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Cf. 7:38 (and the corresponding notes [28] and [29]) as well as {33:67-68}.
Cf. vii. 38, and n. 1019. See also xi. 20. The evil ones now vent their spite on others. Here they ask for a double penalty for their misleaders, but they forget their own personal responsibility. In the next verse, they express their surprise that others have escaped the torments, which they themselves have earned!
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The bad ones: i.e., the ones whom they (evil ones) ridiculed as fools sure to come to an evil end, because they refused to join in with the evil ones in their plots. The values are now reversed. The good ones are among the Blessed, and are not to be seen in the "Bed of Misery". The ridicule is now against the evil ones.
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I.e., the prophets and the righteous, who - as the Qur'an points out in many places - have always been derided by people enamoured of the life of this world and, therefore, averse to all moral exhortation.
In other words, did we underestimate them?
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The mutual recriminations and spite are themselves a part of the Penalty, for such feelings increase their unhappiness.
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Cf. xii. 39, where Joseph preaches to the men in prison. The one supreme Message of importance to mankind was (and is) the Unity of Allah: that He is the Creator and Sustainer of all: that His Will is supreme; that He can carry out His Will without question, and no powers of Evil can defeat it; and that He forgives by His grace again and again. This Message the holy Prophet came to deliver, and he delivered it.
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In n. 2818 to xxii. 40, I have explained the full import of 'Aziz as a title applied to Allah, and I have expressed two of the leading ideas involved, in the two lines here. The argument in this Sura turns upon the contrast between earthly Power and the Divine Power: the one is impotent and the other is supreme.
Gaffar is the emphatic intensive form, and I have accordingly translated it as "forgiving again and again". Cf. xx. 82.
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The Message which is of supreme import to mankind,-from that they turn away. Instead of profiting by it, they turn away to side issues, or unprofitable speculation: such as: what is the origin of Evil; when will Judgment come? etc.
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For the allegorical contention of the angels ("the host on high") against the creation of man, see 2:30 ff. and the corresponding notes [22-24]. The allegory of man's creation, of God's command to the angels to "prostrate themselves" before the new creature, and of lblis' refusal to do so appears in the Qur'an six times ({2:30-34}, 7:11 ff., {15:28-44}, {17:61-65}, 18:50 , and {38:69-85}) each time with an accent on a different aspect of this allegory. In the present instance (which is undoubtedly the earliest in the chronology of revelation) it is connected with the statement, in 2:31 , that God "imparted unto Adam the names of all things", i.e., endowed man with the faculty of conceptual thinking (see note [23] on 2:31 ) and, thus, with the ability to discern between what is true and what false. Since he possesses this faculty, man has no excuse for not realizing God's existence and oneness - the "message tremendous" referred to in the preceding passage.
When the angels obeyed Allah’s orders to prostrate before Adam, whereas Satan refused to comply.
The hierarchy of angels in Heaven, discuss questions of high import in the Universe. Those are not necessarily revealed to men, except in so far as it is good for men to know, as in verses 71-85 below. But the chief thing for man is to know that Allah is Most Merciful, that He forgives again and again, and that Evil has no power over those who trust in Allah.
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Lit., "otherwise than that I be (illa annama ana) a plain warner" - i.e., of the prospect of spiritual self-destruction inherent in a wilful disregard of the fact of God's existence and oneness, which is the core of all religious cognition and, hence, of all true prophethood.
Two things are implied in Mubin: (1) that the warning should be clear and perspicuous; there should be no mincing of matters, no ambiguity, no compromise with evil, vii. 184; (2) that the warning should be delivered publicly, before all people, in spite of opposition and persecution, xxvi. 115. Both these ideas I have tried to express in this passage.
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For this rendering of idh, see surah {2}, note [21].
See note [24] on 15:26 .
Two passages may be compared with this: viz.: (1) ii. 30-39, where merely the first stages of the Rebellion against Allah and its consequences to mankind are mentioned, and (2) xv. 29-40, where the further intrusion of evil in man's life here below is referred to, and an assurance is given that Evil will have no power except over those who yield to it. The latter is the passage most relevant here, as we are now dealing with the spiritual power of Revelation to defeat the machinations of Evil.
This shows that the material world round us was created by Allah before Allah fashioned man and breathed of His soul into him. Geology also shows that man came on the scene at a very late stage in the history of this planet.
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See 15:29 and the corresponding note [26].
See n. 1968 to xv. 29, where the spiritual significance of this is explained.
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See note [26] on 2:34 and note [31] on 15:41 .
See footnote for 2:34.
The command to bow down was a test of obedience. Satan arrogantly refused to comply because he believed he was superior to Adam (ﷺ).
Arrogance (self-love) is thus the root of Evil and of Unfaith.
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Cf. the metaphorical phrase "the things which Our hands have wrought" in 36:71 , explained in the corresponding note [42]. In the present instance, the stress lies on the God-willed superiority of man's intellect - which, like everything else in the universe, is God's "handiwork" - over the rest of creation (see note [25] on 2:34 ).
This "question" is, of course, only rhetorical, since God is omniscient. The phrase interpolated by me ("to bow down before another created being") reflects Zamakshari's interpretation of this passage.
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.
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.
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I.e., out of something non-corporeal and, therefore (in the view of Iblis), superior to the "clay" out of which man has been created. Inasmuch as "fire" is a symbol of passion, the above "saying" of Iblis contains, I believe, a subtle allusion to the Qur'anic concept of the "satanic forces" (shayatin) active within man's own heart: forces engendered by uncontrolled passions and love of self, symbolized by the preceding characterization of Iblis, the foremost of the shayatin, as "one of those who think only of themselves as high" (min al-'al~n).
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See n. 1972 to xv. 35, where it is explained why the respite is to the Day of Judgment. The whole of that passage in S. xv. forms a good commentary on this.
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For the significance of the respite see n. 1973 to xv. 36.
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