Tafseer of The Thunder · Ar-Ra'd · 13:11
For each one are successive [angels] before and behind him who protect him by the decree of Allah. Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. And when Allah intends for a people ill, there is no repelling it. And there is not for them besides Him any patron.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The exegetes differed concerning the interpretation of this.
Some said: the meaning is: for Allah, the Exalted, there are successive ones (muʿaqqibāt). They said: the pronoun "hā" in His statement لَهُ (for him) refers to the name of Allah.
The "muʿaqqibāt" are those who follow one after another upon the servant. When the angels of the night ascend during the day, they are relieved by the angels of the day. When the day has passed, the angels of the day ascend and are relieved by the angels of the night. They said: it is stated as "muʿaqqibāt" in the feminine singular plural, even though the angels are a masculine plural. The singular of "malāʾika" (angels) is "muʿaqqib," and its plural is "muʿaqqiba," then a plural is made of the plural, namely the plural of "muʿaqqib" after "muʿaqqiba" had already been formed, and thus "muʿaqqibāt" is formed — as one says "sādāt Saʿd" (the chiefs of Saʿd) and "rijālāt Banī Fulān" (the men of the tribe of so-and-so), a plural of a plural.
And His statement مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ (from before him and from behind him): by مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ He means: from before this one who conceals himself by night and is visible by day. And وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ: from behind his back.
Mentioned are those who said this:
20210 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, from Manṣūr — that is, Ibn Zādhān — from al-Ḥasan concerning this verse: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ — he said: "the angels."
20211 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAbd al-Salām ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Qushayrī related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn Jarīr related to us, from Ḥammād ibn Salama, from ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Jaʿfar, from Kināna al-ʿAdawī, who said: ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān went to visit the Prophet ﷺ and said: "O Messenger of Allah, tell me how many angels a servant has with him." He answered: "An angel at your right hand who preserves your good deeds, and he is commander over the one at your left hand. If you perform a good deed, ten are recorded. If you perform a bad deed, the one at your left hand says to the one at your right hand: Write it down! He answers: No, perhaps he will ask Allah for forgiveness and turn back in repentance! If he says that three times, he answers: Yes, write it down — may Allah rid us of him, what an evil companion! How little aware he is of Allah, how little shame he has before us! Allah says: مَا يَلْفِظُ مِن قَوْلٍ إِلَّا لَدَيْهِ رَقِيبٌ عَتِيدٌ [Qāf: 18]. And two angels from before you and from behind you; Allah says: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ. And an angel who holds your forehead: when you humble yourself before Allah, He raises you up; when you behave arrogantly toward Allah, He breaks you. And two angels at your lips — they guard nothing of you except the uttering of the prayer of blessing upon Muḥammad. And an angel at your mouth who does not allow a snake to enter your mouth. And two angels at your eyes. These are ten angels for every son of man. Then the angels of the night descend in place of the angels of the day — for the angels of the night are other than the angels of the day — so that for every son of man there are twenty angels. And Iblīs is there by day and his offspring by night."
20212 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Shabāba related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid concerning his statement: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ — "the angels" — يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ.
20213 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid — similarly.
20214 — [...] he said: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym informed us, from ʿAbd al-Malik, from Qays, from Mujāhid, concerning his statement: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ يَحْفَظُونَهُ — he said: "With every human being are guardians who preserve him by the command of Allah."
20215 — [...] he said: ʿAbdullāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, from ʿAlī, from Ibn ʿAbbās, his statement: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ — "The muʿaqqibāt belong to the command of Allah, and they are the angels."
20216 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, from Isrāʾīl, from Simāk, from ʿIkrima, from Ibn ʿAbbās: يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ — he said: "Angels who preserve him from before him and from behind him. When his appointed term arrives, they release him."
20217 — Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, from Simāk, from ʿIkrima, from Ibn ʿAbbās: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ — when the appointed term arrives, they release him.
20218 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, from Manṣūr, from Ibrāhīm concerning this verse — he said: "the guardians."
20219 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, from Sufyān, from Manṣūr, from Ibrāhīm: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ — he said: "angels."
20220 — Aḥmad ibn Ḥāzim related to us, saying: Yaʿlā related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid related to us, from Abū Ṣāliḥ concerning his statement: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ — he said: "the angels of the night who succeed the angels of the day."
20221 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatāda, his statement: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ — "These are the angels of the night who relieve one another among you by day and night. It has been related to us that they assemble at the ʿaṣr prayer and the ṣubḥ prayer." And in the reading of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb it stands: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَرَقِيبٌ مِنْ خَلْفِهِ يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ.
20222 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatāda, his statement: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ — he said: "angels who relieve one another over him."
20223 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, from Ibn Jurayj, who said — Ibn ʿAbbās said: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ — he said: "the angels." Ibn Jurayj said: "muʿaqqibāt" — "the angels relieve one another between night and day." And it has been related to us that the Prophet ﷺ said: "They assemble with you at the ʿaṣr prayer and the ṣubḥ prayer." And His statement يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ — Ibn Jurayj said: resembling His statement عَنِ الْيَمِينِ وَعَنِ الشِّمَالِ قَعِيدٌ [Qāf: 17]. "The good deeds are from before him and the bad deeds from behind him. The one at his right hand records the good deeds, and the one at his left hand records the bad deeds."
20224 — Sawwār ibn ʿAbdullāh related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard Layth relate, from Mujāhid, who said: "There is no servant but he has an angel appointed who preserves him in his sleep and in his wakefulness against jinn, humans, and venomous creatures. None of them approaches him with the aim of harming him but he says: go back! — except for that which Allah grants permission for, and that befalls him."
20225 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, from his father, from Ibn ʿAbbās, his statement: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ — he said: "He means the angels."
And others said: by "muʿaqqibāt" in this verse is meant the bodyguard that accompanies the ruler in alternation.
Mentioned are those who said this:
20226 — Abū Hishām al-Rifāʿī related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, from Ḥabīb ibn Abī Thābit, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbās: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ — he said: "That is an earthly ruler who has before him a bodyguard and behind him a bodyguard."
20227 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, from his father, from Ibn ʿAbbās, his statement: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ — "this is the follower of the devil, he has a bodyguard around him."
20228 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, from Sharqī, who heard how ʿIkrima discussed this verse: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ — he said: "These are the leaders."
20229 — Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Nāfiʿ related to us, saying: I heard ʿIkrima say: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ — he said: "the procession before him and behind him."
20230 — It was related to me from al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Farj, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say, he said: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning his statement: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ — he said: "This is the ruler who is protected by the guards against Allah, and they are the people of polytheism (shirk)."
Abū Jaʿfar said: The most correct of the two views is that of those who say that the pronoun "hā" in لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ refers to the pronoun "man" in وَمَنْ هُوَ مُسْتَخْفٍ بِاللَّيْلِ — and that the "muʿaqqibāt from before him and from behind him" are his bodyguard and his retinue, as those whose opinion we have mentioned have said.
The reason why we say that this is the more correct of the two views: the statement لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ stands closer to وَمَنْ هُوَ مُسْتَخْفٍ بِاللَّيْلِ than to the Knower of the unseen. Because of this proximity it is more fitting that it refer to this, and that the intended meaning be this — also in view of the indication of the word of Allah: وَإِذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍ سُوءًا فَلَا مَرَدَّ لَهُ (and when Allah wills an evil fate for a people, nothing can avert it), that these are the persons intended.
And that is because He, exalted be His praise, mentions a people who are disobedient to Him and dubious in nature — they conceal themselves by night and show themselves by day, and they protect themselves in their own eyes with a bodyguard who protects them, and with power that protects them, so that the believers cannot intervene between them and the disobedience they commit. Then He informs that when Allah, the Exalted, wills an evil fate for them, their bodyguard does not avail them, and their guards avert nothing from them.
And His statement يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ: the exegetes differed concerning the interpretation of this word, in accordance with their disagreement over the interpretation of لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ.
Whoever said that the "muʿaqqibāt" are the angels also said that those who preserve him by the command of Allah are likewise the angels.
And whoever said that the "muʿaqqibāt" are the bodyguard and retinue of the children of men said that those who preserve him by the command of Allah are that same bodyguard.
And they also differed concerning the meaning of مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ.
Some said: their preservation of him belongs to His command.
And others said: يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ — that is, by the command of Allah.
Mentioned are those who said: the guardians are the angels and بِأَمْرِ اللَّهِ means that their preservation belongs to the command of Allah:
20231 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbdullāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, from ʿAlī, from Ibn ʿAbbās, his statement: يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ — he said: "by the permission of Allah. The muʿaqqibāt belong to the command of Allah, and they are the angels."
20232 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, from ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ — he said: "the angels are the guardians, and their preservation of him belongs to the command of Allah."
20233 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Malik related to me, from Ibn ʿUbaydullāh, from Mujāhid, concerning his statement: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ — he said: "the guardians belong to the command of Allah."
20234 — [...] he said: ʿAlī — that is, Ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Jaʿfar — related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, from ʿAmr, from Ibn ʿAbbās: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ — "guardians" — وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ — by the command of Allah — يَحْفَظُونَهُ.
20235 — [...] he said: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, from Saʿīd, from Qatāda, from al-Jārūd, from Ibn ʿAbbās: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ — "a guardian" — وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ.
20236 — Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, from Khuṣayf, from Mujāhid: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ — he said: "the angels, belonging to the command of Allah."
20237 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, from Ibn Jurayj, who said — Ibn ʿAbbās said: يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ — he said: "the angels, belonging to the command of Allah."
20238 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, from Manṣūr, from Ibrāhīm: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ — he said: "the guardians."
Mentioned are those who said: this means: they preserve him by the command of Allah:
20239 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatāda: يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ — that is to say: by the command of Allah.
20240 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatāda: يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ — and in some readings it stands: بِأَمْرِ اللَّهِ (by the command of Allah).
20241 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym informed us, from ʿAbd al-Malik, from Qays, from Mujāhid, concerning his statement: لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ — he said: "With every human being are guardians who preserve him by the command of Allah."
Mentioned are those who said: the bodyguard of the children of men preserves him by the command of Allah:
20242 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, from his father, from Ibn ʿAbbās: يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ — "the follower of the devil has a bodyguard who preserves him from before him and from behind him. Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, says: they preserve him against My command — for when I will an evil fate for a people, nothing can avert it, and they have no protector besides Him."
20243 — Abū Hurayra al-Ḍubaʿī related to me, saying: Abū Qutayba related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, from Sharqī, from ʿIkrima: يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ — he said: "the armed retinue."
And others said: the meaning of يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ is that they preserve him against the command of Allah — and "the command of Allah" are the jinn, and all who wish to do him evil and harm, until the decree of Allah comes. When His decree then comes, they release him.
Mentioned are those who said this:
20244 — Abū Hurayra al-Ḍubaʿī related to me, saying: Abū Dāwūd related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, from Manṣūr, from Ṭalḥa, from Ibrāhīm: يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ — he said: "against the jinn."
20245 — Sawwār ibn ʿAbdullāh related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir related to us, saying: I heard Layth relate from Mujāhid, who said: "There is no servant but he has an angel appointed who preserves him in his sleep and wakefulness, against jinn, humans, and venomous creatures. None of them approaches him but he says: go back! — except for that which Allah grants permission for, and that befalls him."
20246 — Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿArafa related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh related to us, from Muḥammad ibn Ziyād al-Alhānī, from Yazīd ibn Shurāyḥ, from Kaʿb al-Aḥbār, who said: "If Allah were to show the son of man all the flat and mountainous land, he would see devils upon everything in it. Were it not that Allah has appointed over you angels who ward them off from you at your eating, drinking, and nakedness — you would then be seized."
20247 — Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: ʿUmāra ibn Abī Ḥafṣa related to us, from Abū Mijlaz, who said: "A man of the tribe of Murād came to ʿAlī — may Allah have mercy on him — while he was praying, and said: beware, for there are men of Murād who wish to kill you! He answered: With every man are two angels who preserve him against everything that is not decreed. When the decree comes, they release him. And the appointed term is a strong protecting shield."
20248 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, from al-Ḥasan ibn Dhakwān, from Abū Ghālib, from Abū Umāma, who said: "There is no son of man but there is an appointed angel with him who wards off from him until he is delivered up to that which is decreed for him."
And others said: the meaning of this is: they preserve him on behalf of Allah.
Mentioned are those who said this:
20249 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, from Ibn Jurayj: يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ — he said: "they preserve on His behalf that which concerns him."
Abū Jaʿfar said: Ibn Jurayj means by his statement "they preserve on His behalf that which concerns him" the angels appointed over the son of man, for the sake of preserving his good and bad deeds. They are, for us, the "muʿaqqibāt" — they preserve, on behalf of the son of man, his good and bad deeds by the command of Allah.
On the basis of this view, the meaning of مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ must be: that the guardians belong to the command of Allah, or that they preserve by the command of Allah. And the pronoun in يَحْفَظُونَهُ is in the masculine singular — although it refers to good and bad deeds — because it is a reference to the pronoun "man," who is the one who conceals himself by night and goes about by day. The one who conceals himself by night is placed as a reference to the report of his bad and good deeds, as one says: وَاسْأَلِ الْقَرْيَةَ الَّتِي كُنَّا فِيهَا وَالْعِيرَ الَّتِي أَقْبَلْنَا فِيهَا [Yūsuf: 82].
And ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd said concerning this something other than all these views:
20250 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning وَمَنْ هُوَ مُسْتَخْفٍ بِاللَّيْلِ وَسَارِبٌ بِالنَّهَارِ: "ʿĀmir ibn al-Ṭufayl and Arbad ibn Rabīʿa went to the Prophet ﷺ. ʿĀmir said: What will you give me if I follow you? He answered: You are a horseman — I give you the reins of the horses. He said: No. He said: What do you want then? He said: The East is for me and the West is for you. He answered: No. He said: Then the nomadic sector is for me and the urban sector is for you. He answered: No. He said: Then I will fill it for you with that — horsemen and footmen. He answered: Allah and the two sons of Qayla will hold you back — by which he meant the Aws and the Khazraj. They departed. ʿĀmir said to Arbad: If the man were in our power and we killed him, two goats would not butt over him. They would be willing to pay his blood-money and prefer peace to combat when they saw an accomplished fact. The other said: If you wish, let us deliberate. And he said: Go back, and I will distract him with a discussion, and you stand behind him and strike him with one sword-blow. So they stood: the one behind the Prophet ﷺ, and the other said: Tell us your account. He said: What do you say? He said: Your Qurʾān! He began to discuss with him and to press him, until he said: What is the matter with you? He answered: I placed my hand on the hilt of my sword — and it froze — so that I could not move it forward or backward or touch it. They departed. When they were at al-Ḥarra, Saʿd ibn Muʿādh and Usayd ibn Ḥuḍayr heard of this. They went out to meet them, both in armor, their lance in hand and their sword girded. They said to ʿĀmir ibn al-Ṭufayl: O squinter, O conceited one! Are you the one who sets conditions to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ? Were you not in the protection of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, you would not have left your dwelling-place before we had struck your neck! ʿĀmir then said to Arbad: Go, Arbad, to the side of ʿAdana, and I will go to Najd — we shall gather men and meet upon him. Arbad departed until he was at al-Raqam — Allah sent a summer cloud with a lightning-strike and burned him. ʿĀmir departed until he was in a valley called al-Jarīr — Allah sent the plague upon him. He began to cry out: O people of ʿĀmir! A boil like the boil of a young camel kills me! O people of ʿĀmir! A boil like the boil of a young camel kills me, and also death in the house of a woman of the Salūl! — she was a woman of the Qays. This, then, is the word of Allah: سَوَاءٌ مِنكُم مَّنْ أَسَرَّ الْقَوْلَ وَمَن جَهَرَ بِهِ — he read on until he reached: يَحْفَظُونَهُ — those muʿaqqibāt are the command of Allah; this concerns the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — successive ones preserve him from before him and from behind him; those muʿaqqibāt belong to the command of Allah. And concerning these two He said: إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ — he read on until he reached: يُرْسِلُ الصَّوَاعِقَ فَيُصِيبُ بِهَا مَن يَشَاءُ — the whole verse. He read on until he reached: وَمَا دُعَاءُ الْكَافِرِينَ إِلَّا فِي ضَلَالٍ. And Labīd said — while lamenting his brother Arbad: 'I feared for Arbad the appointed fate of death, but I was not fearful of the setting of the Simāk and the Lion — thunder and lightning have robbed me of the horseman, on the day of the terrible battle, the brave one.'"
Abū Jaʿfar said: This view that Ibn Zayd gave concerning the interpretation of this verse is far removed from the interpretation of the verse, besides its deviation from the opinions of the exegetes whom we have mentioned. And that is because he let the pronoun "hā" in لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ refer to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, whereas in the verse before it nor in the verse before that is there any mention of him — unless he meant to let it refer back to His statement إِنَّمَا أَنتَ مُنذِرٌ وَلِكُلِّ قَوْمٍ هَادٍ — لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ. If that is the case, then that is far removed because of the intervening verses without mention of any report about the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Since this is so, it is more fitting that it refer to the pronoun "man" in وَمَنْ هُوَ مُسْتَخْفٍ بِاللَّيْلِ, because this stands immediately before it and the report after it deals with him.
When this is so, the interpretation of the words runs: Equal are for you, O people, before your Lord: he who keeps his word secret and he who utters it aloud, and he who conceals his licentiousness and his dubious nature by night in the darkness, and he who goes about by day in the daylight — protected by his army and bodyguard who preserve him in alternation against the believers, so that they may not intervene to prevent him from what he does of disobedience to Allah, and so that they may not apply a prescribed punishment (ḥadd) upon him. That is His statement: يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ.
And His statement إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ: The Exalted says: Allah does not change for a people what they have of health and benefit — by removing it and destroying them — until they themselves change that with which they are afflicted, by some doing wrong to others, and some transgressing the bounds of others. Then His punishment and His change befall them.
And His statement وَإِذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍ سُوءًا فَلَا مَرَدَّ لَهُ: this means: when Allah wills for them — those who conceal themselves by night and go about by day, with troops and power before and behind them who preserve them against the command of Allah — ruin and disgrace in this hasty world, فَلَا مَرَدَّ لَهُ — that is to say: none other than Allah is able to avert that from them. وَمَا لَهُم مِّن دُونِهِ مِن وَالٍ — that is to say: this people — wherein "hā" and "mīm" in "lahum" refer to the people in His statement وَإِذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍ سُوءًا — have no protector besides Allah who watches over them and over their affair and their punishment.
Some of the language scholars of Arabic said: "al-sawʾ" (evil) means perishing, and they said: every leprosy, skin disease, blindness, and great calamity is "sūʾ" with ḍamma on the first letter. When the first letter is pronounced with fatḥa, it is a verbal noun: "suʾtu" — hence also their expression: "a man sūʾ" (an evil man).
The grammarians also differed concerning the meaning of وَمَنْ هُوَ مُسْتَخْفٍ بِاللَّيْلِ وَسَارِبٌ بِالنَّهَارِ.
Some Baṣran grammarians said: the meaning of وَمَنْ هُوَ مُسْتَخْفٍ بِاللَّيْلِ is "he who is visible by night" — derived from "khafaytu al-shayʾ" (I made something visible). As Imruʾ al-Qays said: "If you conceal the sickness, we do not conceal it — and if you begin the war, we do not sit idle." And one reads أَكَادُ أُخْفِيهَا [Ṭāhā: 15] in the meaning of: "I make it visible."
And concerning وَسَارِبٌ بِالنَّهَارِ he said: "al-sārib" is the one who conceals himself, as though by day he is hidden in the earthly hollow (al-sarab).
And some Baṣran and Kūfan grammarians said: the meaning of وَمَنْ هُوَ مُسْتَخْفٍ is "he who conceals himself by night" — from "al-istikhfāʾ" (concealing) — and وَسَارِبٌ بِالنَّهَارِ: "the one who goes about by day" — derived from "sarabat al-ibil ilā al-raʿī" (the camels went to the pasture) — that is their going to the pasture-grounds and going out toward them. It has also been said: "al-surūb" is in the evening and "al-surūḥ" is in the early morning.
And they also differed concerning the feminine form of "muʿaqqibāt," while it is a description of non-feminine beings.
Some Baṣran grammarians said: it is in the feminine form because of its multitude — like "nassāba" (genealogist) and "ʿallāma" (great scholar) — then used in the masculine to the extent that the one intended is masculine, whereby He said: يَحْفَظُونَهُ (they preserve him).
And some Kūfan grammarians said: they are "malāʾika muʿaqqiba" (a band of angels), then pronounced as a plural as "muʿaqqibāt" — a plural of a plural. Then He said: يَحْفَظُونَهُ — because it is for the angels.
As for the word "al-muʿaqqibāt": "al-taʿqīb" in Arabic is the returning after beginning and the returning to something after departing from it — derived from the word of Allah, the Exalted: وَلَّى مُدْبِرًا وَلَمْ يُعَقِّبْ (he turned away fleeing and did not return). As Salāma ibn Jandal said: "And our returning of the horses behind them — returned, with hooves chipped from the first and the second tearing-out." And as Ṭarafa said: "And I have been wronged among you — you returned with a sweet bucket, not a bitter one."
The feminine form comes, in our view, from the fact that they are used as a description of the bodyguard who protects the man who conceals himself by night and goes about by day. By this is meant "ḥaras muʿaqqiba" (a relieving guard). Then "al-muʿaqqiba" is pronounced as a plural and is called "muʿaqqibāt" — a plural of the plural of "al-muʿaqqib." And "al-muʿaqqib" is the singular of "al-muʿaqqiba." Then He said: يَحْفَظُونَهُ — whereby the report is traced back to the masculine of the bodyguard and retinue.
As for His statement يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ: the Arabic grammarians differed concerning its meaning.
Some Kūfan grammarians said: the meaning is: he has successive ones from the command of Allah who preserve him. And "min amrihi" (by His command) they do not preserve him — it is merely an inversion in order. They said: they preserve him with that preservation by the command of Allah and by His permission — as one says to someone: "I answered you because of your calling upon me, and by your calling upon me."
And some Baṣran grammarians said: the meaning is: they preserve him apart from the command of Allah — as one says: "he fed me because of hunger, and because of hunger" and "he clothed me because of nakedness, and because of nakedness."
We have indicated earlier that the most correct interpretation of يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ is: that it is a description of the bodyguard of this man who conceals himself by night, and that they preserve him in the supposition that they thereby avert the command of Allah from him. He, the Exalted, then informs that his bodyguard does not avail him anything when His command comes, and says: وَإِذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍ سُوءًا فَلَا مَرَدَّ لَهُ وَمَا لَهُم مِّن دُونِهِ مِن وَالٍ.