The Meaning of Revelation in the Verse

Revelation (waḥy) in “I inspired” (awḥaytu) means inspiration (ilhām), not legislative revelation (waḥy tashrīʿī) - just as in the verses “And your Lord inspired the bee”(209) and “We revealed to Moses’ mother, [saying], ‘Nurse him; then, when you fear for him, cast him into the river, and do not fear or grieve, for We will restore him to you”(210) revelation means inspiration - because in the continuation of the verse they were commanded to have faith in God and His messenger: “Have faith in Me and My messenger” (an āminū bī wa-bi-rasūlī). Therefore, they were certainly not prophets for legislative revelation to be sent down upon them.

It should be noted that “I inspired” (awḥaytu) does not mean “I commanded” (amartu), because the word “have faith” (āminū) after it is an imperative verb, just as it would not mean teaching the law (sharīʿa), since legislative revelation is specific to the prophet. Rather, it is of the type of revelation to action that the practical intellect is responsible for, not the theoretical intellect; and what clarifies this is the command to faith: “have faith” (āminū) which the same practical intellect is also committed to: “The intellect… is that by which the Merciful is worshipped and Paradise is gained.”(211) The difference between revelation of knowledge (waḥy ʿilm) and revelation of action (waḥy fiʿl) was explained earlier with the help of verses such as “We revealed to them the performance of good deeds, the maintenance of prayers, and the giving of zakat.”