booke

160chapter threeannulled once this period was over. So, for example, a very strictlegal code was prescribed for the Jews ‘in recompense for their wilfuldisobedience: for We are true (in our ordinances)’ ( Al-An#§m 6:146),but once things had improved, Jesus was sent ‘to make lawful to youpart of what was (before) forbidden…’ ($l #Imr§n 3:50). Later legislationabrogated earlier ones, and through MuÈammad’s (ß) messengerhoodwe hear about instructions (ta#lÊm§t) that abrogated earliermessengerhoods. This was possible because revelations of the ummal-kit§b were not taken from the ‘tablet preserved’ but given directlyby Allah, transmitted by JibrÊl, and stored in Muhammad’s brain. Itimplies that al-inz§l and al-tanzÊl occurred simultaneously, that is, notseparately one after the other like in the qur"§n, and no prerevelationtook place, since the revealed messages were immediately availableto MuÈammad (ß) in their perceivable (Arabic) version.As previously pointed out, the umm al-kit§b is ‘with Him’: it comesdirectly from Allah. It would be more precise to say that the concretelocation of the umm al-kit§b is Allah’s throne. What and where exactlyis Allah’s throne? The word ‘throne’ in Arabic ( al-#arsh) can eithermean literally the ‘chair of a ruler’ or metaphorically the ‘seat ofpower’. The Book uses the term al-#arsh in both meanings.a)b)Throne in the sense of ‘chair’:And he raised his parents high on the throne (of dignity) 45 [ al-#arsh],and they fell down in prostration, (all) before him… (Yåsuf12:100)Throne in the sense of ‘authority’ or ‘seat of power’:He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in six days—andHis throne was over the waters… (Håd 11:7)Your guardian-lord is God, who created the heavens and the earthin six days, and is firmly established on the throne (of authority)[ al-#arsh]… ( Al-A#r§f 7:54)And the angels will be on its sides, and eight will, that day, bearthe throne [#arsh] of your Lord above them. ( Al-\§qqa 69:17)45YA does not allow a literal reading of throne here, therefore he puts in parenthesis:(of dignity), implying that Joseph did not really raise his parents on the throne(of Egypt). AH, however, allows this possibility by translating: ‘and took them up to[his] throne’, the insertion excludes the figurative understanding that the parentswere made the rulers of Egypt.