Surah As-Saffat 37:1-21 - Quran Translation Commentary

(37:11) So, seek their opinion:¹⁴ Are they the more difficult to create¹⁵ or those (others) We have created?¹⁶ Surely, We created them¹⁷ of sticky clay.¹⁸

(37:12) Lo! You wonder, while they scoff!¹⁹

(37:13) And when they are reminded, they do not remember.²⁰

(37:14) And when they see a sign, they seek to ridicule (it).

(37:15) And they say, ‘This is nothing but clear magic.

(37:16) What! When we die and have become dust and bones, shall we indeed be raised up (again)?

(37:17) What, and our fathers of old (also)?’

(37:18) Say, ‘Yes, and you will be humiliated.’

(37:19) It will merely be a single shout,²¹ and behold, they will begin to see.

(37:20) They will say, ‘Woe unto us, this is the Day of Reckoning.’

(37:21) This is the Day of Decision²² that you were denying.²³

Commentary

2. `Abdullah ibn Mas`ud, Masruq, Suddi and Ibn Zayd said that the allusion is to angels (Ibn Jarir); who stand in rows in their own Prayers in the heavens, or, perhaps, as Zamakhshari, Qurtubi, Razi and Shawkani added, 'hung in the air, (wings outspread), in rows, waiting for orders.'

It is also possible that the allusion is to the angels lining up in rows in accordance with their ranks, (whenever they have to, for whatever purpose) – Razi.

Another ayah of this surah implies that it is angels who line up in rows (37: 165):“Indeed, we do line up” (Thanwi).

In connection with rows, Ibn Kathir reminds us of the following hadith: Hudhayfa reports the Prophet in a narrative preserved by Muslim as having said, “We have been given preference over other people in three things: Our rows have been made similar to the rows of the angels, the whole of the earth has been made a place of worship for us, and, its dust has been made a means of purification if we do not find water.”

Muslim, Abu Da’ud, Nasa’i and Ibn Majah also report on the authority of Jabir b. Samurah that the Prophet said,“Would you not like to line up in rows like the angels do before their Lord?” They asked, “How do the angels row up before their Lord?” He replied, “They fill in the front rows and stand close to each other in them.”

In fact, adds Mufti Shafi`, there are so many ahadith on straightening up the rows and forming them properly that one could write a short book on it. One of the hadith is reported by Abu Mas`ud the Badri,“The Prophet used to pat us on our shoulders before the Prayer and say, ‘Straighten up and do not differ, or your hearts will differ. Let the matured and the discerning of you be nearest to me, then the next and then the next.”

3. Mujahid and Suddi thought that the allusion is, once again, to angels who drive the clouds. But Qatadah believed it was to the verses of the Qur’an that prohibit (which is another connotation of the word zajara). But Mujahid’s opinion sounds more correct (Ibn Jarir). The opinion (of Mujahid and) Suddi was also corroborated by Rabi` b. Anas and Zayd b. Aslam (Ibn Kathir).

4. That is, by those angels who bring revelation – Mujahid (Ibn Jarir).

5. The preceding three oaths in three verses, are not there as evidences of Allah’s Oneness, but rather, have been placed, primarily, to attract attention (Thanwi).

6. The allusion is to the ever changing position of the sun as it rises with reference to the earth. And, Wests has not been mentioned because it is obvious. In fact, Suddi said that there are 360 Easts and 360 Wests: as many days of the year (Ibn Jarir).

Nonetheless, wWe have verses in the Qur’an that mention the West in plural, (70: 40), “Verily, We swear by the Easts and the Wests, that We are Able.”

The allusion could also be, adds Mawdudi, to different points of the sun’s position as it rises, with reference to people in different parts of the globe.

7. That is, the firmament closest to the earth; and all that is visible either to the naked eye, or is detectable with instruments, is part of the first firmament.

8. Lierally, “marada” is for one who is bereft (of something); hence “amrad” for a boy who is bereft of hair on the chins, or, “mareed” who is free (of all goodness). Here, “he who is free of any obedience;” hence, rebellion (Alusi).

9. The unanimous opinion is that the stars, while serving the purpose of adornment for the people of the earth, are also guards against the penetration of Shayatin too far into the first firmament (Ibn Jarir).

If we take the above ayah in the material sense, for which there is room without any fear of contradiction with the more obvious explanation, as adopted by the Salaf, we can add that although we do not have sufficient data on other planets, in fact not even about the moon as to how many meteorites it deflects through its gravitational pull from the earth to absorb into itself, but about Saturn the scientists are quite sure that one of the advantages of its exceptionally large size is that it attracts to itself large meteors, which would otherwise crash on to earth, making life impossible to exist thereon (Au.).

10. This passage has been explained by the Salaf in the same terms as ayah 23 of Surah Saba’. See note 52 there. Some more details might be added, Allah willing, if found necessary, at ayah 9 of Surah al-Jinn (no. 72).

At this point Ibn Jarir quotes the following: Shayatin had their sitting places in the heaven closest to earth from where they could pick up a few fragments of the Revelation. Those days the Shayatin were not struck. When they manage to hear any part of the Revelation, they descended to the earth, added nine of their own words to every word they heard, and published it. But after the Prophet had been commissioned, when a Shaytan tried to take his position, a blazing fire was hurled at him that did not miss him. They complained of this to Iblis – may Allah curse him. He said, “Surely, something must have happened.” He sent his scouts around. They discovered the Prophet offering Prayer between two mountains of Nakhlah. (That is, said the reporter, at the bottom of a valley [between two mountains]). They reported back the matter to him. He said, “This is what has newly happened” (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir).

The pelting of fire at the Shayaatin, however, does not kill them, it only burns and injures them (Shawkani from Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abi al-Mundhir).

11. “From every side” does not imply that they are literally pelted with flaming fire from every side, but rather, they are pelted with fire, at whichever side of the firmament they take position (Thanwi).

12. This is how Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Qatadah, `Ikrimah and Ibn Zayd understood the word (Ibn Jarir).

13. The flaming fire need not be meteorites – or, in common parlance, the falling star that are visible in the night once in a while. The word – shihab – as employed by the Arabs, and as used by the Qur’an, is common, but meanings are different (Au.).

Dahhak was asked, “Do the Shayatin have wings?” He answered, “How else do you think they fly?” (Ibn Jarir).

14. The verbal form chosen (istaftihim) suggests seeking their well-considered opinion (Au.).

15. Another possible rendering is, “Are they harder of constitution?”

16. Who are “those others?” Ibn Jarir, Qurtubi and Ibn Kathir believe the allusion is to the heavens and the earth.

17. “Them”: i.e., the humans.

18. That is, all that was involved, after all, in the creation of human beings was clay, while creation of the universe required energy and various other forces, some known (e.g., gravitational force, electrodynamics force, the weak and the strong nuclear forces), others unknown, (such as, e.g., the predictable anti-gravity, the dark enerty, and few others), yet all so finely balanced that according to scientists, if – for example – gravity, (one of the weakest of the forces involved), had varied by one in 1060, this universe would not have come into being. Yet this is about the part of world that we know. To know it in its entirety is out of human scope since its expansion at almost the speed of light, prohibits that we shall ever know it in full. Matter at the periphery ever gets out of the range of detecting instruments because light emanating from them will never reach us because of the doubling of distance for reasons of expansion, leaving us in dark. In fact, an interesting point is that our progeny will know less of the universe than we know, since, by their time, the enormous expansion will have put much matter beyond the reach of their instruments. Hence the conclusion of many scientists that we will never know how large our universe is.

Another interesting, and, perhaps, ironic factor is that of what we know of the universe, which is but a part, ninety percent is hidden as dark matter: dark because no instrument can detect it, not to mention minor irritations such as “Black Holes” from whose powerful gravitational field, nothing can escape, not even light, for humans to detect it by any means. Their existence is only implicitly evident.

Allah said at another place (Ghafir; 40: 57),“Surely, creation of the heavens and the earth is greater than the creation of mankind, but most people know not.”

Finally, the universe came first, then came the humans. It should be obvious, although the DNA’s complexity creates immense complication, [to human knowledge, it is “the most” amazing thing in the universe], yet .. it should be obvious that what comes later should be easier to create, although all is equally easy for Allah (Au.).

19. Qatadah has said in effect that the text points to the contrast that the Prophet, although the recipient of the Revelation, was filled with wonder by this phenomenon, pagans made it a point of ridicule (Ibn Jarir).

The textual word “yestaskhirun” suggests seeking to ridicule, implying, as Razi and Qurtubi suggest, invoking each other to ridicule the Message.

20. Or, as Asad put it, “they refuse to take it to heart.”

21. The allusion is to the second blast of the Trumpet (Alusi).

22. “Fasl” is for separation. Yusuf Ali comments: “The Day of Judgment is the Day of sorting out.. Good and evil will finally be separated, unlike the apparently inexplicable conditions in the present probationary life, when they seem to be mixed together.”

23. This will be said by angels and believers (Ibn Kathir).