Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:102
And they followed [instead] what the devils had recited during the reign of Solomon. It was not Solomon who disbelieved, but the devils disbelieved, teaching people magic and that which was revealed to the two angels at Babylon, Harut and Marut. But the two angels do not teach anyone unless they say, "We are a trial, so do not disbelieve [by practicing magic]." And [yet] they learn from them that by which they cause separation between a man and his wife. But they do not harm anyone through it except by permission of Allah. And the people learn what harms them and does not benefit them. But the Children of Israel certainly knew that whoever purchased the magic would not have in the Hereafter any share. And wretched is that for which they sold themselves, if they only knew.
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.
واتبعوا ما تتلو الشياطين
**The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين** (And they followed what the devils recited)
By His words واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين (And they followed what the devils recited) He means the party of the rabbis of the Jews and their scholars, whom Allah — exalted be His praise — has described as those who cast the Book that He had sent down upon Mūsā behind their backs, out of hypocrisy on their part and out of disbelief in that of which they were fully aware, as though they did not know it. He informs about them that they rejected His Book, of which they knew that it was sent down from Him upon His Prophet ﷺ, and that they broke His covenant, which He had concluded with them to act according to its contents, and that they gave preference to the sorcery which the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān, the son of Dāwūd, and which they followed. That, then, is the loss and the manifest error.
The exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning who was meant by His words: واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين على ملك سليمان (And they followed what the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān).
Some of them said: Allah meant by it the Jews who were in the vicinity to which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had emigrated; for they disputed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the basis of the Tawrāh, and they found that the Tawrāh agreed with the Qurʾān, commanding the following of Muḥammad ﷺ and belief in him, just as the Qurʾān commanded. Then they disputed on the basis of the books which the people in the time of Sulaymān had copied from the soothsayers.
Mention of who said that:
1366 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين على ملك سليمان (And they followed what the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān) — "in the time of Sulaymān." He said: The devils used to ascend to heaven and take seats there to eavesdrop, and they overheard from the words of the angels what would happen on earth of deaths, rain, or other matters. Then they would come to the soothsayers and inform them, and the soothsayers would tell the people, and they found it as they had said. Until, when the soothsayers felt secure with them, they lied to them and added other things to it, so that with every true statement they added seventy lying statements. The people wrote down that account in books, and it spread among the Banū Isrāʾīl that the jinn knew the unseen. Then Sulaymān sent out commands among the people and gathered those books, put them in a chest, and buried them under his throne. None of the devils was able to approach the throne without being burned, and he said: "I shall not hear anyone mention that the devils know the unseen, but I shall strike off his head." When Sulaymān died and the scholars who knew the affair of Sulaymān had passed away, and a generation succeeded after that, the devil took the form of a man, then came to a group of the Banū Isrāʾīl and said: "Shall I direct you to a treasure that you will never exhaust?" They said: "Yes." He said: "Then dig under the throne," and he went with them and showed them the place. He stood aside, and they said to him: "Come closer!" He said: "No, rather I remain here in your power; if you do not find it, then kill me." They dug and found those books, and when they had brought them out the devil said: "Truly, Sulaymān controlled the people, the devils, and the birds only by means of this sorcery." Then he flew away and vanished. It spread among the people that Sulaymān had been a sorcerer, and the Banū Isrāʾīl adopted those books. When Muḥammad ﷺ came to them, they disputed with him on the basis of that. That is when He says: وما كفر سليمان ولكن الشياطين كفروا يعلمون الناس السحر (And Sulaymān did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved; they taught the people sorcery).
1367 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His words: واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين على ملك سليمان (And they followed what the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān). They said: The Jews used to question Muḥammad ﷺ for a time about matters from the Tawrāh, and they did not ask him anything about it but that Allah sent down to him that about which they had questioned him, so that it put them in straits. When they saw that, they said: "This man knows better what was sent down to us than we ourselves." And they questioned him about sorcery and disputed with him about it, and Allah — Mighty and Exalted — sent down: واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين على ملك سليمان وما كفر سليمان ولكن الشياطين كفروا يعلمون الناس السحر (And they followed what the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān; and Sulaymān did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved; they taught the people sorcery). For the devils had recourse to a book and wrote in it the sorcery and the soothsaying and what Allah willed of that, and they buried it under the seat of Sulaymān. Sulaymān did not know the unseen. When Sulaymān departed from the world, they brought out that sorcery and deceived the people with it, and said: "This is knowledge that Sulaymān concealed and which he begrudged the people." The Prophet ﷺ informed them of this account. Then they turned back from him, grieved, and Allah had nullified their argument.
1368 — And Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His words: واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين على ملك سليمان (And they followed what the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān): He said: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to them, confirming what they possessed, نبذ فريق من الذين أوتوا الكتاب (a party of those who were given the Book cast [it] away) — the entire verses. He said: They followed the sorcery, and they are the People of the Book. And he recited on until he reached: ولكن الشياطين كفروا يعلمون الناس السحر (but the devils disbelieved; they taught the people sorcery).
Others said: No, rather Allah meant by it the Jews who lived in the time of Sulaymān.
Mention of who said that:
1369 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: The devils recited the sorcery to the Jews in the kingdom of Sulaymān, and the Jews followed it in his kingdom; that is to say: they followed the sorcery in the kingdom of Sulaymān.
1370 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq related to me, saying: The devils, when they learned of the death of Sulaymān, the son of Dāwūd — peace be upon him — had recourse to it and wrote down the kinds of sorcery: whoever wishes to attain such and such, let him do such and such. Until, when they had compiled the kinds of sorcery, they placed this in a book. Then they sealed it with a seal in the pattern of the seal of Sulaymān, and they wrote on its title page: "This is what Āṣaf ibn Barakhyā, the truthful one, wrote for King Sulaymān, the son of Dāwūd, from the treasures of the hidden things of knowledge." Then they buried it under his throne. Afterwards the remnant of the Banū Isrāʾīl brought it out, when they brought about what they brought about, and when they came upon it they said: "Sulaymān, the son of Dāwūd, was nothing but this." Thus they spread the sorcery among the people and learned it and taught it, and with none was there more of it than with the Jews. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, in that which was sent down to him from Allah, mentioned Sulaymān, the son of Dāwūd, and counted him among those whom he counted of the messengers, the Jews who were in Medina said: "Do you not wonder at Muḥammad ﷺ, that he claims that Sulaymān, the son of Dāwūd, was a prophet! By Allah, he was nothing but a sorcerer!" Then Allah sent down concerning that, in response to their words, upon Muḥammad ﷺ: واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين على ملك سليمان وما كفر سليمان ولكن الشياطين كفروا (And they followed what the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān; and Sulaymān did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved). He said: When the kingdom of Sulaymān disappeared, a group of the jinn and of the people apostatized and followed their desires. When Allah restored to Sulaymān his kingdom, the people returned to the faith as they had been. And Sulaymān got hold of their books and buried them under his throne. Sulaymān died shortly afterwards, and the jinn and the people got hold of the books after the death of Sulaymān, and said: "This is a book of Allah that was sent down upon Sulaymān and which he concealed from us." Thus they adopted it and made it a religion, and Allah sent down: ولما جاءهم رسول من عند الله مصدق لما معهم نبذ فريق من الذين أوتوا الكتاب كتاب الله وراء ظهورهم كأنهم لا يعلمون واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين (And when a messenger from Allah came to them, confirming what they possessed, a party of those who were given the Book cast the Book of Allah behind their backs, as though they did not know; and they followed what the devils recited) — and those are the musical instruments and play and everything that diverts from the remembrance of Allah.
The correct judgment regarding the explanation of His words واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين على ملك سليمان (And they followed what the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān) is that this is a rebuke from Allah to the rabbis of the Jews who encountered the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and denied his prophethood while they knew that he was a messenger sent by Allah, and a reproach from Him to them over their rejection of His revelation and their abandonment of acting according to it, while it was in their hands and they knew it and knew that it was the Book of Allah, and over their following — and the following of their forefathers and predecessors — of what the devils recited in the time of Sulaymān. We have already earlier clarified the manner in which it is permissible to ascribe the deeds of their predecessors to themselves, so that this makes it unnecessary to repeat it in this place.
We have chosen this explanation because those who followed what the devils recited in the time of Sulaymān and afterwards, until Allah sent His Prophet with the truth, and the matter of sorcery — it did not cease to exist among the Jews. And there is no indication in the verse that Allah the Exalted meant by His words واتبعوا (and they followed) a part of them and not another part, since it was permissible and eloquent in the language of the Arabs to ascribe what we have described — the following by the predecessors of those who are reported about with His words واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين (and they followed what the devils recited) — to their descendants after them. And there is concerning that no specific transmitted tradition from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, nor any proof that points to it, so that the obligatory judgment regarding it is that one says: Every one of the Jews who followed what the devils recited in the time of Sulaymān falls under the meaning of the verse, in the manner that we have stated.
**The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: ما تتلوا الشياطين** (what the devils recited)
By His words ما تتلوا الشياطين (what the devils recited) He means — exalted be His praise — "that which the devils recite." The explanation of the saying is thus: and they followed that which the devils recite.
People differed concerning the explanation of His words تتلوا (recite). Some said: by His words تتلوا He means "to relate, to transmit, to utter, and to report," like the recitation (tilāwah) of a man of the Qurʾān, namely his reading of it. Those who said this directed their explanation of it toward the notion that it was the devils who taught the people the sorcery and transmitted it to them.
Mention of who said that:
1371 — Al-Muthannā ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the words of Allah: واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين على ملك سليمان (And they followed what the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān). He said: The devils listened to the revelation (waḥy), and whatever statement they heard, to it they added two hundred of the like. Sulaymān sent out [commands] to [collect] that which they had written down of it, and he gathered it. When Sulaymān died, the devils found it and taught it to the people; and that is the sorcery.
1372 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words: واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين على ملك سليمان (And they followed what the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān) — of soothsaying and sorcery. And it was related to us — and Allah knows best — that the devils fashioned a book in which there was sorcery and a tremendous matter, and then spread it among the people and taught it to them.
1373 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, saying: ʿAṭāʾ said concerning His words: واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين (And they followed what the devils recited): He said: We hold that it means "what they relate."
1374 — Salm ibn Junāda al-Suwāʾī related to me, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of al-Minhāl, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, saying: The devils, in the days in which Sulaymān was tried, set themselves [to writing], and they wrote books in which there was sorcery and disbelief, and then buried them under the throne of Sulaymān, then brought them out and read them to the people.
Others said: The meaning of His words ما تتلوا (what they recite) is "what they follow, transmit, and act according to."
Mention of who said that:
1375 — Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAmr al-ʿAnqazī related to us, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Abū Mālik, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: تتلوا (they recite). He said: "they follow."
1376 — Naṣr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Azdī related to me, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, on the authority of Sufyān al-Thawrī, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Abū Razīn, the same.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct judgment regarding that is that one says: Allah — Mighty and Exalted — informed about those whom He informed about, that they followed what the devils recited in the time of Sulaymān, by their following of what the devils recited. The statement of one: "he recites (yatlū) such and such" has in the language of the Arabs two meanings: the one is following, as one says: "I followed (talawtu) so-and-so" when one walks behind him and follows his track, as He — exalted be His praise — said: هنالك تبلو كل نفس ما أسلفت (10:30) (There every soul will test [tablū] what it sent forth) — by it He means "following." The other meaning is: reading and studying, as one says: "so-and-so recites (yatlū) the Qurʾān," in the sense that he reads it and studies it, as Ḥassān ibn Thābit said:
*A prophet who sees what the people around him do not see,* *and who recites the Book of Allah in every assembly.*
Allah — exalted be His praise — has not informed us in which meaning of recitation the recitation of the devils was, who recited what they recited of the sorcery in the time of Sulaymān, with a report that cuts off all excuse. It is possible that the devils recited that in the sense of studying, transmitting, and acting according to it, so that they followed it by acting according to it and studied it by transmitting it, and that the Jews followed their path in it, acted according to it, and transmitted it.
على ملك سليمان
**The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: على ملك سليمان** (in the kingdom of Sulaymān)
By His words — exalted be His praise — على ملك سليمان (upon the kingdom of Sulaymān) He means "in (fī) the kingdom of Sulaymān"; for the Arabs place "fī" (in) in the position of "ʿalā" (upon) and "ʿalā" in the position of "fī." Among that is the saying of Allah — exalted be His praise —: ولأصلبنكم في جذوع النخل (20:71) (And I shall surely crucify you on [fī] the trunks of the palm trees) — He means by it "upon the trunks of the palm trees." And as one says: "I did such and such in the time of so-and-so (fī ʿahd)" and "upon the time of so-and-so (ʿalā ʿahd)," with one and the same meaning. And as we have said, so did Ibn Jurayj and Ibn Isḥāq explain it.
1377 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj [said]: على ملك سليمان (upon the kingdom of Sulaymān): he says "in the kingdom of Sulaymān."
1378 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Isḥāq said concerning His words: على ملك سليمان (upon the kingdom of Sulaymān): that is to say "in the kingdom of Sulaymān."
وما كفر سليمان ولكن الشياطين كفروا يعلمون الناس السحر
**The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وما كفر سليمان ولكن الشياطين كفروا يعلمون الناس السحر** (And Sulaymān did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved; they taught the people sorcery)
If someone says to us: What is the connection of this statement with His words واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين على ملك سليمان (And they followed what the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān), while we have no preceding report from anyone that he ascribed disbelief to Sulaymān? Rather, mention has only been made of the following by those of the Jews who followed what the devils recited. What, then, is the meaning of negating disbelief from Sulaymān, immediately after the report about the following by those of the Jews who followed the devils in acting according to the sorcery and transmitting it?
To this it is answered: The meaning of that is that those to whom Allah — exalted be His praise — ascribed the following of what the devils recited in the time of Sulaymān of sorcery and disbelief, namely the Jews, ascribed that which Allah — exalted be His mention — ascribed of it to the devils, to Sulaymān, the son of Dāwūd, and claimed that this proceeded from his knowledge and his transmission, and that he enslaved only those of the people, the jinn, the devils, and the rest of the creatures of Allah whom he enslaved by means of the sorcery. Thus they adorned themselves thereby — because of their committing of what Allah had forbidden them of sorcery — in the eyes of whoever was ignorant of the command and prohibition of Allah, and in the eyes of whoever had no knowledge of what Allah had sent down concerning that in the Tawrāh. And they distanced themselves, by ascribing that to Sulaymān, from Sulaymān — while he was the prophet of Allah ﷺ from among them — as a human being, and they denied that he was a messenger for Allah, and said: "No, he was a sorcerer." Then Allah declared Sulaymān, the son of Dāwūd, free of sorcery and disbelief, with respect to whoever of them ascribed sorcery and disbelief to him for reasons that they brought against him — some of which we have already mentioned and the rest of what comes to our mind concerning that we shall mention. And He declared the others to be liars, those who practiced the sorcery and adorned themselves before the ignorant in that practice of theirs with the claim that Sulaymān practiced it. Thus Allah denied of Sulaymān — peace be upon him — that he would have been a sorcerer or a disbeliever, and He let them know that in their practice of the sorcery they only followed what the devils recited in the time of Sulaymān, and not that which Sulaymān commanded them of obedience to Allah and the following of what He commanded them in His Book that He sent down upon Mūsā — Allah's blessings be upon him.
Mention of the proofs for the correctness of what we have said, from the reports and traditions:
1379 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb al-Qummī related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn Abī al-Mughīra, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, saying: Sulaymān tracked down what was in the hands of the devils of sorcery, took it, and buried it under his throne in his treasury. The devils were not able to reach it, and therefore they approached the people and said to them: "Do you want the knowledge by which Sulaymān made the devils, the winds, and other things subservient?" They said: "Yes." They said: "It is in his treasury and under his throne." The people stirred up the matter, brought it out, and acted according to it. The people of the Ḥijāz said: "Sulaymān acted according to this, and this is sorcery." Then Allah — exalted be His praise — sent down, by the tongue of His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, the acquittal of Sulaymān, and He said: واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين على ملك سليمان (And they followed what the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān) — the entire verses. Thus Allah sent down the acquittal of Sulaymān by the tongue of His Prophet — peace be upon them both.
1380 — Abū al-Sāʾib al-Suwāʾī related to me, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of al-Minhāl, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, saying: That which befell Sulaymān, the son of Dāwūd, was because of certain people of the family of a woman who was called Jarāda, and she was one of his most honored wives. He said: Sulaymān inclined to the right being granted to the family of Jarāda, so that he would judge in their favor; and he was punished when his inclination toward them was not impartial. He said: When Sulaymān, the son of Dāwūd, wished to enter the privy or wished to come to one of his wives, he would give his ring to Jarāda. When Allah wished to try Sulaymān with that by which He tried him, one day he gave his ring to Jarāda, and the devil came in the form of Sulaymān and said to her: "Give me my ring!" He took it and put it on, and when he had put it on, the devils, the jinn, and the people submitted to him. He said: Then Sulaymān came and said: "Give me my ring!" She said: "You lie, you are not Sulaymān." He said: Then Sulaymān knew that it was a trial by which he was being tried. He said: The devils set themselves [to writing] and wrote in those days books in which there was sorcery and disbelief, then buried them under the throne of Sulaymān, then brought them out and read them to the people, and said: "Sulaymān overcame the people only by means of these books." He said: Then the people distanced themselves from Sulaymān and declared him a disbeliever, until Allah sent Muḥammad ﷺ; then He — exalted be His praise — sent down: واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين على ملك سليمان (And they followed what the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān) — that is to say that which the devils wrote of sorcery and disbelief — وما كفر سليمان ولكن الشياطين كفروا (and Sulaymān did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved). Thus Allah — Mighty and Exalted — sent [this] down and acquitted him.
1381 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā al-Ṣanʿānī related to me, saying: al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard ʿImrān ibn Ḥudayr, on the authority of Abū Mijlaz, saying: Sulaymān took from every animal a covenant, and when a man was afflicted and that covenant was invoked, he was released. The people saw the rhymed prose and the sorcery and said: "Sulaymān practiced this." Then Allah — exalted be His praise — said: وما كفر سليمان ولكن الشياطين كفروا يعلمون الناس السحر (And Sulaymān did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved; they taught the people sorcery).
1382 — Abū Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of ʿImrān ibn al-Ḥārith, saying: While we were with Ibn ʿAbbās, a man came to him, and Ibn ʿAbbās said to him: "From where have you come?" He said: "From Iraq." He said: "From where there?" He said: "From Kūfa." He said: "And what is the news?" He said: "I left them while they were saying that ʿAlī would come forth to them." He was startled and said: "What are you saying, may you have no father! If we had believed that, we would not have married his wives nor divided his inheritance. Truly, I shall tell you about that: the devils used to steal the listening from heaven, and one of them would come with a true word that he had heard; and when he told something true, he added to it seventy lies. He said: Then the hearts of the people would absorb it; and Allah informed Sulaymān about that, and he buried it under his throne. When Sulaymān, the son of Dāwūd, died, a devil stood along the road and said: "Shall I direct you to his inaccessible treasure, the like of which there is none? Under the throne." They brought it out and said: "This is sorcery." Thus the nations passed it on from generation to generation, until their remnants [are] what the people of Iraq relate. Then Allah sent down the acquittal of Sulaymān: واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين على ملك سليمان وما كفر سليمان ولكن الشياطين كفروا يعلمون الناس السحر (And they followed what the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān; and Sulaymān did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved; they taught the people sorcery).
1383 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, saying: It was related to us — and Allah knows best — that the devils fashioned a book in which there was sorcery and a tremendous matter, and then spread it among the people and taught it to them. When Sulaymān, the prophet of Allah ﷺ, heard of that, he tracked down those books, brought them together, and buried them under his throne, because he abhorred that the people should learn them. When Allah took His prophet Sulaymān to Himself, the devils had recourse to it and brought them out from the place where they were, and taught them to the people, and informed them that this was knowledge that Sulaymān had concealed and kept for himself. Then Allah declared His prophet Sulaymān free and pronounced him innocent of that, and He said — exalted be His praise —: وما كفر سليمان ولكن الشياطين كفروا (And Sulaymān did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved).
* — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, saying: The devils wrote books in which there was sorcery and shirk, and then those books were buried under the throne of Sulaymān. When Sulaymān died, the people brought out those books and said: "This is knowledge that Sulaymān concealed from us." Then Allah — Mighty and Exalted — said: واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين على ملك سليمان وما كفر سليمان ولكن الشياطين كفروا يعلمون الناس السحر (And they followed what the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān; and Sulaymān did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved; they taught the people sorcery).
1384 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His words: واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين على ملك سليمان (And they followed what the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān). He said: The devils listened to the revelation from heaven, and whatever statement they heard, to it they added something of the like. And Sulaymān took what they had written down of it and buried it under his throne; when he died, the devils found it and taught it to the people.
1385 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Abū Bakr, on the authority of Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, saying: When Sulaymān was deprived of his kingdom, the devils wrote down the sorcery during the absence of Sulaymān, and they wrote: whoever wishes to attain such and such, let him face the sun and say such and such, and whoever wishes to do such and such, let him turn his back to the sun and say such and such. Thus they wrote it and made its title: "This is what Āṣaf ibn Barakhyā wrote for King Sulaymān, the son of Dāwūd, from the treasures of the hidden things of knowledge," and then buried it under his throne. When Sulaymān died, Iblīs stood up as an orator and said: "O people, Sulaymān was not a prophet, he was only a sorcerer; seek his sorcery in his possessions and his houses!" Then he showed them the place where it was buried, and they said: "By Allah, Sulaymān was indeed a sorcerer; this is his sorcery, with this he subjugated us and with this he overpowered us." The believers said: "No, he was a believing prophet." When Allah sent the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, he began to mention the prophets until he mentioned Dāwūd and Sulaymān, and the Jews said: "Look at Muḥammad, he mixes the truth with falsehood; he mentions Sulaymān among the prophets, while he was only a sorcerer who rode upon the wind." Then Allah sent down the acquittal of Sulaymān: واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين على ملك سليمان (And they followed what the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān) — the entire verses.
1386 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq related to me: وما كفر سليمان ولكن الشياطين كفروا يعلمون الناس السحر (And Sulaymān did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved; they taught the people sorcery). That was because the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — as has been reported to me — when he mentioned Sulaymān, the son of Dāwūd, among the messengers, some rabbis of the Jews said: "Do you not wonder at Muḥammad, that he claims that the son of Dāwūd was a prophet? By Allah, he was nothing but a sorcerer!" Then Allah sent down concerning that, in response to their words: وما كفر سليمان ولكن الشياطين كفروا (And Sulaymān did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved) — that is to say by their following of the sorcery and their acting according to it — وما أنزل على الملكين ببابل هاروت وماروت (and [what] was sent down upon the two angels at Bābil, Hārūt and Mārūt).
Abū Jaʿfar said: If the matter is as we have described, and the explanation of His words واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين على ملك سليمان وما كفر سليمان ولكن الشياطين كفروا (And they followed what the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān; and Sulaymān did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved) is that which we have mentioned, then it is clear that there is something omitted in the statement, the mention of which is passed over because what is mentioned sufficed; and that the meaning of the statement is: واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين (And they followed what the devils recited) of sorcery على ملك سليمان (in the kingdom of Sulaymān), and thus they ascribed it to Sulaymān, وما كفر سليمان (and Sulaymān did not disbelieve) by practicing the sorcery, ولكن الشياطين كفروا يعلمون الناس السحر (but the devils disbelieved; they taught the people sorcery). And Qatāda explained His words وما كفر سليمان ولكن الشياطين كفروا (And Sulaymān did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved) as we have stated.
1387 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words: وما كفر سليمان ولكن الشياطين كفروا (And Sulaymān did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved): he says: it did not proceed from his counsel, nor from any approval of his; rather it was something that the devils invented apart from him.
And we have already earlier pointed out the disagreements of those who differed concerning the meaning of "tatlū" (they recite), and the position of whoever understood "tatlū" in the meaning of "talat" (they recited), since what precedes it is a report in the past tense, namely His words واتبعوا (and they followed), and the position of those who understood it otherwise. And we have, concerning that and what resembles it, clarified the correct judgment, so that this makes it unnecessary to repeat it in this place. And as for the meaning of His words ما تتلوا (what they recite), it is "that which they recite," and that is the sorcery.
1388 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: واتبعوا ما تتلوا الشياطين على ملك سليمان (And they followed what the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān) — that is to say the sorcery.
Abū Jaʿfar said: Perhaps someone will say: "Did sorcery then exist only in the days of Sulaymān?" He is answered: Indeed, it existed even before that time. For Allah has informed about the sorcerers of Firʿawn what He has informed about them, and they were before Sulaymān; and He has informed about the people of Nūḥ that they said to Nūḥ that he was a sorcerer. He said: How then does He inform about the Jews that they followed what the devils recited in the time of Sulaymān? To this it is answered: Because they ascribed that to Sulaymān, in the manner that we have already clarified, Allah — exalted be His mention — wished to declare Sulaymān free of what they falsely imputed to him and ascribed to him of what they had found, whether in his treasuries or under his throne, in accordance with the traditions that we have mentioned concerning that. Therefore He restricted the report about what the Jews had followed to what the devils recited in the days of Sulaymān, and not in another time, for that reason, although the devils had already recited the sorcery and disbelief before that time.
وما أنزل على الملكين ببابل هاروت وماروت
**The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وما أنزل على الملكين ببابل هاروت وماروت** (and [what] was sent down upon the two angels at Bābil, Hārūt and Mārūt)
The people of knowledge differed concerning the explanation of the word "mā" (what / not) in His words وما أنزل على الملكين (and [what / not] was sent down upon the two angels). Some said: Its meaning is negation, and it has the meaning of "lam" (not).
Mention of who said that:
1389 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His words: وما أنزل على الملكين ببابل هاروت وماروت (and [what] was sent down upon the two angels at Bābil, Hārūt and Mārūt): he says: Allah did not send down the sorcery.
1390 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to me, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas: وما أنزل على الملكين (and [what] was sent down upon the two angels). He said: Allah did not send down the sorcery upon the two of them.
The explanation of the verse according to this meaning that we have mentioned on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās and al-Rabīʿ — namely their understanding of the meaning of His words وما أنزل على الملكين (and not was sent down upon the two angels) as "and there was not sent down upon the two angels" — is thus: they followed that which the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān of sorcery, and Sulaymān did not disbelieve, and Allah did not send down the sorcery upon the two angels, ولكن الشياطين كفروا يعلمون الناس السحر (but the devils disbelieved; they taught the people sorcery) at Bābil, Hārūt and Mārūt. In that case His words ببابل وهاروت وماروت (at Bābil, and Hārūt and Mārūt) belong to the postponed of which the meaning is precedence.
If someone says to us: And how is the manner of precedence of that? Then it is answered: The manner of its precedence is that one says: And they followed what the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān, and [what] was not sent down upon the two angels, but the devils disbelieved; they taught the people sorcery at Bābil, Hārūt and Mārūt. In that case, by the two angels Jibrīl and Mīkāʾīl are meant; for the sorcerers of the Jews claimed — according to what is mentioned — that Allah had sent down the sorcery by the tongue of Jibrīl and Mīkāʾīl upon Sulaymān, the son of Dāwūd. Then Allah declared them liars thereby and informed His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ that Jibrīl and Mīkāʾīl had never descended with sorcery, and He declared Sulaymān free of the sorcery that they falsely imputed to him, and informed them that the sorcery is the work of the devils, and that they teach the people at Bābil, and that those who teach them that are two men, of whom the one is called Hārūt and the other Mārūt. According to this explanation, Hārūt and Mārūt are then a closer specification of "the people" and a reference to them.
Others said: No, the explanation of "mā" in His words وما أنزل على الملكين (and what was sent down upon the two angels) is "that which" (alladhī).
Mention of who said that:
1391 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar said: Qatāda and al-Zuhrī said, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh: وما أنزل على الملكين ببابل هاروت وماروت (and what was sent down upon the two angels at Bābil, Hārūt and Mārūt). The two of them were two angels of the angels, and they were sent down to judge among the people. That was because the angels mocked the judgments of the sons of Ādam. He said: A woman brought a lawsuit before the two of them, and they were partial in her favor; then they wished to ascend again, but that was withheld from them, and they were given the choice between the punishment of this world and the punishment of the Hereafter, and they chose the punishment of this world. Maʿmar said: Qatāda said: Thus they taught the people the sorcery, but it was imposed upon them that they should teach no one unless they first said: "We are only a trial, so do not disbelieve."
1392 — Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: As for His words: وما أنزل على الملكين ببابل هاروت وماروت (and what was sent down upon the two angels at Bābil, Hārūt and Mārūt) — this is another sorcery with which they likewise disputed with him; he says: they disputed with him on the basis of what was sent down upon the two angels. And the words of the angels between themselves, when the people learned them and applied them and acted according to them, were sorcery.
1393 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words: يعلمون الناس السحر وما أنزل على الناس ببابل هاروت وماروت (they taught the people sorcery and what was sent down upon the people at Bābil, Hārūt and Mārūt): The sorcery is thus twofold: sorcery that the devils teach, and sorcery that Hārūt and Mārūt teach.
1394 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His words: وما أنزل على الملكين ببابل هاروت وماروت (and what was sent down upon the two angels at Bābil, Hārūt and Mārūt). He said: The separating between the man and his wife.
1395 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: ولكن الشياطين كفروا يعلمون الناس السحر وما أنزل على الملكين (but the devils disbelieved; they taught the people sorcery and what was sent down upon the two angels). And he recited on until he reached: فلا تكفر (so do not disbelieve). He said: The devils and the two angels taught the people the sorcery.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The meaning of the verse according to the explanation of this statement that we have mentioned on the authority of whom we have mentioned it, is thus: And the Jews followed that which the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān, [namely] that which was sent down upon the two angels at Bābil, and Hārūt and Mārūt. And the two of them were two angels of the angels of Allah; we shall — if Allah the Exalted wills — mention what has been transmitted of reports about their affair.
And they said: If someone says to us: "Is it permissible that Allah should send down the sorcery, or is it permissible for His angels that they should teach it to the people?" — then we say to him: Allah — Mighty and Exalted — has sent down the good and the evil all of it, and He has clarified all of that for His servants, and revealed it to His messengers and commanded them to teach His creatures and to make them know what is permitted to them and what is forbidden to them; and that is like zinā, theft, and the rest of the sins that He has made them know and that He has forbidden them to commit. The sorcery is one of those sins that He has made known to them and that He has forbidden them to practice. They said: There is no sin in the knowledge of the sorcery, just as there is no sin in the knowledge of the brewing of wine, the hewing of idols, the making of lutes and playthings; the sin lies only in the making and fashioning of them. They said: And likewise there is no sin in the knowledge of the sorcery; the sin lies only in practicing it and in harming with it whoever it is not permissible to harm. They said: There is thus no sin in its being sent down by Allah upon the two angels, nor in the two angels' teaching it to whom they taught it of the people, when their teaching to whom they taught it took place with the permission of Allah to them to teach it, after they would inform him that they were a trial and would forbid him the sorcery and the practicing of it and the disbelief; the sin rests only upon whoever learns it from the two of them and acts according to it, since Allah — exalted be His mention — has forbidden him to learn it and to act according to it. They said: And if Allah had permitted the sons of Ādam to learn that, then there would be no objection for whoever learned it, just as there was no objection for the two of them because of their knowledge of it, since their knowledge of it proceeded from the sending down by Allah to the two of them.
Others said: The meaning of "mā" is the meaning of "alladhī" (that which), and it is a conjunction (ʿaṭf) upon the first "mā," except that the first has the meaning of the sorcery and the latter has the meaning of the separating between the man and his wife. The explanation of the verse according to this statement is thus: And they followed the sorcery that the devils recited in the kingdom of Sulaymān, and the separation between the man and his wife that was sent down upon the two angels at Bābil, Hārūt and Mārūt.
Mention of who said that:
1396 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: وما أنزل على الملكين ببابل هاروت وماروت (and what was sent down upon the two angels at Bābil, Hārūt and Mārūt) — and the two of them taught that by which one separates between the man and his wife, and that is the words of Allah — exalted be His praise —: وما كفر سليمان ولكن الشياطين كفروا (And Sulaymān did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved). And he used to say: As for the sorcery, only the devils teach it; and as for that which the two angels teach, that is the separating between the man and his wife, as Allah the Exalted said.
Others said: It is permissible that "mā" have the meaning of "alladhī" (that which), and it is permissible that "mā" have the meaning of "lam" (not).
Mention of who said that:
1397 — Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: al-Layth ibn Saʿd related to me, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad — and a man asked him about the words of Allah: يعلمون الناس السحر وما أنزل على الملكين بابل هاروت وماروت (they taught the people sorcery and what was sent down upon the two angels [at] Bābil, Hārūt and Mārūt) — and the man said: "Do the two of them teach the people what was sent down upon them, or do the two of them teach the people what was not sent down upon them?" Al-Qāsim said: "I do not care which of the two it was."
* — Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Bishr ibn ʿIyāḍ related to us, on the authority of some of his companions, that al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad was asked about the words of Allah — exalted be His mention —: وما أنزل على الملكين (and what was sent down upon the two angels). And it was said to him: "Was it sent down or was it not sent down?" He said: "I do not care which of the two it was, except that I believe in it."
The correct judgment regarding that is, in my opinion, the statement of whoever understands "mā" in His words وما أنزل على الملكين (and what was sent down upon the two angels) in the meaning of "alladhī" (that which), and not in the meaning of "mā" that means negation. I have chosen that only because, if "mā" is understood in the meaning of negation, it negates from the two angels that anything was sent down to them. And the two names that follow it — I mean Hārūt and Mārūt — can then be nothing other than either a substitution (badal) for the two angels and a closer specification of them, or a substitution for "the people" in His words يعلمون الناس السحر (they taught the people sorcery) and a closer specification of them. If the two of them are made a substitution for the two angels and a closer specification of them, then the meaning of His words وما يعلمان من أحد حتى يقولا إنما نحن فتنة فلا تكفر فيتعلمون منهما ما يفرقون به بين المرء وزوجه (and the two of them taught no one until they said: "We are only a trial, so do not disbelieve"; and so they learned from the two of them that by which they separate between the man and his wife) falls away, for if the two of them were not aware of that by which one separates between the man and his wife, then what is it that is learned from the two of them by whoever separates between the man and his wife?
And furthermore: if "mā" in His words وما أنزل على الملكين (and what was sent down upon the two angels) were in the meaning of negation, as a conjunction upon His words وما كفر سليمان (and Sulaymān did not disbelieve), then Allah — exalted be His praise — by His words وما كفر سليمان (and Sulaymān did not disbelieve) has negated of Sulaymān that the sorcery should be his work, his knowledge, or his teaching. If, then, that which is negated of the two angels of that is equal to that which is negated of Sulaymān of that, and Hārūt and Mārūt are the two angels, from whom then is that learned by which one separates between the man and his wife? And about whom is the report that He gives with His words وما يعلمان من أحد حتى يقولا إنما نحن فتنة فلا تكفر (and the two of them taught no one until they said: "We are only a trial, so do not disbelieve")? Truly, the falsity of this statement is plain and clear.
And if His words "Hārūt and Mārūt" are a closer specification of "the people" in His words ولكن الشياطين كفروا يعلمون الناس السحر (but the devils disbelieved; they taught the people sorcery), then it is necessary that it is the devils who teach Hārūt and Mārūt the sorcery, and that the sorcerers learned the sorcery only from Hārūt and Mārūt through the teaching of the devils to the two of them. If that is so, then Hārūt and Mārūt, according to whoever claims this, can be nothing other than one of two cases: either the two of them are angels — and if according to him the two of them are angels, then he has attributed to the two of them, of disbelief in Allah and disobedience toward Him, by ascribing to them that they learn the sorcery from the devils and teach it to the people, and through their persistence in it and their continuation in it, [something] greater than what is mentioned about them that they committed of disobedience for which they deserved the punishment; and in the report of Allah — Mighty and Exalted — about the two of them, that they teach no one anything of what is learned from the two of them until they say: إنما نحن فتنة فلا تكفر (We are only a trial, so do not disbelieve), is enough to make detailed elaboration in the proof of the falsity of this statement unnecessary. Or the two of them are two men of the sons of Ādam — and if that is so, then it would have been necessary that with their demise the sorcery and the knowledge of it and the practicing of it among the sons of Ādam would have been abolished, for if the knowledge of it is obtained from the two of them and learned from the two of them, then it is necessary that with their demise and their absence there is no longer any way to attain that which one could attain only through the two of them; and in the existence of the sorcery in every time and at every moment is the clearest proof of the unsoundness of this statement. Perhaps whoever says that will claim that the two of them are two men of the sons of Ādam who have not been absent from the earth since it was created, and who will not be absent after the sorcery has been found among the people — and then he claims what is not hidden in its foolishness.
If, then, these ways [of explanation], whose unsoundness we have demonstrated, are unsound, then it is clear that the meaning of "mā" in His words وما أنزل على الملكين (and what was sent down upon the two angels) is "alladhī" (that which), and that Hārūt and Mārūt are a closer specification of the two angels; and therefore the endings of their names are vocalized with a fatḥa, because they are in the position of the genitive (khafḍ) as a reference back to the two angels, but because they are not declined [with tanwīn], the endings of their names are vocalized with a fatḥa.
If what we have said should become confused for someone of dull understanding, so that he says: "And how is it permissible for the angels of Allah that they should teach the people the separating between the man and his wife? Or how is it permissible that the sending down of that upon the angels should be ascribed to Allah — blessed and exalted be He?" — then it is said to him: Allah — exalted be His praise — has made known to His servants all that He has commanded them and all that He has forbidden them, and then commanded and forbidden [them something] after they had knowledge of what was commanded and forbidden to them. And if the matter were otherwise, then the command and the prohibition would have no intelligible meaning. The sorcery belongs to that which He has forbidden His servants of the sons of Ādam, so it is not reprehensible that He — exalted be His praise — taught it to the two angels whom He has named in His revelation, and made them a trial for His servants of the sons of Ādam, as He informed about the two of them that they say to whoever learns that from them: إنما نحن فتنة فلا تكفر (We are only a trial, so do not disbelieve), so that He might by the two of them try His servants whom He has forbidden to separate between the man and his wife and whom He has forbidden the sorcery, so that the believer is purified by his refraining from learning it from the two of them, and the disbeliever is disgraced by his learning the sorcery and the disbelief from the two of them; and the two angels are, in their teaching to whom they taught that, obedient toward Allah, since with the permission of Allah to them to teach that, they taught it to whom they taught it.
And already a number of the awliyāʾ (beloved ones) of Allah have been worshipped apart from Allah, and that did not harm them, since that did not occur by their command for it; rather some of them were worshipped while the one who was worshipped forbade it. Likewise the sorcerers, whoever of them learned the sorcery from the two of them, do not harm the two angels, after the two of them had forbidden him it and admonished him with their words: إنما نحن فتنة فلا تكفر (We are only a trial, so do not disbelieve), since the two of them had fulfilled what was commanded of them with that statement of theirs. As:
1398 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of ʿAwf, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His words: وما أنزل على الملكين ببابل هاروت وماروت (and what was sent down upon the two angels at Bābil, Hārūt and Mārūt) up to His words: فلا تكفر (so do not disbelieve): that was imposed upon the two of them.
**Mention of some of the reports that clarify [the affair of] the two angels, and of who said that Hārūt and Mārūt are the two angels whom Allah — exalted be His praise — mentioned in His words ببابل (at Bābil):**
1399 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʿādh ibn Hishām related to us, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of Qatāda, saying: Abū Shaʿba al-ʿAdawī related to us, at the funeral of Yūnus ibn Jubayr Abū Ghallāb, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, saying: Allah opened the heaven for His angels, so that they looked upon the deeds of the sons of Ādam. When they saw them committing the sins, they said: "O Lord, these are the sons of Ādam, whom You created with Your hand, before whom You made Your angels prostrate, and to whom You taught the names of all things, and they commit the sins." He said: "Truly, if you were in their place, you would commit the same deeds as they." They said: "Glory be to You, that would not befit us." He said: Then they were commanded to choose who would descend to the earth. He said: They chose Hārūt and Mārūt, and the two of them were sent down to the earth, and there was permitted to them what was on it, except that they should not associate anything with Allah, should not steal, should not commit zinā, should not drink wine, and should not kill the soul that Allah has forbidden [to kill], except in right. He said: They did not persevere, until a woman to whom half of beauty had been apportioned, called Bīdhukht, appeared to them, and when the two of them saw her, they desired to commit zinā with her. She said: "No, unless you associate partners with Allah, drink wine, kill the soul, and prostrate to this idol." The two of them said: "We shall not associate anything with Allah." Then the one said to the other: "Return to her." She said: "No, unless you drink wine!" Then the two of them drank until they were intoxicated, and a beggar entered upon them and they killed him. When they fell into the evil, Allah opened the heaven for His angels, and they said: "Glory be to You, You knew better!" He said: Then Allah revealed to Sulaymān, the son of Dāwūd, that he should give the two of them the choice between the punishment of this world and the punishment of the Hereafter, and they chose the punishment of this world, and the two of them were chained from their ankles to their necks, [as thick] as the necks of camels, and they were placed at Bābil.
* — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥajjāj ibn al-Minhāl related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Zayd, on the authority of Abū ʿUthmān al-Nahdī, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd and Ibn ʿAbbās, that the two of them said: When the sons of Ādam became numerous and became disobedient, the angels and the earth and the heaven and the mountains cried out against them [to Allah]: "Our Lord, will You not destroy them?" Then Allah revealed to the angels: "Truly, if I were to send down the desire and the devil into your hearts and you were to descend, then you would likewise act [so]." He said: Then they said within themselves that if they were tried, they would guard themselves. Then Allah revealed to them: "Choose two angels from your best." And they chose Hārūt and Mārūt, and the two of them were sent down to the earth, and al-Zuhara (Venus) was sent down to them in the form of a woman of the people of Persia, and the Persians called her "Bīdhukht." He said: Then the two of them fell into the sin, and the angels sought forgiveness for those who believed: ربنا وسعت كل شيء رحمة وعلما فاغفر للذين تابوا (Our Lord, You encompass all things in mercy and knowledge, so forgive those who repent). When the two of them fell into the sin, they sought forgiveness for whoever was on the earth: ألا إن الله هو الغفور الرحيم (Truly, Allah is the Forgiving, the Merciful). Then the two of them were given the choice between the punishment of this world and the punishment of the Hereafter, and they chose the punishment of this world.
1400 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of Khālid al-Ḥadhdhāʾ, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Saʿīd, saying: I heard ʿAlī say: Al-Zuhara was a beautiful woman of the people of Persia, and she brought a lawsuit before the two angels Hārūt and Mārūt, and the two of them desired her and wished to seduce her, but she refused, unless they would teach her the words by which, when one utters them, [illegible — the text breaks off here].
