Tafseer of The Night Journey · Al-Israa · 17:109
And they fall upon their faces weeping, and the Qur'an increases them in humble submission.
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.
Allah the Exalted says: These people who were endowed with knowledge before the sending down of the Furqān (the Criterion) — the believers among the People of the two Books — when the Qurʾān is recited to them they fall down upon their chins, weeping; and the admonitions and lessons contained in the Qurʾān increase their submissiveness (khushūʿ) — that is, their humility before the command of Allah, their obedience, and their meekness toward Him.
Aḥmad ibn Munīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak related to us, saying: Misʿar informed us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Aʿlā al-Taymī, that whoever has received knowledge and thereafter weeps has the right to have it said of him: "that one has not received knowledge that benefits him — for Allah has described the learned and said: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ إِذَا يُتْلَى عَلَيْهِمْ يَخِرُّونَ لِلأَذْقَانِ (Those who were endowed with knowledge before it — when it is recited to them, they fall down upon their chins) ..." — the two verses.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak related to us, on the authority of Misʿar ibn Kidām, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Aʿlā al-Taymī — likewise, except that he said: إِذَا يُتْلَى عَلَيْهِمْ يَخِرُّونَ لِلأَذْقَانِ (when it is recited to them, they fall down upon their chins) — and then he said: وَيَخِرُّونَ لِلأذْقَانِ يَبْكُونَ (and they fall down upon their chins, weeping) — the verse.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning وَيَخِرُّونَ لِلأذْقَانِ يَبْكُونَ وَيَزِيدُهُمْ خُشُوعًا (and they fall down upon their chins, weeping; and it increases their submissiveness): "This is an answer to and an explanation of the verse in Kāf Hā Yāʾ ʿAyn Ṣād: إِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُ الرَّحْمَنِ خَرُّوا سُجَّدًا وَبُكِيًّا (When the signs of the Most Merciful are recited to them, they fall down in prostration and weeping) (19:58)."
