Comparative Approach to Instant Descent of the Qur'an according to Allamah Tabatabai and Ayatollah Ma'refat

The instant descent or revelation of the Quran is one of the contentious and important issues among Muslim exegetes of the Quran. Allamah Tabatabai and Ayatollah Ma'refat are among the Qur'an researchers who have argued differently and drawn out different conclusions. Ayatollah Ma'refat considers the beginning of the prophetic mission and the beginning of the revelation as two different times and that, in his view, the first verse was revealed three years after the prophetic mission in the month of Ramadan. He, therefore, concludes that the verse 185 of Chapter al-Baqarah and verse 1 of Chapter al-Qadr make reference, somehow, to the start of the revelation of the Quran. However, Allamah Tabatabai referring to these two verses of the Quran as well as stressing on two kinds of existence (exoteric existence which is available to the audience and esoteric existence which was revealed to the Prophet (S)) concludes that the verse 185 of Chapter al-Baqarah and the verse 1 of Chapter al- Qadr signify instant descent of the Qur'an on the hearts of the Prophet (S) in the Grand Night (Laylat al-Qadr). Given the fact that both of the opinions refer to the apparent meanings of the verses and in view of the criticisms directed towards these two views, they can neither be rejected decisively nor can they be substantiated.