Surah 72. Al-Jinn

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

  - Mohammad Asad

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.

O Prophet say: "It has been revealed to me that a band of jinns listened to the Qur'an, then returned to their folk and said: 'We have heard a wonderful Qur'an

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say (O Muhammad): It is revealed unto me that a company of the Jinn gave ear, and they said: Lo! it is a marvellous Qur'an,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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,

  - Mohammad Asad

which guides to the Right Way. We have believed in it and henceforth shall worship none besides Our Rabb.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Which guideth unto righteousness, so we believe in it and we ascribe unto our Lord no partner.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

for [we know] that sublimely exalted is our Sustainer's majesty: no consort has He ever taken unto Himself, nor a son!

  - Mohammad Asad

Surely our Rabb's Majesty is exalted: He has neither taken a wife nor a son.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And (we believe) that He--exalted be the glory of our Lord!--hath taken neither wife nor son,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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

  - Mohammad Asad

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.

Some who are foolish among us have been uttering atrocious lies about Allah,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And that the foolish one among us used to speak concerning Allah an atrocious lie.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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

  - Mohammad Asad

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.

and we had presumed that no man or jinn could tell a lie concerning Allah.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And lo! we had supposed that humankind and jinn would not speak a lie concerning Allah--

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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 -

  - Mohammad Asad

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.

Indeed, some individuals among mankind used to seek protection with some individuals among the jinns, so they caused such jinns to become more arrogant,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And indeed (O Muhammad) individuals of humankind used to invoke the protection of individuals of the jinn so that they increased them in revolt (against Allah);

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

so much so that they came to think, as you [once] thought, that God would never [again] send forth anyone [as His apostle].⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

Thus Tabari (on the authority of Al-Kalbi) and Ibn Rathir. 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.

as a result, they presumed as you presumed that Allah would not appoint anyone as a Rasool.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And indeed they supposed, even as ye suppose, that Allah would not raise anyone (from the dead)

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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

  - Mohammad Asad

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.

See notes [16] and [17] on {15:17-18}.

We searched the heaven, and found it filled with stern guards and shooting stars.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And (the Jinn who had listened to the Qur'an said): We had sought the heaven but had found it filled with strong warders and meteors.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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!⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

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

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 calculations, or at influencing the course of future events by means of "occult sciences".

Before this we used to find a seat in heaven for eavesdropping, but now eavesdroppers find shooting stars lying in ambush for them.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And we used to sit on places (high) therein to listen. But he who listened now findeth a flame in wait for him;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"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

  - Mohammad Asad

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.

We did not know whether an evil was intended for the dwellers of the earth or whether their Rabb intended to guide them.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And we know not whether harm is boded unto all who are in the earth, or whether their Lord intendeth guidance for them;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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.

  - Mohammad Asad

There are some among us who are righteous and some to the contrary; we have sects following different ways.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And among us there are righteous folk and among us there are far from that. We are sects having different rules.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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].

  - Mohammad Asad

We know that we can neither frustrate Allah in the earth nor frustrate Him by flight.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And we know that we cannot escape from Allah in the earth, nor can we escape by flight.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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.

  - Mohammad Asad

As for us, when we listened to the guidance, we believed in it; so he that believes in his Rabb shall have neither the fear of loss nor of injustice.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And when we heard the guidance, we believed therein, and whoso believeth in his Lord, he feareth neither loss nor oppression.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"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;

  - Mohammad Asad

Surely there are some among us who are Muslims and some who are deviators from the truth. Those who have adopted Islam have found the way to salvation,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And there are among us some who have surrendered (to Allah) and there are among us some who are unjust. And whoso hath surrendered to Allah, such have taken the right path purposefully.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

but as for those who abandon themselves to wrongdoing - they are indeed but fuel for [the fires of] hell!'"¹¹

  - Mohammad Asad

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".

and those who have deviated from the truth will become the fuel for hell."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And as for those who are unjust, they are firewood for hell.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall