15. Surah Al Hijr
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
فَإِذَا
سَوَّيْتُهُ
وَنَفَخْتُ
فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِي
فَقَعُواْ لَهُ
سَاجِدِينَ ﴿٢٩﴾
15: 29. "When I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of My spirit, fall ye down in obeisance unto him."
C1968. Among other passages where the creation of Adam is referred to, cf. the following;
Note that here the emphasis is on three points:
1. the breathing from Allah's spirit into man i.e., the faculty of God-like knowledge and will, which, if rightly used, would give man superiority over other creatures:
2. the origin of evil in arrogance and jealousy on the part of Satan, who saw only the lower side of man (his clay) and failed to see the higher side, the faculty brought in from the spirit of Allah;
3. that this evil only touches those who yield to it, and has no power over Allah's sincere servants, purified by His grace (15:40, 42).
Adam is not here mentioned by name, but only Man, whose symbol is Adam.
فَسَجَدَ
الْمَلآئِكَةُ
كُلُّهُمْ
أَجْمَعُونَ ﴿٣٠﴾
15: 30. So the angels prostrated themselves all of them together:
15: 31. Not so
C1969. Cf. n. 49 to 2:34.
... إِبْلِيسَ...
Iblis:
C1970. lblis: the name has in it the root-idea of desperateness or rebellion.
Cf. n. 52 to 2:36.
...أَبَى أَن يَكُونَ مَعَ السَّاجِدِينَ ﴿٣١﴾
he refused to be among those who prostrated themselves.
C1971. Apparently Iblis's arrogance had two grounds:
- that man was made of clay while he was made of fire;
- that he did not wish to do what others did.
Both grounds were false;
- because man had the spirit of Allah breathed into him;
- because contempt of the angels who obeyed Allah's words showed not Iblis's superiority but his inferiority.
The word "bashar" for man (verse 33) suggests a gross physical body.
قَالَ
يَا إِبْلِيسُ
مَا لَكَ أَلاَّ
تَكُونَ مَعَ
السَّاجِدِينَ ﴿٣٢﴾
15: 32. (Allah) said: "O Iblis! what is your reason for not being among those who prostrated themselves?"
قَالَ
لَمْ أَكُن
لِّأَسْجُدَ
لِبَشَرٍ خَلَقْتَهُ
مِن صَلْصَالٍ
مِّنْ حَمَإٍ
مَّسْنُونٍ ﴿٣٣﴾
15: 33. (Iblis) said:
"I am not one to prostrate myself to man, whom thou didst create from sounding clay, from mud molded into shape."
قَالَ
فَاخْرُجْ
مِنْهَا فَإِنَّكَ
رَجِيمٌ ﴿٣٤﴾
15: 34. (Allah) said:
"Then get thee out from here;
for thou art rejected, accursed.
وَإِنَّ
عَلَيْكَ اللَّعْنَةَ
إِلَى يَوْمِ
الدِّينِ ﴿٣٥﴾
15: 35. "And the Curse shall be on thee till the Day of Judgment."
C1972. After the Day of Judgment the whole constitution of the universe will be different. There will be a new world altogether, on a wholly different plane. (Cf. 21:104).
قَالَ
رَبِّ فَأَنظِرْنِي
إِلَى يَوْمِ
يُبْعَثُونَ ﴿٣٦﴾
15: 36. (Iblis) said: "O my Lord! give me then respite till the Day the (dead) are raised."
C1973. What was this respite?
The curse on Iblis remained, i.e. he was deprived of Allah's grace and became in the spiritual world what an outlaw is in a political kingdom. An earthly kingdom may not be able to catch and destroy an outlaw. But Allah is Omnipotent, and such power as Iblis may have can only come through the respite granted by Allah. The respite then is what is expressed in 15:39 below.
In Allah's grant of limited free-will to man is implied the faculty of choosing between good and evil, and the faculty is exercised through the temptations and allurements put forward by Satan, "the open enemy" of man. This is for the period of man's probation on this earth.
Even so, no temptations have power over the sincere worshippers of Allah, who are purified by His grace.
قَالَ
فَإِنَّكَ مِنَ
الْمُنظَرِينَ ﴿٣٧﴾
15: 37. (Allah) said:
"Respite is granted thee --
إِلَى
يَومِ الْوَقْتِ
الْمَعْلُومِ ﴿٣٨﴾
15: 38. "Till the Day of the Time Appointed."
قَالَ
رَبِّ بِمَآ
أَغْوَيْتَنِي
لأُزَيِّنَنَّ
لَهُمْ فِي
الأَرْضِ...
15: 39. (Iblis) said:
"O my Lord! because Thou hast put me in the wrong, I will make (wrong) fair-seeming to them on the earth,
C1974. Agwaitani: 'thrown me out of the way, put me in the wrong': Cf. 7:16.
Satan cannot be straight or truthful even before Allah. By his own arrogance and rebellion he fell; he attributes this to Allah. Between Allah's righteous judgment and Satan's snares and temptations there cannot be the remotest comparison. Yet he presumes to put them on an equal footing. He is taking advantage of the respite.
...وَلأُغْوِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ ﴿٣٩﴾
and I will put them all in the wrong --
C1975. Iblis (the Satan) is powerless against Allah. He turns therefore against man and becomes Satan (the Enemy).
إِلاَّ
عِبَادَكَ
مِنْهُمُ
الْمُخْلَصِينَ ﴿٤٠﴾
15: 40. "Except Thy servants among them, sincere and purified (by Thy grace)."
15: 29
Pickthall So, when I have made him and have breathed into him of My spirit, do ye fall down, prostrating yourselves unto him.
Yuksel "So when I perfect him, and blow of My Spirit in him, you shall fall prostrate to him."*
Transliteration Fa iza-stawaituhu_ wa nafakhtu fihi mir ru_hi fa qa'u_ lahu_ sa_jidin(a).
15: 30
Pickthall So the angels fell prostrate, all of them together
Yuksel Thus, all of the angels fell prostrate to him,
Transliteration Fasajadal mala_'ikatu kulluhum ajma'u_n(a),
15: 31
Pickthall Save Iblis. He refused to be among the prostrate.
Yuksel Except for Satan, he refused to be with the prostrators.
Transliteration Illa_ iblis(a), aba_ ay yaku_na ma'as sa_jidin(a).
15: 32
Pickthall He said: O Iblis! What aileth thee that thou art not among the prostrate?
Yuksel He said, "O Satan, what is the matter that you are not with the prostrators?"
Transliteration Qa_la ya_ iblisu ma_ laka alla_ taku_na ma'as sa_jidin(a).
15: 33
Pickthall He said: Why should I prostrate myself unto a mortal whom Thou hast created out of potter's clay of black mud altered?
Yuksel He said, "I am not to prostrate to a human You have created from a hardened clay of aged mud."
Transliteration Qa_la lam akul li'asjuda li basyarin khalaqtahu_ min salsa_lim min hama'im masnu_n(in).
15: 34
Pickthall He said: Then go thou forth from hence, for verily thou art outcast.
Transliteration Qa_la fa-khruj minha_ fa innaka rajim(uw),
15: 35
Pickthall And lo! the curse shall be upon thee till the Day of Judgment.
Transliteration Wa inna 'alaikal la'nata ila_ yaumid din(i).
15: 36
Pickthall He said: My Lord! Reprieve me till the day when they are raised.
Transliteration Qa_la rabbi fa anzirni ila_ yaumi yub'asu_n(a).
15: 37
Pickthall He said: Then lo! thou art of those reprieved
Transliteration Qa_la fa innaka minal munzarin(a),
15: 38
Pickthall Till an appointed time.
Transliteration Ila_ yaumil waqtil ma'lu_m(i).
15: 39
Pickthall He said: My Lord, Because Thou has sent me astray, I verily shall adorn the path of error for them in the earth, and shall mislead them every one.
Transliteration Qa_la rabbi bima_ agwaitani la uzayyinanna lahum fil ardi wa la'ugwiyannahum ajma'in(a),
15: 40
Pickthall Save such of them as are Thy perfectly devoted slaves.
Transliteration Illa_ 'iba_daka minhumul mukhlasin(a).
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38. Surah Sad [88 verses]
Mecca Period 38
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
38: 74. Not so Iblis:
... اسْتَكْبَرَ وَكَانَ مِنْ الْكَافِرِينَ ﴿٧٤﴾
he was haughty, and became one of those who reject Faith.
C4228. Arrogance (self-love) is thus the root of Evil and of Unfaith.
قَالَ
يَا إِبْلِيسُ
مَا مَنَعَكَ
أَن تَسْجُدَ
لِمَا خَلَقْتُ
بِيَدَيَّ...
38: 75. (Allah) said:
"O Iblis!
what prevents thee from prostrating thyself to one whom I have created with My hands?
C4229. Man, as typified by Adam, is in himself nothing but frail clay. But as fashioned by Allah's creative power into something with Allah's spirit breathed into him, his dignity is raised above that of the highest creatures.
... أَسْتَكْبَرْتَ أَمْ كُنتَ مِنَ الْعَالِينَ ﴿٧٥﴾
Art thou haughty?
Or art thou one of the high (and mighty) ones?"
C4230. If, then, Satan refuses, it is a rebellion against Allah. It arises from arrogance or haughtiness, an exaggerated idea of Self.
Or, it is asked, are you really sufficiently high in rank to dispute with the Almighty?
Of course he was not.
38: 76. (Iblis) said:
"I am better than he:
... خَلَقْتَنِي مِن نَّارٍ وَخَلَقْتَهُ مِن طِينٍ ﴿٧٦﴾
Thou createdst me from fire, and him Thou createdst from clay."
قَالَ
فَاخْرُجْ
مِنْهَا فَإِنَّكَ
رَجِيمٌ ﴿٧٧﴾
38: 77. (Allah) said:
"Then get thee out from here: for thou art rejected, accursed.
Asad’s Version:
(38:74) save Iblis: he gloried in his arrogance, and [thus] became one of those who deny the truth. 57
38:75 Said He: "O Iblis! What has kept thee from prostrating thyself before that [being] which I have created with My hands? 58 Art thou too proud [to bow down before another created being], or art thou of those who think [only] of themselves as high?" 5 '
38:76 Answered [Iblis): "I am better than he: Thou hast created me out of fire,' whereas him Thou hast created out of clay."
38:77 Said He: "Go forth, then, from this [angelic state] - for, behold, thou art henceforth accursed,