكِيلًا

O FOLLOWERS of the Gospel! Do not overstep the bounds [of truth] in your religious beliefs,¹⁸⁰ and do not say of God anything but the truth. The Christ Jesus, son of Mary, was but God's Apostle - [the fulfilment of] His promise which He had conveyed unto Mary - and a soul created by Him.¹⁸¹ Believe, then, in God and His apostles, and do not say, "[God is] a trinity". Desist [from this assertion] for your own good. God is but One God; utterly remote is He, in His glory, from having a son: unto Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth; and none is as worthy of trust as God.

(4:171 - Muhammad Asad (The Message Of Quran))

Note 180

I.e., by raising Jesus to the rank of divinity. Since here the Christians are addressed specifically, I render the term kitab as "Gospel".

Note 181

Lit., "His word which He conveyed unto Mary and a soul from Him". According to Tabari, the "word" (kalimah) was "the announcement (risalah) which God bade the angels to convey to Mary, and God's glad tiding to her" (a reference to 3:45) - which justifies the rendering of kalimatuhu as "[the fulfilment of] His promise". (See also surah 3 note 28.) As regards the expression, "a soul from Him" or "created by Him", it is to be noted that among the various meanings which the word ruh bears in the Qur'an (e.g., "inspiration" in 2:87 and 253), it is also used in its primary significance of "breath of life", "soul", or "spirit": thus, for instance, in 32:9, where the ever-recurring evolution of the human embryo is spoken of: "and then He forms him [i.e., man] and breathes into him of His spirit" - that is, endows him with a conscious soul which represents God's supreme gift to man and is, therefore, described as "a breath of His spirit". In the verse under discussion, which stresses the purely human nature of Jesus and refutes the belief in his divinity, the Qur'an points out that Jesus, like all other human beings, was "a soul created by Him".

"Be thou" is the intentional factor that existed before the creation, hence existed before the creation of time, hence pre-existent because it's the speech of God which doesn't change, Allah's words cannot be changed, they're already pre-determined. Speech of Allah is an attribute of Allah's ability to convey knowledge to us, and all attributes of Allah are eternal, since Allah is eternal.

وَتَمَّتْ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّكَ صِدْقًا وَعَدْلًا لَّا مُبَدِّلَ لِكَلِمَـٰتِهِۦ وَهُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْعَلِيمُ

for, truly and justly has thy Sustainer's promise been fulfilled.¹⁰² There is no power that could alter [the fulfilment of] His promises: and He alone is all-hearing, all-knowing. 

(6:115 - Muhammad Asad (The Message Of Quran))

Note 102 

When related to God, the term kalimah (lit., "word") is often used in the Qur'an in the sense of "promise". In this instance it obviously refers to the Biblical promise (Deuteronomy xviii, 15 and 18) that God would raise up a prophet "like unto Moses" among the Arabs (see surah 2, note 33).

Perfected is the Word of your Lord in truth and justice. None can change His Words. He is the Profound Hearer, the Knower. [6:34, 6:115, 10:64, 17:77, 18:27, 33:38, 33:62, 40:85, 48:23]

(6:115 - Shabbir Ahmed (Quran As It Explains Itself))

 

وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةِ إِنِّى خَـٰلِقٌۢ بَشَرًا مِّن صَلْصَـٰلٍ مِّنْ حَمَإٍ مَّسْنُونٍ 

And when thy Lord said to the angels: “I am creating a mortal from sounding clay, from dark slime transmuted, 

(15:28) 

 

فَإِذَا سَوَّيْتُهُۥ وَنَفَخْتُ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِى فَقَعُوا۟ لَهُۥ سَـٰجِدِينَ 

“And when I have formed him and breathed into him of My Spirit, then fall down, to him in submission,” 

(15:29)