Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 15 Al-Hijr, Ayat 27-33

وَالۡجَـآنَّ خَلَقۡنٰهُ مِنۡ قَبۡلُ مِنۡ نَّارِ السَّمُوۡمِ‏ ﴿15:27﴾ وَاِذۡ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلۡمَلٰۤـئِكَةِ اِنِّىۡ خَالـِقٌۢ بَشَرًا مِّنۡ صَلۡصَالٍ مِّنۡ حَمَاٍ مَّسۡنُوۡنٍ‏ ﴿15:28﴾ فَاِذَا سَوَّيۡتُهٗ وَنَفَخۡتُ فِيۡهِ مِنۡ رُّوۡحِىۡ فَقَعُوۡا لَهٗ سٰجِدِيۡنَ‏  ﴿15:29﴾ فَسَجَدَ الۡمَلٰۤـئِكَةُ كُلُّهُمۡ اَجۡمَعُوۡنَۙ‏ ﴿15:30﴾ اِلَّاۤ اِبۡلِيۡسَؕ اَبٰٓى اَنۡ يَّكُوۡنَ مَعَ السّٰجِدِيۡنَ‏ ﴿15:31﴾ قَالَ يٰۤاِبۡلِيۡسُ مَا لَـكَ اَلَّا تَكُوۡنَ مَعَ السّٰجِدِيۡنَ‏ ﴿15:32﴾ قَالَ لَمۡ اَكُنۡ لِّاَسۡجُدَ لِبَشَرٍ خَلَقۡتَهٗ مِنۡ صَلۡصَالٍ مِّنۡ حَمَاٍ مَّسۡنُوۡنٍ‏ ﴿15:33﴾

(15:27) while We had brought the jinn into being before out of blazing fire.18 (15:28) Recall when your Lord said to the angels: "I will indeed bring into being a human being out of dry ringing clay wrought from black mud. (15:29) When I have completed shaping him and have breathed into him of My Spirit,19 then fall you down before him in prostration." (15:30) So, the angels - all of them - fell down in prostration,20 (15:31) except Iblis; he refused to join those who prostrated. (15:32) The Lord inquired: "Iblis! What is the matter with you that you did not join those who prostrated?" (15:33) He said: "It does not behove of me to prostrate myself before a human being whom You have created out of dry ringing clay wrought from black mud."


Notes

18. As samum is not wind, nar-i-samum will mean flame of intense heat and not of fire. This is the explanation of those passages in which it has been stated that jinns have been created from fire.

19. “And have breathed into him of My Spirit” means when I have cast a reflection of My divine characteristics on him. This shows that the soul of man implies life, knowledge, power, will, discretion and other human characteristics in the aggregate. These are in reality a slight reflection of divine characteristics that has been cast on the human body, which was originally created from dried clay. And it is this divine reflection on the human body which has raised him to the position of the vicegerent of Allah and made him that worthy being before whom angels and every earthly thing should bow down.

As a matter of fact, the source of each characteristic of everything is one divine characteristic or the other, as is borne by a tradition: Allah divided mercy into one hundred parts: then He reserved ninety-nine parts for Himself and sent down the remaining one part to the earth. It is because of that one part that the creatures show mercy to one another. So much so that it is due to this that an animal refrains from placing the hoof on its young ones.

In this connection one has to be on strict guard against the notion that the possession of a part of any divine characteristic amounts to the possession of a part of Godhead. This is because Godhead is absolutely beyond the reach of each and every creation.

20. Please compare this passage (Ayats 30-43) with (Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayats 30-39); (Surah An-Nisa, Ayats 117-120); and (Surah Al-Aaraf, Ayats 11-25) and also refer to E.Ns appended to these Ayats.