72. Sura Al-Jinn (The Unseen Beings)

Mecca Period

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:



قُلْ أُوحِيَ إِلَيَّ أَنَّهُ اسْتَمَعَ نَفَرٌ مِّنَ الْجِنِّ ...

72: 1.     Say:

It has been revealed to me that a company of Jinns listened (to the Quran).

C5727. Cf. 46:29-32, n. 4809.

The Jinns had evidently heard of previous revelations, that of Moses (46:30), and the error of Trinitarian Christianity (72:3). The community from which they come have all sorts of good and bad persons, but they are determined to preach the good Message of Unity which they have heard and believed in.

C5728. For Jinns, see to 6:100.

... فَقَالُوا إِنَّا سَمِعْنَا قُرْآنًا عَجَبًا ﴿١﴾

They say,

'We have really heard a wonderful Recital!

C5729. The Holy Quran would be to them a wonderful Recital-both in subject-matter and in the circumstance that it had come in Arabia among a pagan and ignorant nation.

يَهْدِي إِلَى الرُّشْدِ فَآمَنَّا بِهِ وَلَن نُّشْرِكَ بِرَبِّنَا أَحَدًا ﴿٢﴾

72: 2.    It gives guidance to the Right, and we have believed therein:

We shall not join (in worship) any (gods) with our Lord.

وَأَنَّهُ تَعَالَى جَدُّ رَبِّنَا مَا اتَّخَذَ صَاحِبَةً وَلَا وَلَدًا ﴿٣﴾

72: 3.     'And exalted is the Majesty of our Lord: He has taken neither a wife nor a son.

C5730. They abjure paganism and also the doctrine of a son begotten by Allah, which would also imply a wife of whom he was begotten.

Cf. 6:101.

وَأَنَّهُ كَانَ يَقُولُ سَفِيهُنَا عَلَى اللَّهِ شَطَطًا ﴿٤﴾

72: 4.     'There were some foolish ones among us, who used to utter extravagant lies against Allah;

وَأَنَّا ظَنَنَّا أَن لَّن تَقُولَ الْإِنسُ وَالْجِنُّ عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا ﴿٥﴾

72: 5.     'But we do think that no man or spirit should say aught that is untrue against Allah.

C5731. No one ought to entertain false notions about Allah. For by joining false gods in our ideas of worship, we degrade our conception of ourselves and the duty we owe to our Creator and Cherisher, to Whom we have to give a final account of life and conduct.

If we worship idols or heavenly bodies, or human beings, or any creatures, or false fancies born of self or foolish abstractions, or the lusts and desires of our own hearts, we are not only doing violence to Truth, but we are causing discord in the harmony of the world.

 

وَأَنَّهُ كَانَ رِجَالٌ مِّنَ الْإِنسِ يَعُوذُونَ بِرِجَالٍ مِّنَ الْجِنِّ فَزَادُوهُمْ رَهَقًا ﴿٦﴾

72: 6.     'True, there were persons among mankind who took shelter with persons among the Jinns, but they increased them in folly.

C5732. If human beings think that by a resort to some spirits they can shelter themselves from the struggles and actualities of their own lives, they are sadly mistaken. They must "dree their own weird", as the Scots would say.

It is folly to try to escape from the duties which they can understand in their own natural surroundings, or to try to avoid the consequences of their own acts. Only such persons do so as do not realise that they will ultimately have to answer at the Judgment-Seat of Allah, whose first outpost is in their own conscience.

وَأَنَّهُمْ ظَنُّوا كَمَا ظَنَنتُمْ أَن لَّن يَبْعَثَ اللَّهُ أَحَدًا ﴿٧﴾

72: 7.     'And they (came to) think as ye thought, that Allah would not raise up anyone (to Judgment).

وَأَنَّا لَمَسْنَا السَّمَاء فَوَجَدْنَاهَا مُلِئَتْ حَرَسًا شَدِيدًا وَشُهُبًا ﴿٨﴾

72: 8.     'And we pried into the secrets of heaven;

but we found it filled with stern guards and flaming fires.

C5733. See notes 1951, 1953, and 1954 to 15:17-18.

See also n. 5562 to 67:5.

The speakers here have repented of sin and evil; but they recognize that there are evil ones among them, who have stealth and prying, but their dark plots will be defeated by vigilant guardians of the Right, whose repulse of the attacks of evil is figured by the shafts of meteoric light in the heavens.

وَأَنَّا كُنَّا نَقْعُدُ مِنْهَا مَقَاعِدَ لِلسَّمْعِ ...   

72: 9.     'We used, indeed, to sit there in (hidden) stations, to (steal) a hearing;

... فَمَن يَسْتَمِعِ الْآنَ يَجِدْ لَهُ شِهَابًا رَّصَدًا ﴿٩﴾

but any who listens now will find a flaming fire watching him in ambush.

C5734. What is the force of "now"?

It refers to the early Makkan period of Revelation. It means that whatever excuse there may have been before, for people to try to seek out the hidden truths of the Unseen World through Jinns, there was none now, as the perspicuous Quran had restored the Message of Unity and cleared religion of all the cobwebs, mysteries, and falsehoods with which priestcraft and pious fraud had overlaid it.

The result is that such seekers after false hidden knowledge will find themselves confronted now by the flaming fire, which, like the shafts of meteoric light (see last note), will lie in wait for and nip such priestcraft and black magic in the bud.

وَأَنَّا لَا نَدْرِي أَشَرٌّ أُرِيدَ بِمَن فِي الْأَرْضِ ...

72: 10.  'And we understand not whether ill is intended to those on earth,

C5735. To these Jinns this gospel is yet new, and appears like a flaming sword which destroys falsehood while it protects Truth. They frankly confess that they do not clearly understand whether on the whole it will be a mercy to mankind or a punishment for mankind forsaking the paths of Allah. But they rightly feel that it must be a blessing if all seek right Guidance.

... أَمْ أَرَادَ بِهِمْ رَبُّهُمْ رَشَدًا ﴿١٠﴾

or whether their Lord (really) intends to guide them to right conduct.

وَأَنَّا مِنَّا الصَّالِحُونَ وَمِنَّا دُونَ ذَلِكَ كُنَّا طَرَائِقَ قِدَدًا ﴿١١﴾

72: 11.  'There are among us some that are righteous, and some the contrary:

we follow divergent paths.

وَأَنَّا ظَنَنَّا أَن لَّن نُّعجِزَ اللَّهَ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَن نُّعْجِزَهُ هَرَبًا ﴿١٢﴾

72: 12.  'But we think that we can by no means frustrate Allah throughout the earth, nor can we frustrate Him by flight.

C5736. See last note.

In any case, they know that Allah's Truth and Allah's Plan must prevail, and no one can frustrate Allah's purpose; or escape from it. Why not then bring their will into conformity with it, and find Peace, as they have found, by the acceptance of Faith?

وَأَنَّا لَمَّا سَمِعْنَا الْهُدَى آمَنَّا بِهِ ...   

72: 13.  'And as for us, since we have listened to the Guidance, we have accepted it:

... فَمَن يُؤْمِن بِرَبِّهِ فَلَا يَخَافُ بَخْسًا وَلَا رَهَقًا ﴿١٣﴾

and any who believes in his Lord has no fear, either of a short (account) or of any injustice.

C5737. Possibly, from this world's standards, it may be that a believer suffers for his Faith. He may be laughed at, persecuted, and actually hurt, "in mind, body, or estate". But he is not perturbed. He takes it all cheerfully, because he knows that when his full account is made up-real gain against apparent loss,-he is a gainer rather than a loser. And his Faith tells him that Allah is a just God, and will never allow him to suffer any injustice, or permit the account of his merit to appear one whit shorter than it is,

وَأَنَّا مِنَّا الْمُسْلِمُونَ وَمِنَّا الْقَاسِطُونَ ...   

72: 14.  'Amongst us are some that submit their wills (to Allah), and some that swerve from justice.

... فَمَنْ أَسْلَمَ فَأُوْلَئِكَ تَحَرَّوْا رَشَدًا ﴿١٤﴾

Now those who submit their wills -- they have sought out (the path) of right conduct:

C5738. Any one who responds to true Guidance, and submits his will to Allah, finds that he makes rapid progress in the path of right conduct and right life. He gets more and more assurance that his destination is the Garden of Bliss.

وَأَمَّا الْقَاسِطُونَ فَكَانُوا لِجَهَنَّمَ حَطَبًا ﴿١٥﴾

72: 15.  'But those who swerve, they are (but) fuel for Hell Fire -- '

C5739. An unjust life carries its own condemnation. It does no good to itself or to any one else. It bears no fruit. It becomes merely fuel for the Fire of Punishment.

 

وَأَلَّوِ اسْتَقَامُوا عَلَى الطَّرِيقَةِ لَأَسْقَيْنَاهُم مَّاء غَدَقًا ﴿١٦﴾

72: 16.  (And Allah's Message is):

"If they (the pagans) had (only) remained on the (right) Way, We should certainly have bestowed on them Rain in abundance.

C5740. Rain: literally, water: stands for all kinds of blessings, material, moral, and spiritual. All blessings come by way of trial: the more we have, the more is expected of us. A man of gifts, talents, or insight is expected to show a higher standard of love and unselfishness than one less gifted, just as a rich man is expected to give more in charity than a poor man.

لِنَفْتِنَهُمْ فِيهِ ...

17.  "That We might try them by that (means),

... وَمَن يُعْرِضْ عَن ذِكْرِ رَبِّهِ يَسْلُكْهُ عَذَابًا صَعَدًا ﴿١٧﴾

but if any turns away from the remembrance of his Lord, He will cause him to undergo a severe Penalty.

C5741. To remember Allah is to realise His presence, acknowledge His Goodness, and accept His guidance. If we fail to do so, by deliberately turning away, He will withdraw His Grace, and that will be a severe Penalty indeed.

وَأَنَّ الْمَسَاجِدَ لِلَّهِ ...   

72: 18.  "And the places of worship are for Allah (alone):

C5742. This is a Makkan Surah, and Masjid must be understood, not in the later technical sense of a Mosque, but in the root meaning, of any place, or occasion of worship or humble prostration in the service of Allah, or any limbs or faculties or accessories used in such worship, e.g., hands and feet, lips and voice, understanding or organisation.

A number of meanings therefore follow.

... فَلَا تَدْعُوا مَعَ اللَّهِ أَحَدًا ﴿١٨﴾

so invoke not anyone along with Allah;

وَأَنَّهُ لَمَّا قَامَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ يَدْعُوهُ كَادُوا يَكُونُونَ عَلَيْهِ لِبَدًا ﴿١٩﴾

72: 19.  "Yet when the Devotee of Allah stands forth to invoke Him, they just make round him a dense crowd."

C5743. The Devotee of Allah: the holy Prophet Muhammad.

C5744. They. The immediate reference was to the Pagan Quraish who were then in possession of the Ka'bah and who put all sorts of obstacles and indignities in the way of the holy Prophet for preaching the One True God and denouncing idol-worship. They used to surround him and mob him and to treat him as if he was guilty of some dreadful crime. But the wider application refers to the habit of the world to make a marked man of any who diverges from the beaten paths of their favourite sins and who pleads earnestly for the cause of Truth and righteousness. They ridicule him; they surround him with jeers and obloquy; and they try to make the physical condition of his life as difficult for him as possible.

قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَدْعُو رَبِّي وَلَا أُشْرِكُ بِهِ أَحَدًا ﴿٢٠﴾

72: 20.  Say:

"I do no more than invoke my Lord, and I join not with Him any (false god)."

قُلْ إِنِّي لَا أَمْلِكُ لَكُمْ ضَرًّا ...

72: 21.  Say:

"It is not in my power to cause you harm,

C5745. 'Do not suppose that I am going to harm you individually or socially; the very opposite is my wish; but I cannot force you to right conduct; that must depend upon the purification of your own faith and will'.

... وَلَا رَشَدًا ﴿٢١﴾

or to bring you to right conduct."

قُلْ إِنِّي لَن يُجِيرَنِي مِنَ اللَّهِ أَحَدٌ ...

72: 22.  Say:

"No one can deliver me from Allah (if I were to disobey Him),

C5746. 'My mission is from Allah. I cannot choose but obey. He has charged me to deliver the Message, and if I were to disobey him, I would myself be worthy of His punishment, and no one can save me. From every kind of trouble and difficulty my only refuge is in Him. I must proclaim His Message: otherwise I am false to the mission He has entrusted to me.'

... وَلَنْ أَجِدَ مِن دُونِهِ مُلْتَحَدًا ﴿٢٢﴾

nor should I find refuge except in Him.

إِلَّا بَلَاغًا مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرِسَالَاتِهِ ...   

72: 23.  "Unless I proclaim what I receive from Allah and His Messages:

... وَمَن يَعْصِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَإِنَّ لَهُ نَارَ جَهَنَّمَ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَدًا ﴿٢٣﴾

for any that disobey Allah and His Messenger -- for them is Hell:

they shall dwell therein forever."

حَتَّى إِذَا رَأَوْا مَا يُوعَدُونَ ...

72: 24.  At length, when they see (with their own eyes) that which they are promised --

C5747. When the Hereafter arrives, and true values are restored, they will see clearly that the Promise of Allah was true, and that death on this earth was not the end of all things. Then they will see that those who were accounted weak on this earth will, in the realm of Reality, be the strong ones; those who seemed to have no following here will have, there, all the great and true ones with them, to help them and welcome them to their own ranks.

... فَسَيَعْلَمُونَ مَنْ أَضْعَفُ نَاصِرًا وَأَقَلُّ عَدَدًا ﴿٢٤﴾

then will they know who it is that is weakest in (his) helper and least important in point of numbers.

 

قُلْ إِنْ أَدْرِي أَقَرِيبٌ مَّا تُوعَدُونَ ...

72: 25.  Say:

"I know not whether the (punishment) which ye are promised is near,

C5748. The coming of Judgment is certain. But the exact time, relatively to our standards on this earth, no one can tell. Allah alone knows it. Even a Prophet of Allah, as such, does not know the Mysteries of the Unseen World, except in so far as they have been revealed to him by Allah's Revelation.

Cf. 6:50, and notes 867-68.

... أَمْ يَجْعَلُ لَهُ رَبِّي أَمَدًا ﴿٢٥﴾

or whether my Lord will appoint for it a distant term.

عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ فَلَا يُظْهِرُ عَلَى غَيْبِهِ أَحَدًا ﴿٢٦﴾

72: 26.  "He (alone) knows the Unseen,

nor does He make any one acquainted with His Mysteries --

C5749. The Unseen has two aspects. The relative Unseen is so with reference to a particular person, because of the intervention of Time, Space, or particular circumstances. For example, I cannot see to-day a house which I saw last year, because it has since been pulled down. Or I cannot in Lahore see the "Gateway of India" in Bombay, although any one in Bombay can see it. Or I cannot see the satellites of Jupiter with the naked eye, though I can through a telescope. But the Absolute Unseen, the Absolute Mystery, is something which no creature can know or see, except in so far as Allah reveals it to him. And Allah reveals such things to the extent that is good for men, through His chosen messengers, among whom the greatest is Muhammad. The exact time of the Hour of Judgment has not been so shown, because we must not wait for it, but five as if it is to be at this minute.

See last note and next note, and the references there.

إِلَّا مَنِ ارْتَضَى مِن رَّسُولٍ ...

72: 27.  "Except a messenger whom He has chosen:

C5750. Cf. 3:179, and n. 482.

See also last note.

... فَإِنَّهُ يَسْلُكُ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ رَصَدًا ﴿٢٧﴾

and then He makes a band of watchers march before him and behind him,

C5751. Revelation is not a mechanical or material thing. It has to be safeguarded from being distorted or corrupted by ignorance, selfishness, or the powers of evil. How can its precious and subtle worth and the spiritual safeguards against its misuse by human folly or the perversity of evil be expressed in plain human words?

We can imagine a very great treasure, which has to be transmitted. To guard it against evilly-disposed persons, a strong escort is required, to march in front and behind, so as to protect it from all sides. When it reaches its destination, the escort presents its credentials and an Invoice showing the Treasure being transmitted. Then the destined receiver knows that it has come intact and feels satisfied. So about spiritual Revelation. The Prophet recognises the credentials and checks the contents on the tablets of his own heart and insight. He has then no doubt that it is a true Message from Allah, and that those who bring it are the true messengers "of their Lord". (R).

لِيَعْلَمَ أَن قَدْ أَبْلَغُوا رِسَالَاتِ رَبِّهِمْ ...

72: 28.  "That he may know that they have (truly) brought and delivered the Messages of their Lord:

C5751 a. They: the band of watchers.

In "he may know" it is better to construe "he" to refer to the prophet who receives the Message from the"watchers".

... وَأَحَاطَ بِمَا لَدَيْهِمْ ...

and He surrounds (all the mysteries) that are with them,

C5752. Ahata: surrounds, encompasses, encloses, guards on all sides, keeps under his own possession and control, and does not allow to be corrupted or debased. See last note but one.

... وَأَحْصَى كُلَّ شَيْءٍ عَدَدًا ﴿٢٨﴾

and takes account of every single thing." 

C5753. In the spiritual Kingdom,-as indeed, in all things,-Allah's knowledge, wisdom, and Plan comprehend all things, great and small. There is nothing which we do, nothing which happens that is outside His account.



Asad’s Version:


72:1 SAY: "It has been revealed to me that some of the unseen beings gave ear [to this divine writ], 1 and thereupon said [unto their fellow-beings]: '"Verily, we have heard a wondrous discourse,

(72:2) guiding towards consciousness of what is right; and so We have come to

believe in it. And we shall never ascribe divinity to anyone beside our Sustainer, (72:3) for [we know] that sublimely exalted is our Sustainer's majesty: no consort has He ever taken unto Himself, nor a son!


72:4 "And [now we know] that the foolish among us were wont to say outrageous things about God, 2

(72:5) and that [we were mistaken when] we thought that neither man nor [any of] the

invisible forces would ever tell a lie about God. 3

(72:6) Yet [it has always happened] that certain kinds of humans would seek refuge with certain kinds of [such] invisible forces: 4 but these only increased their confusion (72:7) so much so that they came to think, as you [once] thought, that God would never [again] send forth anyone [as His apostle]. 5


72:8 "And [so it happened] that we reached out towards heaven: 6 but we found it filled with mighty guards and flames, 7

(72:9) notwithstanding that we were established in positions [which we had thought well-suited] to listening to [whatever secrets might be in] it: 8 and anyone who

now [or ever] tries to listen will [likewise] find a flame lying in wait for him!'


72:10 "And [now we have become aware] that we [created beings] may not know whether evil fortune is intended for [any of] those who live on earth, or whether it is their Sustainer's will to endow them with consciousness of what is right: 10 (72:11) Just as [we do not know how it happens] that some from among us are righteous, while some of us are [far] below that: we have always followed widely divergent paths.


72:12 "And, withal, we have come to know that we can never elude God [while we live] on earth, and that we can never elude Him by escaping [from life]. (72:13) Hence, as soon as we heard this [call to His] guidance, we came to believe in it: and he who believes in his Sustainer need never have fear of loss or injustice.


72:14 "Yet [it is true] that among us are such as have surrendered themselves to God - just as there are among us such as have abandoned themselves to wrongdoing. Now as for those who surrender themselves to Him - it is they that have attained to consciousness of what is right;

(72: 15) but as for those who abandon themselves to wrongdoing - they are indeed but fuel for [the fires of] hell!"" 1


72:16 [KNOW,] THEN, that if they [who have heard Our call] keep firmly to the [right] path, We shall certainly shower them with blessings abundant, 12

(72: 17) so as to test them by this means: for he who shall turn away from the remembrance of his Sustainer, him will He cause to undergo suffering most grievous. a


72:18 And [know] that all worship" is due to God [alone]: hence, do not invoke anyone side by side with God!

(72: 19) Yet [thus it is] that whenever a servant of God stands up in prayer to Him,

they [who are bent on denying the truth] would gladly overwhelm him with their crowds. 15


72:20 Say: "I invoke my Sustainer alone, for I do not ascribe divinity to anyone beside Him."

(72:21) Say: "Verily, it is not in my power to cause you harm or to endow you with

consciousness of what is right."

(72:22) Say: "Verily, no one could ever protect me from God, nor could I ever find a place to hide from Him

(72:23) if I should fail to convey" [to the world whatever illumination comes to me] from God and His messages." Now as for him who rebels against God and His Apostle - verily, the fire of hell awaits him, therein to abide beyond the count of time. 17


72:24 [Let them, then, wait] until the time when they behold that [doom] of which they were forewarned: 18 for then they will come to understand which [kind of man] is more helpless and counts for less! 1 '

(72:25) Say: "I do not know whether that [doom] of which you were

forewarned is near, or whether my Sustainer has set for it a distant term. "


72:26 He [alone] knows that which is beyond the reach of a created being's perception, and to none does He disclose aught of the mysteries of His Own unfathomable knowledge, 20

(72:27) unless it be to an apostle whom He has been pleased to elect [therefor]: 21 and then He sends forth [the forces of heaven] to watch over him in whatever lies open before him and in what is beyond his ken 22

(72:28) so as to make manifest that it is indeed [but] their Sustainer's messages that

these [apostles] deliver: for it is He who encompasses [with His knowledge] all that they have [to say], 23 just as He takes count, one by one, of everything [that exists].


1 I.e., had heard and accepted it: this being the meaning, in the above context, of the verbal form istama'a. - As regards the various meanings attributable to the plural noun jinn (rendered by me here as "unseen beings"), see Appendix III. As pointed out there, the jinn are referred to in the Qur'an in many connotations. In a few cases - e.g., in the present instance and in 46:29-32 - this expression may possibly signify "hitherto unseen beings", namely, strangers who had never before been seen by the people among and to whom the Qur'an was then being revealed. From 46:30 (which evidently relates to the same occurrence as the present one) it transpires that the jinn in question were followers of the Mosaic faith, inasmuch as they refer to the Qur'an as "a revelation bestowed from on high after [that of] Moses", thus pointedly omitting any mention of the intervening prophet, Jesus, and equally pointedly (in verse 3 of the present surah) stressing their rejection of the Christian concept of the Trinity. All this leads

one to the assumption that they may have been Jews from distant parts of what is now the Arab world, perhaps from Syria or even Mesopotamia. (Tabari mentions in several places that the jinn referred to in this surah as well as in 46:29 ff. hailed from Nasibin, a town on the upper reaches of the Euphrates.)


I should, however, like to stress that my explanation of this occurrence is purely tentative.


2 If we accept the supposition that the beings spoken of here were Jewish strangers, the "outrageous things" (shatat) which they mention would appear to be an allusion to the deep-set belief of the Jews that they were "God's chosen people" - a belief which the Qur'an consistently rejects, and of which the new converts now divested themselves.


3 In this and the next verse, the term jinn (rendered here as "invisible forces") apparently refers to what is described as "occult powers'" or, rather to a person's preoccupation with them (see Appendix III). Irrespective of whether these "forces" are real or mere products of human imagination, they "tell lies about God" inasmuch as they induce their devotees to conceive all manner of fantastic, arbitrary notions about the "nature" of His Being and of His alleged relations with the created universe: notions

exemplified in all mystery -religions, in the various gnostic and theosophical systems, in cabalistic Judaism, and in the many medieval offshoots of each of them.


4 Lit., "that men (rijal) from among the humans used to (kana) seek refuge with men from among the jinn". Since the reference to "the humans" (al-ins) applies to men and women, the expression rijal is obviously used here - as so often in the Qur'an - in the sense of "some persons" or "certain kinds" of people. "Seeking refuge" is synonymous with seeking help, protection or the satisfaction of physical or spiritual needs: in the context of the above passage, this is evidently an allusion to the hope of "certain

kinds of humans" that the occult powers to which they have turned would successfully guide them through life, and thus make it unnecessary for them to look forward to the coming of a new prophet.


5 Thus Tabari (on the authority of Al-Kalbi) and Ibn Kathir. The overwhelming majority of the Jews were convinced that no prophet would be raised after those who were explicitly mentioned in the Old Testament: hence their rejection of Jesus and, of course, Muhammad, and their "reaching out towards heaven" (see next verse) in order to obtain a direct insight into God's plan of creation.


6 The above may be understood as alluding not only, metaphorically, to the arrogant Jewish belief in their being "God's chosen people", but also, more factually, to their old inclination to, and practice of, astrology as a means to foretell the future. Apart from this - and in a more general sense - their "reaching out towards heaven" may be a metaphorical description of a state of mind which causes man to regard himself as "self-sufficient" and to delude himself into thinking that he is bound to achieve

mastery over his own fate.


7 See notes 16 and 17 on 15:17-18.


8 I.e., "we failed notwithstanding our status as descendants of Abraham, and despite all our ability and learning".


9 As the sequence shows (and as has been pointed out in note 17 on 15:18), this relates to all attempts at predicting the future by means of astrology or esoteric alculations, or at influencing the course of future events by means of "occult sciences".


10 Thus, as in verses 2 and 21 of this surah, "consciousness of what is right" (rashad or rushd) is equated with the opposite of evil fortune, i.e., with happiness.


1 1 With this assertion ends, according to all classical commentators, the "confession of faith" of the beings described at the beginning of this passage as jinn. Whatever be the real meaning of this term in the present instance - whether it signifies "unseen beings" of a nature unknown to man or, alternatively, a group of humans from distant lands - matters little, for the context makes it abundantly clear that the "speech" of those beings is but a parable of the guidance which the Qur'an offers to a mind

intent on attaining to "consciousness of what is right".


12 Lit., "water abundant": a metaphor of happiness, echoing the allegorical reference, so frequently occurring in the Qur'an, to the "running waters" of paradise (Abu Muslim, quoted by Razi).


13 I.e., God's bestowal of blessings is not just a "reward" of righteousness but, rather, a test of man's remaining conscious of, and therefore grateful to, Him.


14 Lit, "the places of worship" (al-masajid): i.e., worship as such.


1 5 Lit, "would almost be upon him in crowds (libad, sing, libdah )" - i.e., with a view to "extinguishing God's [guiding] light" (Tabari, evidently alluding to 9:32). Most of the commentators assume that the above verse refers to the Prophet Muhammad and the hostility shown to him by his pagan contemporaries. While this may have been so in the first instance, it is obvious that the passage has a general import as well, alluding to the hostility shown by the majority of people, at all times and in all societies, to a minority or an individual who stands up for a self-evident - but unpopular - moral truth. (In order to be understood fully, the above verse should be read in conjunction with 1 9:73-74 and the corresponding notes.)


16 Lit., "except through an announcement" (ilia balaghan). In this instance, however, the particle ilia is evidently a contraction of in la ("if not"): thus, the above phrase signifies "if I do not [or "if should fail to"] convey...", etc. (Tabari, Zamakhshari, Razi).


17 This obviously relates to "those who are bent on denying the truth" - i.e., consciously - and thus destroy their own spiritual identity. The people alluded to in this particular instance are those who "would gladly overwhelm God's servant with their crowds" (verse 1 9).


18 I.e., on the Day of Judgment. Cf. the second paragraph of 19:75, which is similarly phrased.


19 Lit., "is weaker as to helpers and less in numbers" - i.e., less significant despite its greater numbers.


20 The possessive pronoun "His" in the phrase ala ghaybihi evidently indicates God exclusive knowledge of "that which is beyond the perception of any created being" (al-ghayb): hence the above, somewhat free, rendering of this truly untranslatable phrase.


21 Cf. 3:179 - "And it is not God's will to give you insight into that which is beyond the real of human perception: but [to that end] God elects whomsoever He wills from among His apostles"


22 For an explanation of this rendering of the phrase min bayni yadayhi wa-min khalfihi (lit., "from between his hands and from behind him"), see note 247 on 2:255. In the present context the phrase implies that the very fact of his being graced by divine revelation protects every apostle, spiritually, in all concerns of his life, irrespective of whether these concerns are obvious to him or are beyond his ken.


23 Lit., "all that is with them", i.e., of knowledge and wisdom.