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Ayah
Word by Word
لَّا
Not
يَسَّمَّعُونَ
they may listen
إِلَى
to
ٱلۡمَلَإِ
the assembly
ٱلۡأَعۡلَىٰ
[the] exalted
وَيُقۡذَفُونَ
are pelted
مِن
from
كُلِّ
every
جَانِبٖ
side
لَّا
Not
يَسَّمَّعُونَ
they may listen
إِلَى
to
ٱلۡمَلَإِ
the assembly
ٱلۡأَعۡلَىٰ
[the] exalted
وَيُقۡذَفُونَ
are pelted
مِن
from
كُلِّ
every
جَانِبٖ
side
Translation
[So] they may not listen to the exalted assembly [of angels] and are pelted from every side,1
Footnotes
1 - By flaming meteors.
Tafsir
They, namely, the devils (laa yasma'oona, this is [the beginning of] a new sentence) cannot listen in - this 'listening' of theirs represents that faculty with which they memorise [what they hear] - on the High Council, the angels in the skies (the [normally transitive verb] al-samaa' is complemented with the preposition ilaa, 'to' [here 'in on'] because it includes the additional sense of 'paying attention' [while listening]; a variant reading has yassamma'una, which is actually yatasamma'oona, the taa' have been assimilated with the seen), for they, the devils, are pelted, with flames, from every side, from the remotest regions of the skies,
Tafsir of Surah As-Saffat
The angels witness to the Oneness of Allah
It was reported that Abdullah bin Mas`ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
وَالصَّافَّاتِ صَفًّا
By those ranged in ranks. --
they are the angels;
فَالزَّاجِرَاتِ زَجْرًا
By those who drive the clouds in a good way.
they are the angels;
فَالتَّالِيَاتِ ذِكْرًا
By those who bring the Dhikr.
they are the angels;
This was also the view of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, Masruq, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Ikrimah, Mujahid, As-Suddi, Qatadah and Ar-Rabi` bin Anas.
Qatadah said,
The angels form ranks in the heavens.
Muslim recorded that Hudhayfah, may Allah be pleased with him, said,
The Messenger of Allah said:
فُضِّلْنَا عَلَى النَّاسِ بِثَلَثٍ جُعِلَتْ صُفُوفُنَا كَصُفُوفِ الْمَلَيِكَةِ وَجُعِلَتْ لَنَا الاَْرْضُ كُلُّهَا مَسْجِدًا وَجُعِلَ لَنَا تُرَابُهَا طَهُورًا إِذَا لَمْ نَجِدِ الْمَاء
We have been favored over the rest of mankind in three ways:
our ranks have been made like the ranks of the angels;
the entire earth has been made a Masjid for us;
and its soil has been made a means of purification for us if we cannot find water.
Muslim, Abu Dawud, An-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah recorded that Jabir bin Samurah, may Allah be pleased with him, said,
The Messenger of Allah said:
أَلَا تَصُفُّونَ كَمَا تَصُفُّ الْمَلَيِكَةُ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ
Will you not form ranks as the angels form ranks in the presence of their Lord?
We said, `How do the angels form ranks in the presence of their Lord?'
He said:
يُتِمُّونَ الصُّفُوفَ الْمُتَقَدِّمَةَ وَيَتَرَاصُّونَ فِي الصَّف
They complete the rows nearer the front and they consolidate the rows.
As-Suddi and others said that the Ayah,
فَالزَّاجِرَاتِ زَجْرًا
(By those who drive the clouds in a good way).
means that they drive the clouds.
فَالتَّالِيَاتِ ذِكْرًا
(By those who bring the Dhikr). As-Suddi said,
The angels bring the Scriptures and the Qur'an from Allah to mankind.
The One True God is Allah
Allah says,
إِنَّ إِلَهَكُمْ لَوَاحِدٌ
رَبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالاَْرْضِ
Verily, your God is indeed One, Lord of the heavens and the earth,
This is the One by Whom the oath is sworn, stating that there is no God worthy of worship but He, Lord of the heavens and the earth,
وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا
and all that is between them,
means, of created beings.
وَرَبُّ الْمَشَارِقِ
and Lord of every point of the sun's risings.
means, He is the Sovereign Who is controlling His creation by subjugating it and all that is in it of stars, planets and heavenly bodies which appear from the east and set in the west.
Mentioning the east is sufficient and there is no need for the west to be mentioned too, because it is implied in what is said.
This has also been stated clearly elsewhere, in the Ayat:
فَلَ أُقْسِمُ بِرَبِّ الْمَشَـرِقِ وَالْمَغَـرِبِ إِنَّا لَقَـدِرُونَ
So I swear by the Lord of all the points of sunrise and sunset in the east and the west that surely We are able. (70:40)
رَبُّ الْمَشْرِقَيْنِ وَرَبُّ الْمَغْرِبَيْنِ
(He is) the Lord of the two easts and the Lord of the two wests. (55:17)
which refers to the rising and setting points of the sun and the moon in both winter and summer
The Adornment and Protection of the Heaven comes from Allah
Allah says,
إِنَّا زَيَّنَّا السَّمَاء الدُّنْيَا بِزِينَةٍ الْكَوَاكِبِ
Verily, We have adorned the near heaven with the stars.
Allah tells us that He has adorned the lowest heaven with the heavenly bodies for those among the people of the earth who look at it. The stars and planets in the sky give light to the people of earth, as Allah says:
وَلَقَدْ زَيَّنَّا السَّمَأءَ الدُّنْيَا بِمَصَـبِيحَ وَجَعَلْنَـهَا رُجُوماً لِّلشَّيَـطِينِ وَأَعْتَدْنَا لَهُمْ عَذَابَ السَّعِيرِ
And indeed We have adorned the nearest heaven with lamps, and We have made such lamps (as) missiles to drive away the Shayatin, and have prepared for them the torment of the blazing Fire. (67:5)
وَلَقَدْ جَعَلْنَا فِى السَّمَاءِ بُرُوجًا وَزَيَّنَّـهَا لِلنَّـظِرِينَ
وَحَفِظْنَـهَا مِن كُلِّ شَيْطَـنٍ رَّجِيمٍ
إِلاَّ مَنِ اسْتَرَقَ السَّمْعَ فَأَتْبَعَهُ شِهَابٌ مُّبِينٌ
And indeed, We have put the big stars in the heaven and We beautified it for the beholders. And We have guarded it from every outcast Shaytan. Except him who steals the hearing then he is pursued by a clear flaming fire. (15:16-18)
And Allah says here
وَحِفْظًا
And to guard,
meaning, to protect as it should be protected,
مِّن كُلِّ شَيْطَانٍ مَّارِدٍ
against every rebellious Shaytan.
means, every insolent and impudent devil, when he wants to eavesdrop (on news in the heavens), a piercing fire comes and burns him.
Allah, may He be glorified, says
لَاا يَسَّمَّعُونَ إِلَى الْمَلَاِ الاْاَعْلَى
They cannot listen to the higher group,
meaning, they cannot reach the higher group -- which refers to the heavens and the angels in them -- when they speak of what has been revealed by Allah of His Laws and decrees.
We have already mentioned this when explaining the Hadiths quoted when we discussed the Ayah,
حَتَّى إِذَا فُزِّعَ عَن قُلُوبِهِمْ قَالُوا مَاذَا قَالَ رَبُّكُمْ قَالُوا الْحَقَّ وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْكَبِيرُ
(when fear is banished from their hearts, they say:What is it that your Lord has said They say:The truth. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. (34:23)
Allah says:
وَيُقْذَفُونَ
for they are pelted,
meaning, they are hit,
مِن كُلِّ جَانِبٍ
from every side.
means, from all directions from which they try to reach the heaven
دُحُورًا
Outcast,
means, they are rejected, and are repelled and prevented from reaching it, and they are pelted.
وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ وَاصِبٌ
and theirs is a constant torment.
means, in the Hereafter, they will have an ongoing, everlasting and painful torment, as Allah says:
وَأَعْتَدْنَا لَهُمْ عَذَابَ السَّعِيرِ
and (We) have prepared for them the torment of the blazing Fire. (67:5
إِلاَّ مَنْ خَطِفَ الْخَطْفَةَ
Except such as snatch away something by stealing,
means, except for the one among the Shayatin who manages to get something, which is a word he has heard from the heaven. Then he throws it down to the one who is beneath him, who in turn throws it down to the one who is beneath him. Perhaps the flaming fire will strike him before he is able to throw it down, or perhaps he will throw it -- by the decree of Allah -- before the flaming fire strikes him and burns him. So the other devil takes it to the soothsayer, as we have seen previously in the Hadith.
Allah says:
إِلاَّ مَنْ خَطِفَ الْخَطْفَةَ فَأَتْبَعَهُ شِهَابٌ ثَاقِبٌ
Except such as snatch away something by stealing, and they are pursued by a flaming fire of piercing brightness.
meaning, shining brightly.
Ibn Jarir recorded that Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said,
The Shayatin had places where they sat in the heavens listening to what was being revealed by Allah. The stars did not move and the Shayatin were not struck. When they heard the revelation, they would come down to earth and to every word they would add nine of their own. When the Messenger of Allah was sent, if a Shaytan wanted to take his seat in the heavens, the flaming fire would come and would not miss him; it would burn him every time. They complained about this to Iblis, may Allah curse him, and he said, `Something must have happened.' He sent his troops out and they found the Messenger of Allah standing in prayer between the two mountains of Nakhlah. -- Waki` said, This means in the valley of Nakhlah. -- They went back to Iblis and told him about that, and he said, `This is what has happened.
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