Surah Al-Kahf 18:50-53 - Quran Translation Commentary

(18:50) Behold, when We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate yourselves to Adam.’ They prostrated themselves save Iblis. He was of the Jinn⁷⁵ and transgressed his Lord’s command. Do you then take him and his progeny as allies other than Me, while they are enemy to you?⁷⁶ Evil is the exchange for the wrongdoers.

(18:51) I did not call them to witness the creation of the heavens and the earth nor their own creation. It was not for Me to take the misguiding ones as assistants.

(18:52) The day He will say, ‘Call on those you alleged as My partners.’ They will call on them, but they will not respond to them, for We would have placed a (valley of) destruction between them.⁷⁷

(18:53) The criminals will see the Fire and will be fearful that they are about to fall into it.⁷⁸ They will find no escape from it.

Commentary

75. There have been many theories about Iblis, his nature and origin, and they are at variance with each other since none of them is supported by a hadith (Au.). The most we have is a hadith of Muslim which puts it most clearly. ‘A’isha reports that the Prophet (saws) said, “Angels were created from Nur, Iblis from smokeless fire, and Adam from that which has been described to you (i.e., dust).” Iblis used to live with the angels, resembling them greatly in devotion, until he began to be counted as one of them and hence included in the command addressed to them to prostrate themselves to Adam. A few of the scholars have thought that actually he belonged to one of the families of the angels known as the Jinn. Yet others have thought he was of the angels and a treasurer for the Jinn and so came to be known as one of them. Hasan al-Busri on the other hand vehemently maintained that Iblis was never an angel, not even for a moment. According to him he was the originator of the Jinn as Adam was of mankind (Ibn Jarir, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir and others).

There is also a difference in opinion over the question whether Satan’s offspring have been sired by him. Sha`bi said, “A man asked me if Iblis has a wife? I replied, ‘That is a marriage that I did not attend.’ But then I remembered this verse, ‘Do you take him and his offspring ..?’ and realized that without a wife he couldn’t have had offspring, and so I said, ‘Yes, he does have a wife.” Some others have said that Satans are his offspring and assistants. And a third opinion is that he is self-reproducing (i.e., without a spouse), and lays eggs. This last opinion draws its strength from a hadith in the Musnad of Al-Barqani, which recorded the Prophet as having said,

عَنْ سَلْمَانَ، قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: "لا تَكُنْ أَوَّلَ مَنْ يَدْخُلُ السُّوقَ، وَلا آخِرَ مَنْ يَخْرُجُ مِنْهَا، فَفِيهَا بَاضَ الشَّيْطَانُ وفَرَّخَ"

Salman reported the Prophet: “Do not be the first to enter into the market, nor be the last to leave it, for, Satan laid his eggs there, and it is there that the eggs were hatched” (Qurtubi).

The above hadith could better be translated perhaps as: “..For, Satan lays his eggs there, and it is there that his eggs are hatched” (Au.).

The strength of the above hadith could not be established (Au.).

However, there is a hadith in Muslim and others close to the above:

عَنْ سَلْمَانَ قَالَ لاَ تَكُونَنَّ إِنِ اسْتَطَعْتَ أَوَّلَ مَنْ يَدْخُلُ السُّوقَ وَلاَ آخِرَ مَنْ يَخْرُجُ مِنْهَا فَإِنَّهَا مَعْرَكَةُ الشَّيْطَانِ وَبِهَا يَنْصِبُ رَايَتَهُ

“Do not be, if you can do it, the first to enter the market nor the last to leave it, for it is Satan’s battle and it is there that he pitches his flag.”

See also Al-Baqarah, note 5 of this work for further details.

76. If it is asked, why have Satans remained enemies to mankind after that original incident that took place so long back in time? One answer would be: take the example of Jews whose hatred of Muslims is proverbial. They may point out the defeats they suffered at Muslim hands early in the history of Islam as the cause. But, why has the enmity lasted so long? Further, for centuries when the Christian world persecuted them, they found good hosts in Muslims in Syria, Spain, Turkey, Yemen, Iraq, and North Africa. In fact, the golden period of their entire history, since the time of Moses is counted as those under Muslim rule in Spain and then later in Turkey. Thus if we can account for their unremitting one thousand five hundred year old hatred, we can account for Satan’s hatred of mankind (Au.).

77. “Mawbiqa” has been variously interpreted as gulf, perdition, a valley, etc., but of course pointing to the same reality. Asad adds: “.. an allusion to the wide gulf of unreality that separates those sinners from the blasphemous figments of their imagination or, more probably, the gulf that separates them from the saintly persons whom they were wont to worship despite the fact that the latter had never made any claim to divine status.”

78. A hadith in Ahmed says the unbelievers will see Hell-fire on the Day of Judgment from a distance of forty years (Ibn Kathir and others). Hakim has declared the report Sahih (Alusi).