The Quran

114

فَتَعالَى اللَّهُ المَلِكُ الحَقُّ ۗ وَلا تَعجَل بِالقُرآنِ مِن قَبلِ أَن يُقضىٰ إِلَيكَ وَحيُهُ ۖ وَقُل رَبِّ زِدني عِلمًا

Muhammad Asad

[Know,] then, [that] God is sublimely exalted. the Ultimate Sovereign, the Ultimate Truth:¹ and [knowing this,] do not approach the Qur'an in haste,² ere it has been revealed unto thee in full, but [always] say: "O my Sustainer, cause me to grow in knowledge!"³

Whenever the noun al-haqq is used as a designation of God, it signifies "the Truth" in the absolute, intrinsic sense, eternally and immutably existing beyond the ephemeral, changing phenomena of His creation: hence, "the Ultimate Truth". God's attribute of al-malik, on the other hand, denotes His absolute sway over all that exists and can, therefore, be suitably rendered as "the Ultimate Sovereign".
Lit., "be not hasty with the Qur'an" (see next note).
Although it is very probable that - as most of the classical commentators point out - this exhortation was in the first instance addressed to the Prophet Muhammad, there is no doubt that it applies to every person, at all times, who reads the Qur'an. The idea underlying the above verse may be summed up thus: Since the Qur'an is the Word of God, all its component parts - phrases, sentences, verses and surahs - form one integral, coordinated whole (cf. the last sentence of 25:32 and the corresponding note 27). Hence, if one is really intent on understanding the Qur'anic message, one must beware of a "hasty approach" - that is to say, of drawing hasty conclusions from isolated verses or sentences taken out of their context - but should, rather, allow the whole of the Qur'an to be revealed to one's mind before attempting to interpret single aspects of its message. (See also 75:16-19 and the corresponding notes.)