Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:210
Do they await but that Allah should come to them in covers of clouds and the angels [as well] and the matter is [then] decided? And to Allah [all] matters are returned.
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.
Discussion of the interpretation of His, the Exalted, words: هَلْ يَنْظُرُونَ إِلا أَنْ يَأْتِيَهُمُ اللَّهُ فِي ظُلَلٍ مِنَ الْغَمَامِ وَالْمَلائِكَةُ ("Are they waiting for anything other than that Allah should come to them in shadows of clouds, with the angels?")
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His praise, means by this: are those who declared the Prophet ﷺ and what he brought to be lies waiting for anything other than that Allah should come to them in shadows of clouds, with the angels?
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Then the reciters differed concerning the reading of His words: "and the angels" (wa-l-malāʾika).
&; 4-261 &;
Some of them read: "Are they waiting for anything other than that Allah should come to them in shadows of clouds, and the angels (wa-l-malāʾikatu)", with the nominative (rafʿ), whereby "the angels" is grammatically conjoined (ʿaṭf) to the name of Allah, blessed and exalted is He, in the sense of: are they waiting for anything other than that Allah and the angels should come to them in shadows of clouds.
* Mention of who said that:
4032 — Aḥmad ibn Yūsuf related to me, on the authority of Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām, who said: ʿAbdallāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar al-Rāzī related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, who said — concerning the reading of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb: "Are they waiting for anything other than that Allah and the angels should come to them in shadows of clouds" —: The angels come in shadows of clouds, and Allah, mighty and exalted is He, comes as He wills.
4033 — And this narration was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, his words: "Are they waiting for anything other than that Allah should come to them in shadows of clouds, with the angels", the verse. And Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī said: And in some readings it runs: "Are they waiting for anything other than that Allah and the angels should come to them in shadows of clouds", like His words: وَيَوْمَ تَشَقَّقُ السَّمَاءُ بِالْغَمَامِ وَنُزِّلَ الْمَلائِكَةُ تَنْـزِيلا [al-Furqān: 25] ("And on the day that the heaven splits open with the clouds and the angels are sent down, a true sending down").
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Others read it as: "Are they waiting for anything other than that Allah should come to them in shadows of clouds, and the angels (wa-l-malāʾikati)", with the genitive (khafḍ), whereby "the angels" is grammatically conjoined to "the shadows", in the sense of: are they waiting for anything other than that Allah should come to them in shadows of clouds and in the angels.
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Likewise the reciters differed over the reading of "shadows" (ẓulal). Some of them read it: "in ẓulal", and some: "in ẓilāl".
Whoever read it as "in ẓulal" understood it as the plural of "ẓulla" (shadow, canopy). And "al-ẓulla" in the plural becomes "ẓulal" and "ẓilāl", just as "al-khulla" (friendship) makes the plural "khulal" and "khilāl", and "al-julla" makes "julal" and "jilāl".
&; 4-262 &;
And as for the one who read it as "in ẓilāl", he made it the plural of "ẓulla", just as we mentioned concerning their plural formation of "al-khulla" into "khilāl".
It is also possible that its reciter understood it as being the plural of "ẓill" (shade, shadow), for "al-ẓulla" and "al-ẓill" are both gathered together into "ẓilāl".
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Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct reading thereof, in my judgment, is: "Are they waiting for anything other than that Allah should come to them in ẓulal of clouds", because of a narration related on the authority of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, that he said: "Beneath the clouds there are openings in which Allah comes, surrounded." And by his words "openings" (ṭāqāt) he indicated that they are ẓulal and not ẓilāl, for the singular of "al-ẓulal" is "ẓulla", and that is the opening (ṭāq) — and also out of agreement with the script of the muṣḥaf. And such is the obligatory ruling in everything whose meanings agree but over which the reciters differ in the reading, and for which there exists no indication for either reading distinguishing it from the other, except the difference in the script of the muṣḥaf: then one ought to prefer that reading which agrees with the script of the muṣḥaf.
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And as for the most preferred of the two readings in "and the angels": the correct one is with the nominative (rafʿ), whereby it is grammatically conjoined to the name of Allah, blessed and exalted is He, in the sense of: are they waiting for anything other than that Allah should come to them in shadows of clouds, and that the angels should come to them — in accordance with what is related on the authority of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb. For Allah, exalted is His praise, has reported in more than one place in His Book that the angels come to them. Thus He said, exalted is His praise: وَجَاءَ رَبُّكَ وَالْمَلَكُ صَفًّا صَفًّا [al-Fajr: 22] ("And your Lord comes, and the angels rank upon rank"), and He said: هَلْ يَنْظُرُونَ إِلا أَنْ تَأْتِيَهُمُ الْمَلائِكَةُ أَوْ يَأْتِيَ رَبُّكَ أَوْ يَأْتِيَ بَعْضُ آيَاتِ رَبِّكَ [al-Anʿām: 158] ("Are they waiting for anything other than that the angels should come to them, or that your Lord should come, or that some of the signs of your Lord should come?"). If anyone is confused by Allah's words, exalted is His praise, وَالْمَلَكُ صَفًّا صَفًّا ("and the angel rank upon rank"), and thinks that its meaning contradicts the meaning of His words "are they waiting for anything other than that Allah should come to them in shadows of clouds, with the angels" &; 4-263 &; — because His words "and the angels" (al-malāʾika) in this verse are in the plural form and in the other in the singular form — then that is an error of thought. That is because "the angel" (al-malak) in His words وَجَاءَ رَبُّكَ وَالْمَلَكُ ("And your Lord comes, and the angel") has the meaning of the plural, namely the meaning of "the angels". For the Arabs name the singular with the meaning of the plural, and say: "So-and-so has much dirham and dinar" — by which the dirhams and dinars are meant — and "the camel and the sheep has perished", in the meaning of the herd of camels and sheep. Likewise His words "and the angel" in the meaning of "the angels".
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Abū Jaʿfar said: Then the exegetes differed over His words "shadows of clouds": is this connected to the act of Allah, exalted is His praise, or to the act of "the angels", and who is it that comes therein? Some of them said: it is connected to the act of Allah, and its meaning is: are they waiting for anything other than that Allah should come to them in shadows of clouds, and that the angels should come to them.
* Mention of who said that:
4034 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, who said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning Allah's words, mighty and exalted is He: "Are they waiting for anything other than that Allah should come to them in shadows of clouds", he said: It is something other than the ordinary clouds; it existed only for the Children of Israel during their wandering when they roamed about, and it is that in which Allah comes on the Day of Resurrection.
4035 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, who said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, who said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda: "Are they waiting for anything other than that Allah should come to them in shadows of clouds", he said: Allah comes to them and the angels come to them at death.
4036 — Al-Qāsim related to us, who said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, who said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: ʿIkrima said concerning His words: "Are they waiting for anything other than that Allah should come to them in shadows of clouds", he said: Openings of the clouds, and the angels around them. Ibn Jurayj said: And another said: and the angels with death.
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&; 4-264 &;
This statement of ʿIkrima — although it agrees with the statement of the one who said that His words "in shadows of clouds" are connected to the act of the Lord, blessed and exalted is He, as we mentioned earlier — nevertheless contradicts it as regards the manner of the angels. That is because the obligatory reading — according to the interpretation of this statement of ʿIkrima concerning "the angels" — is the genitive (khafḍ), for he interpreted the verse as: are they waiting for anything other than that Allah should come to them in shadows of clouds and in the angels, since he claimed that Allah, the Exalted, comes in shadows of clouds while the angels are around Him.
This holds if he understood his words "and the angels around them" to mean that they are around the clouds, and made the "hāʾ" in "around them" refer back to "the clouds". But if he understood his words "and the angels around them" to mean that they are around the Lord, blessed and exalted is He, and made the "hāʾ" in "around them" refer back to the Lord, mighty and exalted is He, then his statement is equivalent to the statement of the others whose statement we have mentioned, and not in contradiction with it.
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Others said: No, His words "in shadows of clouds" are connected to the act of "the angels", and it is only the angels who come therein; but the Lord, exalted is His mention, comes as He wills.
* Mention of who said that:
4037 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, who said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His words: "Are they waiting for anything other than that Allah should come to them in shadows of clouds, with the angels", the verse, he said: That is on the Day of Resurrection; the angels come to them in shadows of clouds. He said: The angels come in shadows of clouds, and the Lord, the Exalted, comes as He wills.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: And the most correct of the two interpretations therein is the interpretation of the one who understood His words "in shadows of clouds" as being connected to the act of the Lord, mighty and exalted is He, and that its meaning is: are they waiting for anything other than that Allah should come to them in shadows of clouds, and that the angels should come to them — because of the following:
4038 — Muḥammad ibn Ḥumayd related this to us, who said: Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mukhtār related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Zamʿa ibn Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Salama ibn Wahrām, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: that the Prophet ﷺ said: "Beneath the clouds there are openings in which Allah comes, surrounded", and that is &; 4-265 &; His words: "Are they waiting for anything other than that Allah should come to them in shadows of clouds, with the angels, and the matter is decided."
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And as for the meaning of His words "are they waiting" (hal yanẓurūna): it is "they are not waiting" (mā yanẓurūna), and we have already expounded that with its grounds earlier in this book of ours.
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Then there was disagreement concerning the manner of the coming of the Lord, blessed and exalted is He, which He mentioned in His words "are they waiting for anything other than that Allah should come to them".
Some of them said: For that there is no further manner than that with which He has described Himself, mighty and exalted is He: the coming (majīʾ), the approaching (ityān) and the descending (nuzūl); and it is not permitted for anyone to burden himself with a statement about that, except on the basis of a report from Allah, mighty is His majesty, or from a sent messenger. For as for the statement about Allah's attributes and names, that is not permitted for anyone by means of one's own deduction, except in the manner we have mentioned.
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Others said: His coming, mighty and exalted is He, is like what is known of the coming of one who comes from one place to another, and his moving from one location to another.
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Others said: The meaning of His words "are they waiting for anything other than that Allah should come to them" is: are they waiting for anything other than that Allah's command (amr) should come to them — as one says: "We feared that the Banū Umayya would come to us", by which their rule (ḥukm) is meant.
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&; 4-266 &;
Others said: No, the meaning thereof is: are they waiting for anything other than that His reward, His reckoning and His punishment should come to them — as He, mighty and exalted is He, said: بَلْ مَكْرُ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ [Sabaʾ: 33] ("Nay, it is the scheming of night and day"), and as one says: "The ruler cut off or struck the thief", while in reality his helpers cut him off.
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And we have already expounded the meaning of "the clouds" (al-ghamām) earlier in this book of ours, so that this absolves us from repeating it, for the meaning here is the same as the meaning there.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The meaning of the statement is thus: are those who refrain from entering into the submission (silm) collectively and who follow the footsteps of Satan waiting for anything other than that Allah should come to them in shadows of clouds, whereupon He decides in their case what He decides.
4039 — Abū Kurayb related to us, who said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Rāfiʿ al-Madanī, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Abī Ziyād, on the authority of a man of the Anṣār, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "On the Day of Resurrection you will be set up in one place for a duration of seventy years; you will not be looked upon and no judgment will be passed among you; you will be hemmed in, and you will weep until the tears cease, and after that you will weep blood, and you will weep until that reaches the chins among you — or until it restrains you like a bridle — and you will cry out. Then you will say: 'Who will plead for us with our Lord, that He may judge between us?' Then they will say: 'Who is more entitled to that than your father Ādam? Allah kneaded his clay, created him with His hand, breathed into him of His spirit, and spoke to him directly.' Then they come to Ādam and ask him that, but he refuses. Then they ask the prophets one by one, and each time they come to a prophet, he refuses." The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Until they come to me; and when they come to me, I set out until I come to al-Faḥṣ." Abū Hurayra said: O Messenger of Allah, what is al-Faḥṣ? He said: "Before the Throne. Then I fall down in prostration, and I remain in prostration &; 4-267 &; until Allah sends an angel to me, who grips me by my upper arms and raises me up. Then Allah says to me: 'O Muḥammad!' I say: 'Yes!' — and He knows best. He says: 'What is the matter with you?' I say: 'O Lord, You promised me the intercession, so let me intercede for Your creatures, and judge between them.' He says: 'I have granted you intercession; I come to you and judge between you.'" The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Then I return until I stand among the people. And while we are standing, we hear a violent rumbling from the heaven that strikes terror into us. Then the inhabitants of the lowest heaven descend, with double the number of those who are on the earth of jinn and men, until, when they draw near to the earth, the earth is made to shine by their light and they take up their ranks. Then we say to them: 'Is our Lord among you?' They say: 'No! But He is coming.' Then the inhabitants of the second heaven descend, with double the number of the angels who descended, and with double the number of those in it of jinn and men, until, when they draw near to the earth, the earth is made to shine by their light and they take up their ranks. Then we say to them: 'Is our Lord among you?' They say: 'No! But He is coming.' Then the inhabitants of the third heaven descend, with double the number of the angels who descended, and with double the number of those on the earth of jinn and men, until, when they draw near to the earth, the earth is made to shine by their light and they take up their ranks. Then we say to them: 'Is our Lord among you?' They say: 'No! But He is coming.' Then the inhabitants of the heavens descend to that number in doubling, until the Almighty (al-Jabbār) descends in shadows of clouds, with the angels, and they have a loud clamor of their glorification, saying: 'Glory be to the Possessor of dominion and sovereignty! Glory be to the Lord of the Throne, the Possessor of omnipotence! Glory be to the Living who does not die! Glory be to Him who causes the creatures to die but does not Himself die! Most Praiseworthy, Most Holy, Lord of the angels and the spirit! Holy, holy! Glory be to our Lord, the Most High! Glory be to the Possessor of power and grandeur! Glory be to Him, for ever and ever!' Then He descends, blessed and exalted is He; His Throne is borne on that day by eight, whereas now they are four; their feet stand upon the foundations of the lowest earth, and the heavens reach up to their waist-girdles, and the Throne rests upon their shoulders. Then Allah, mighty and exalted is He, places His Throne where He wills upon the earth. Then a herald calls with a call that the creatures hear, and he says: 'O company of jinn and men, since the day I created you up to this day I have listened to you in silence; I heard your words and saw your deeds. So listen to Me, for it is only your scrolls and your deeds that are read out to you. So whoever then finds good, let him praise Allah; and whoever finds something other than that, let him blame none but himself!' Then Allah, mighty and exalted is He, judges between His creatures, the jinn, the men and the beasts; and truly &; 4-268 &; on that day retribution is taken for the hornless beast from the horned beast."
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Abū Jaʿfar said: This narration indicates the incorrectness of the statement of Qatāda in his interpretation of His words "and the angels", that he means by it that the angels come to them at death. For he ﷺ mentioned that they come to them after the arrival of the Hour, at the place of the reckoning, when the heaven splits open. And a narration with the same import is related &; 4-269 &; on the authority of a group of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ and of the Followers, which we do not mention because we are averse to lengthening the book with the mention of them and of what they said about that. It also clarifies the correctness of what we have preferred in the reading of His words "and the angels" with the nominative (rafʿ), in the sense of: and the angels come to them. And it makes clear the incorrectness of the reading of the one who read it with the genitive (khafḍ), for he ﷺ reported that the angels come to the people of the Resurrection at their standing-place when the heaven bursts open, before their Lord comes to them in shadows of clouds — unless its reciter assumed that He, mighty and exalted is He, meant by it: except that Allah should come to them in shadows of clouds, and in the angels who come to the people of the standing-place when Allah comes to them in shadows of clouds. That would then be a possible interpretation, even though it is far removed from the statement of the people of knowledge, from the indication of the Book, and from the established narrations of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
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Discussion of the interpretation of His, the Exalted, words: وَقُضِيَ الأَمْرُ وَإِلَى اللَّهِ تُرْجَعُ الأُمُورُ (210) ("And the matter is decided, and to Allah all matters are returned").
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His praise, means by this: and the decision is carried out in justice between the creatures — in accordance with what we mentioned earlier on the authority of Abū Hurayra, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ: that from every wronged one his right is taken from every wrongdoer, up to and including the retribution for the hornless beast on the horned beast.
And as for His words "and to Allah all matters are returned": by it He means: and to Allah returns the decision between His creatures on the Day of Resurrection, and the judgment between them in their affairs that occurred in the worldly life — of the wronging of one by another, the transgressing by the transgressor among them of Allah's limits and the going against His decree, and the well-doing of the well-doer among them and his obedience to Him in what He commanded him. He then separates between those who mutually wrong one another, requites the people of well-doing with bounty, &; 4-270 &; and the people of evil-doing with what He sees fit, and He shows favor to whichever of them was not an unbeliever (kāfir) and forgives him. Therefore He said, exalted is His praise: "and to Allah all matters are returned", even though all the matters of this world and the hereafter have their beginning with Him and their destination to Him. For His creatures wrong one another in the worldly life, and sometimes in the worldly life a portion of His creatures undertakes the oversight between them, so that a portion of His servants judges between them: one acts unjustly and another justly, one hits upon the right and another errs, one is enabled to carry out the judgment over another, and for another that is made impossible because of the inviolability of his position and his predominance through power. Therefore He let His servants know, exalted is His mention, that the return of all this is to Him at the standing-place of the Resurrection, so that He may do justice to everyone with respect to everyone, and requite everyone with the true requital, there where there is no injustice and no impossibility of carrying out His judgment over him, and there where the weak and the strong are equal, and the poor and the rich, and injustice vanishes and the rule of justice descends.
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And He, mighty and exalted is He, added only the definite article "alif-lām" to "the matters" (al-umūr), because He, exalted is His praise, meant by it all matters, and did not mean by it a part to the exclusion of another part. That is then in the same sense as the statement of the one who says: "Honey pleases me" — and "the mule is stronger than the donkey": the definite article "alif-lām" is included therein, because it is not a part to the exclusion of another part that is meant by it, but only the general and the collective.
