Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:97
Say, "Whoever is an enemy to Gabriel - it is [none but] he who has brought the Qur'an down upon your heart, [O Muhammad], by permission of Allah, confirming that which was before it and as guidance and good tidings for the believers."
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.
The explanation of the words of Him, exalted is His praise: قُلْ مَنْ كَانَ عَدُوًّا لِجِبْرِيلَ فَإِنَّهُ نَزَّلَهُ عَلَى قَلْبِكَ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ
(Say: Whoever is an enemy of Jibrīl — indeed, he has sent it down upon your heart by the permission of Allah)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The scholars of interpretation (taʾwīl) are all in agreement that this verse was revealed as a response to the Jews of the Banū Isrāʾīl, when they claimed that Jibrīl was their enemy, and that Mīkāʾīl was their patron (walī). Then they differed concerning the occasion for why they said that. Some of them said: The occasion for their saying this was on account of a dispute that took place between them and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ concerning the matter of his prophethood.
* Mention of who said that:
1605 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Yūnus ibn Bukayr related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Bahrām, on the authority of Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he said: A group of Jews came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said: "O Abū al-Qāsim, tell us about matters that we shall ask you, which no one knows except a prophet." Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Ask whatever you wish, but give me the covenant of Allah, and what Yaʿqūb took from his sons: that if I tell you something which you then recognize, you will then follow me in Islam." They said: "That is granted to you." Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Ask me whatever you wish." They said: "Inform us about four matters which we ask you: inform us, what food did Isrāʾīl declare forbidden for himself before the Torah was sent down? And inform us, how is the fluid of the woman and the fluid of the man? And how does the male and the female come from it? And inform us about this unlettered prophet (al-nabī al-ummī) in sleep, and which of the angels is his patron?" Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Upon you rests the covenant of Allah that, if I inform you of this, you will then follow me!" Then they gave him what he desired of covenant and agreement. Then he said: "I adjure you by Him who sent down the Torah to Mūsā, do you know that Isrāʾīl contracted a severe illness and his ailment persisted long, and he then made a vow that, if Allah would cure him of his ailment, he would surely make forbidden to himself the food most beloved to him and the drink most beloved to him — and the food most beloved to him was camel meat" — Abū Jaʿfar said: as I relate it: "and the drink most beloved to him was their milk?" They said: "O Allah, yes." Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "I call Allah to witness against you, and I adjure you by Allah, besides whom there is no god, who sent down the Torah to Mūsā: do you know that the fluid of the man is white and thick, and that the fluid of the woman is yellow and thin, and that whichever of the two predominates, to it belongs the child and the resemblance, by the permission of Allah? Thus, when the fluid of the man predominates over the fluid of the woman, the child becomes male by the permission of Allah, and when the fluid of the woman predominates over the fluid of the man, the child becomes female by the permission of Allah?" They said: "O Allah, yes." He said: "O Allah, be witness!" He said: "And I adjure you by Him who sent down the Torah to Mūsā, do you know that this unlettered prophet — his eyes sleep, but his heart does not sleep?" They said: "O Allah, yes!" He said: "O Allah, be witness!" They said: "Now tell us which of the angels is your patron, and then we shall follow you or part from you." He said: "Indeed, my patron is Jibrīl, and Allah has never sent a prophet without his being his patron." They said: "Then here we part from you; had your patron been another of the angels, then we would have followed you and held you to be truthful." He said: "What prevents you from holding him to be truthful?" They said: "Indeed, he is our enemy." Then Allah, Mighty and Exalted, sent down: (Whoever is an enemy of Jibrīl — indeed, he has sent it down upon your heart by the permission of Allah) up to His words: كَأَنَّهُمْ لا يَعْلَمُونَ (as though they did not know). And then they turned back laden with wrath upon wrath.
1606 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī al-Ḥusayn — he means the Meccan — related to me, on the authority of Shahr ibn Ḥawshab al-Ashʿarī: that a group of Jews came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said: "O Muḥammad, inform us about four matters which we ask you; if you do so, we shall follow you, hold you to be truthful, and believe in you." Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Upon you rests for that the covenant of Allah and His agreement, that if I inform you of that, you will then hold me to be truthful?" They said: "Yes." He said: "Then ask whatever you wish." They said: "Inform us, how does the child resemble its mother, while the drop of seed is from the man?" Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "I adjure you by Allah and by His days among the Banū Isrāʾīl, do you know that the drop of seed of the man is white and thick, and the drop of seed of the woman is yellow and thin, and that whichever of the two predominates over the other, to it belongs the resemblance?" "Yes." They said: "Then inform us, how is your sleep?" He said: "I adjure you by Allah and by His days among the Banū Isrāʾīl, do you know that this unlettered prophet — his eyes sleep but his heart does not sleep?" They said: "O Allah, yes." He said: "O Allah, be witness!" They said: "Inform us, what food did Isrāʾīl declare forbidden for himself before the Torah was sent down?" He said: "Do you know that the food most beloved to him and the drink most beloved to him were camel milk and camel meat, and that he contracted an ailment and Allah cured him of it, and he then forbade the food most beloved to him and the drink most beloved to him in thankfulness to Allah, and so forbade for himself camel meat and camel milk?" They said: "O Allah, yes." They said: "Then inform us about the spirit (al-rūḥ)." He said: "I adjure you by Allah and by His days among the Banū Isrāʾīl, do you know that it is Jibrīl, and that it is he who comes to me?" They said: "Yes, but he is our enemy, and he is an angel who comes only with harshness and bloodshed; were it not for that, we would have followed you." Then Allah sent down concerning them: (Say: Whoever is an enemy of Jibrīl — indeed, he has sent it down upon your heart by the permission of Allah) up to His words: كَأَنَّهُمْ لا يَعْلَمُونَ (as though they did not know).
1607 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, saying: Al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza related to me: that the Jews asked the Prophet ﷺ: "Who is your companion who sends down the revelation (waḥy) upon you?" He said: "Jibrīl." They said: "Indeed, he is our enemy, and he comes only with war, harshness, and battle!" Then it was revealed: (Whoever is an enemy of Jibrīl), the verse. Ibn Jurayj said: And Mujāhid said: The Jews said: "O Muḥammad, Jibrīl descends only with harshness and war!" And they said: "Indeed, he is our enemy!" Then it was revealed: (Whoever is an enemy of Jibrīl), the verse.
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And others said: No, the occasion for their saying that was on account of a dispute that took place between ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb — may Allah be pleased with him — and them, concerning the matter of the Prophet ﷺ.
* Mention of who said that:
1608 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Rabʿī ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, who said: ʿUmar descended at al-Rawḥāʾ and saw men hastening to stones to pray beside them. He said: "What are these?" They said: "They claim that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed here." He disapproved of that and said: "How so? The Messenger of Allah ﷺ — the prayer overtook him in a valley and he prayed, and afterward he journeyed on and left it behind!" Then he began to tell them and said: "I used to visit the Jews on the day of their study (yawm midrāsihim), and I would marvel at the Torah, how it confirms the Furqān, and at the Furqān, how it confirms the Torah! While I was with them one day, they said: 'O Ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, there is no one among your companions dearer to us than you.' I said: 'And why is that?' They said: 'Because you visit us and come to us.' He said: I said: 'Indeed, I come to you and marvel at the Furqān, how it confirms the Torah, and at the Torah, how it confirms the Furqān!'" He said: And then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed by, and they said: "O Ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, that is your companion, so join him." He said: Then I said to them: "I adjure you by Allah, besides whom there is no god, and by what He has entrusted to you of His right and entrusted to you of His Book: do you know that he is the Messenger of Allah?" He said: Then they fell silent. He said: Then their scholar and their most eminent said: "Indeed, it has become heavy upon you, so answer him." They said: "You are our scholar and our master, so answer him yourself." He said: "Well then, since you have adjured us thereby, indeed, we know that he is the Messenger of Allah." He said: I said: "Woe to you! Then you are ruined!" They said: "Indeed, we are not ruined." He said: I said: "How so, while you know that he is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and yet you do not follow him and do not hold him to be truthful?" They said: "Indeed, we have an enemy among the angels and a peace-partner among the angels, and he has been paired with our enemy among the angels." He said: I said: "And who is your enemy? And who is your peace-partner?" They said: "Our enemy is Jibrīl, and our peace-partner is Mīkāʾīl." He said: I said: "And why have you taken Jibrīl as an enemy and made peace with Mīkāʾīl?" They said: "Indeed, Jibrīl is the angel of roughness, harshness, adversity, severity, punishment, and the like, and Mīkāʾīl is the angel of gentleness, mercy, relief, and the like." He said: I said: "And what is their rank with their Lord?" They said: "The one at His right side, the other at His left side." He said: I said: "By Allah, besides whom there is no god, indeed, the two of them and He who is between them are an enemy to whoever is hostile to them, and a peace-partner to whoever makes peace with them; it does not befit Jibrīl to make peace with the enemy of Mīkāʾīl, nor Mīkāʾīl to make peace with the enemy of Jibrīl!" He said: Thereupon I arose and followed the Prophet ﷺ, and I caught up with him as he was coming out from a palm-garden of the Banū So-and-So. He said to me: "O Ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, shall I recite to you verses that have been sent down?" And he recited to me: (Say: Whoever is an enemy of Jibrīl — indeed, he has sent it down upon your heart by the permission of Allah, confirming what was before it) until he recited the verses. He said: I said: "May my father and my mother be [a ransom] for you, O Messenger of Allah! By Him who sent you with the truth, indeed, I came wishing to bring you the report, and I hear that the Subtle, the All-Knowing has sent you the report before me!"
1609 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, who said: ʿUmar said: "I was a man who would visit the Jews on the day of their study," and then he mentioned something similar to the narration of Rabʿī.
1610 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: It was related to us that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb went one day to the Jews. When they saw him, they welcomed him. Then ʿUmar said to them: "Well then, by Allah, I have not come out of love for you, nor out of longing for you, but I have come to hear from you." Then he asked them and they asked him. They said: "Who is the companion of your companion?" He said to them: "Jibrīl." They said: "That is our enemy among the inhabitants of heaven; he informs Muḥammad of our secret, and when he comes, he comes with war and drought; but the companion of our companion is Mīkāʾīl, and when he came, he came with fertility and peace." Then ʿUmar said to them: "Do you then know Jibrīl and deny Muḥammad?" Thereupon ʿUmar parted from them and turned toward the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to tell him their words, and he found him while this verse had already been sent down upon him: (Say: Whoever is an enemy of Jibrīl — indeed, he has sent it down upon your heart by the permission of Allah).
1611 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ādam related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: It has reached us that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb went one day to the Jews, and then he mentioned something similar.
1612 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words: (Whoever is an enemy of Jibrīl), he said: The Jews said: "Indeed, Jibrīl is our enemy, for he descends with harshness, war, and drought, and Mīkāʾīl descends with abundance, well-being, and fertility; so Jibrīl is our enemy." Then Allah, exalted is His praise, said: (Whoever is an enemy of Jibrīl).
1613 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: (Say: Whoever is an enemy of Jibrīl — indeed, he has sent it down upon your heart by the permission of Allah, confirming what was before it), he said: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb had a plot of land in the upper part of Medina, and he used to go to it, and his way ran along the road of the study-place of the Jews, and whenever he entered upon them, he listened to them. One day he entered upon them, and they said: "O ʿUmar, there is no one among the companions of Muḥammad ﷺ dearer to us than you; they pass by us and harm us, but you pass by us and do not harm us, and indeed, we have hope in you." Then ʿUmar said to them: "Which oath is the most tremendous among you?" They said: "The Most Merciful, who sent down the Torah to Mūsā on Mount Sinai." Then ʿUmar said to them: "I adjure you by the Most Merciful, who sent down the Torah to Mūsā on Mount Sinai: do you find Muḥammad ﷺ [described] with you?" Then they fell silent. He said: "Speak, what is the matter with you? By Allah, I have not asked you while doubting anything of my religion." Then they looked at one another, and a man of them arose and said: "Inform the man, either you inform him, or I shall inform him." They said: "Yes, indeed, we find him written down with us, but his companion among the angels who brings him the revelation, that is Jibrīl, and Jibrīl is our enemy; and he is the companion of every punishment, or battle, or engulfment; and had his patron been Mīkāʾīl, then we would have believed in him, for Mīkāʾīl is the companion of every mercy and every rain." Then ʿUmar said to them: "I adjure you by the Most Merciful, who sent down the Torah to Mūsā on Mount Sinai: what is the place of Jibrīl with Allah?" They said: "Jibrīl is at His right side, and Mīkāʾīl at His left side." ʿUmar said: "Then I call you to witness that whoever is an enemy of him who is at His right side is an enemy of him who is at His left side; and whoever is an enemy of him who is at His left side is an enemy of him who is at His right side; and that whoever is an enemy of either of them, indeed, is an enemy of Allah." Then ʿUmar returned to inform the Prophet ﷺ, and he found that Jibrīl had preceded him with the revelation. The Prophet ﷺ called him and recited it to him. Then ʿUmar said: "By Him who sent you with the truth, indeed, I came to you wishing nothing other than to inform you!"
1614 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq ibn al-Ḥajjāj al-Rāzī related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mughrāʾ Abū Zuhayr related to us, on the authority of Mujālid, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, who said: ʿUmar went to the Jews and said: "Indeed, I adjure you by Him who sent down the Torah to Mūsā: do you find Muḥammad in your Book?" They said: "Yes." He said: "What prevents you from following him?" They said: "Indeed, Allah has not sent a messenger without his having a guarantor (kafīl) among the angels, and indeed, Jibrīl is the one who stands as guarantor for Muḥammad, and he is our enemy among the angels, and Mīkāʾīl is our peace-partner; were he the one who came to him, then we would follow him." He said: "Indeed, I adjure you by Him who sent down the Torah to Mūsā, what is their rank with the Lord of the Worlds?" They said: "Jibrīl is at His right side, and Mīkāʾīl at His other side." Then he said: "Indeed, I testify that the two of them speak only by the permission of Allah, and it does not befit Mīkāʾīl to be hostile to the peace-partner of Jibrīl, nor Jibrīl to make peace with the enemy of Mīkāʾīl." [While he was with them], the Prophet of Allah ﷺ passed by, and they said: "This is your companion, O Ibn al-Khaṭṭāb." Then he arose toward him and came to him, and upon him had already been sent down: (Whoever is an enemy of Jibrīl — indeed, he has sent it down upon your heart by the permission of Allah) up to His words: فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ عَدُوٌّ لِلْكَافِرِينَ (then indeed, Allah is an enemy to the disbelievers).
1615 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Ḥuṣayn ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān informed us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Laylā, concerning His words: (Whoever is an enemy of Jibrīl). He said: The Jews said to the Muslims: "Were Mīkāʾīl the one who descends upon you, then we would follow you, for he descends with mercy and rain, whereas Jibrīl descends with punishment and vengeance, and he is our enemy." He said: Then this verse was revealed: (Whoever is an enemy of Jibrīl).
1616 — Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Malik informed us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, something similar.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: As for the explanation of the verse — I mean His words: (Say: Whoever is an enemy of Jibrīl — indeed, he has sent it down upon your heart by the permission of Allah) — it is: that Allah says to His prophet: Say, O Muḥammad — to the groups of Jews of the Banū Isrāʾīl, who claimed that Jibrīl was their enemy because he is the companion of acts of violence, punishment, and penal measures, not the companion of revelation, sending down, and mercy, so that they refused to follow you, denied your prophethood, and rejected what you brought them of My signs and of the clear proofs of My judgment, because Jibrīl is your patron and the bearer of My revelation to you, and they claimed that he is their enemy —: Whoever of mankind is an enemy of Jibrīl, and denies that he is the bearer of the revelation of Allah to His prophets and the bearer of His mercy, indeed, I am his patron and intimate friend, and I affirm that he is the bearer of the revelation to His prophets and messengers, and that it is he who sends down the revelation of Allah upon my heart from my Lord, by the permission of my Lord for that, by which He strengthens my heart and fortifies my inmost being, as:—
1617 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd related to us, saying: Bishr ibn ʿUmāra related to us, on the authority of Abū Rawq, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His words: (Say: Whoever is an enemy of Jibrīl), he said: And that is, that the Jews said — when they asked Muḥammad ﷺ about many matters and he informed them about them as they were with them — "except [about] Jibrīl"; for Jibrīl was, in the view of the Jews, the companion of punishment and violence, and he was not, in their view, the companion of revelation — that is to say: the sending down of Allah upon His messengers — nor the companion of mercy. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ informed them, concerning what they asked him about: that Jibrīl is the bearer of the revelation of Allah, and the bearer of His vengeance, and the bearer of His mercy. Then they said: "He is not the bearer of revelation nor of mercy; he is our enemy!" Then Allah, Mighty and Exalted, sent down to declare them liars: (Say) O Muḥammad: (Whoever is an enemy of Jibrīl — indeed, he has sent it down upon your heart), He says: indeed, Jibrīl sent it down. He says: he sent down the Qurʾān — by the command of Allah, by which He strengthens your inmost being and fortifies your heart — He means: with Our revelation with which Jibrīl descended upon you from Allah; and likewise He did with the messengers and the prophets before you.
1618 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words: (Say: Whoever is an enemy of Jibrīl — indeed, he has sent it down upon your heart by the permission of Allah), He says: He sent down the Book upon your heart by the permission of Allah.
1619 — And it was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: (indeed, he has sent it down upon your heart), He says: Jibrīl sent down the Book upon your heart.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His praise, said only: (indeed, he has sent it down upon your heart) — and He means by it the heart of Muḥammad ﷺ, while He had commanded Muḥammad at the beginning of the verse to inform the Jews of that about himself — and He did not say: "indeed, he has sent it down upon my heart." But had it been said: "upon my heart," that would have been a correct utterance. For it is the custom of the Arabs, when they command a man to relate what was said to him about himself, that they sometimes render the action of the commanded one ascribed to the pronoun of the one who informs about himself — since he is informing about himself —; and sometimes ascribed to his name, in the form of the pronoun of the name of the one addressed, because he is being addressed thereby. Thus one says in a similar case: "Say to the people: indeed, the good with me is much" — and then one renders the pronoun of the name of the one informing about himself, because he is the one commanded to inform of that about himself —; and: "Say to the people: indeed, the good with you is much" — and then one renders the pronoun of his name in the form of the pronoun of the name of the one addressed, for although he is commanded to say that, he is the one addressed who is commanded to relate what was said to him. And likewise: "Do not say to the people: indeed, I arise" and "Do not say to them: indeed, you arise"; and the "yāʾ" in "innī" is [the pronoun of] the name of the one commanded to say that, in the manner we have described. And to that belongs the saying of Allah, Mighty and Exalted: قُلْ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا سَتُغْلَبُونَ and (tughlabūn) [Āl ʿImrān: 12], with the yāʾ and with the tāʾ.
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As for "Jibrīl": the Arabs have for it various linguistic variants. The people of the Ḥijāz say "Jibrīl" and "Mīkāl" without hamza, with kasra on the jīm and the rāʾ of "Jibrīl," and with lightening (without doubling). And according to that reading the majority of the reciters of the people of Medina and Basra read.
But Tamīm, Qays, and a part of Najd say: "Jabraʾīl and Mīkāʾīl" after the pattern of "Jabraʿīl and Mīkāʿīl," with fatḥa on the jīm and the rāʾ, with hamza, and with the addition of a yāʾ after the hamza. And according to that reading the majority of the reciters of the people of Kūfa read, as Jarīr ibn ʿAṭiyya said:
They worshipped the cross and belied Muḥammad and Jabraʾīl, and they belied Mīkāl.
And it is related from al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kathīr that they both read: "Jabrīl" with fatḥa on the jīm and without hamza.
Abū Jaʿfar said: That is a reading with which it is not permissible to recite, for "faʿlīl" does not exist in the language of the Arabs. Some, however, have preferred it and claimed that it is a non-Arabic (aʿjamī) name, as one says: "Samawīl," and they cited for that:
Where, if all of Lakhm were weighed, it would not outweigh one feather of the feathers of Samawīl.
As for the Banū Asad: they say "Jibrīn" with the nūn. And it is related from some of the Arabs that they add an "alif" in "Jibrīl" and say: Jibrāyīl and Mīkāyīl.
And it is related from Yaḥyā ibn Yaʿmar that he used to read: "Jabraʾill" with fatḥa on the jīm, with hamza, without lengthening, and with doubling of the lām.
As for "Jibr" and "Mīk": these are the two names of which the one has the meaning of "slave" (ʿabd) and the other the meaning of "little slave, servant" (ʿubayd).
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And as for "Īl": that is Allah, exalted is His mention, as:—
1620 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Jarīr ibn Nūḥ al-Ḥimmānī related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of al-Minhāl, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: "Jibrīl" and "Mīkāʾīl" are like your saying: ʿAbd Allāh (the servant of Allah).
1621 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn ibn Wāqid related to us, on the authority of Yazīd al-Naḥwī, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: "Jibrīl" is ʿAbd Allāh; and "Mīkāʾīl" is ʿUbayd Allāh. And every name [with] "Īl" is: Allah.
1622 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Rajāʾ, on the authority of ʿUmayr, the freedman of Ibn ʿAbbās: that "Isrāʾīl, Mīkāʾīl, Jibrīl, and Isrāfīl" are like your saying: ʿAbd Allāh.
1623 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of al-Minhāl ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥārith, who said: "Īl" is Allah, in Hebrew.
1624 — Al-Ḥusayn ibn Yazīd al-Ḍaḥḥāk related to us, saying: Isḥāq ibn Manṣūr related to us, saying: Qays related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of ʿIkrima, who said: "Jibrīl" — his name is: ʿAbd Allāh; and "Mīkāʾīl" — his name is: ʿUbayd Allāh. "Īl": Allah.
1625 — Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAmr ibn Muḥammad al-ʿAnqazī related to me, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Ḥusayn, who said: The name of "Jibrīl" is ʿAbd Allāh, and the name of "Mīkāʾīl" is ʿUbayd Allāh, and the name of "Isrāfīl" is ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. And every [name] that is connected to servitude, [with] "Īl," is ʿAbd Allāh.
1626 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Qabīṣa ibn ʿUqba related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad al-Madanī — al-Muthannā said: Qabīṣa said: I think it is Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq — on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Ḥusayn, who said: "What do you reckon 'Jibrīl' to be among your names?" He said: "Jibrīl" is ʿAbd Allāh, and "Mīkāʾīl" is ʿUbayd Allāh. And every name in which "Īl" occurs is dedicated to Allah.
1627 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Ḥusayn, who said: He said to me: "Do you know what the name of 'Jibrīl' is among your names?" I said: "No." He said: "ʿAbd Allāh." He said: "Do you then know what the name of 'Mīkāʾīl' is among your names?" I said: "No." He said: "ʿUbayd Allāh." And he named for me "Isrāʾīl" with a similar name, but I have forgotten it; only he said to me: "You see, every name that goes back to 'Īl' is dedicated to Him."
1628 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Khaṣīf, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His words: (Jibrīl), he said: "Jibr" is slave (ʿabd), "Īl" is Allah; and "Mīkā," he said, is slave (ʿabd); "Īl": Allah.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: This is the explanation of whoever reads "Jabraʾīl" with the fatḥa, the hamza, and the lengthening. And that is — if Allah wills — also the meaning of whoever reads with the kasra and without hamza.
And as for the explanation of whoever reads that with the hamza, without lengthening, and with doubling of the lām: he intended by his utterance of it the connection of "Jibr" and "Mīkā" with the name of Allah by which He is named in the Arabic language, not in Syriac and Hebrew. For "al-Ill" in the Arabic language is: Allah, as He said: لا يَرْقُبُونَ فِي مُؤْمِنٍ إِلا وَلا ذِمَّةً [al-Tawba: 10] (they observe toward a believer no kinship [ill] nor covenant of protection). A group of the scholars said: "al-Ill" is Allah. And to that belongs the saying of Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq — may Allah be pleased with him — to the delegation of the Banū Ḥanīfa, when he asked them about what Musaylima used to say, and they informed him; then he said to them: "Woe to you! Where have you been led astray? By Allah, indeed, these words have not come forth from an ill nor from goodness." He means by "from an ill": from Allah. And already:—
1629 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Sulaymān al-Taymī, on the authority of Abū Mijlaz, concerning His words: لا يَرْقُبُونَ فِي مُؤْمِنٍ إِلا وَلا ذِمَّةً, he said: [It is] the utterance "Jibrīl," "Mīkāʾīl," and "Isrāfīl."
It is as though he says: when one connects "Jibr," "Mīkā," and "Isrā" with "Īl," one says: ʿAbd Allāh. لا يَرْقُبُونَ فِي مُؤْمِنٍ إِلا, it is as though he says: they do not observe [reverence toward] Allah, Mighty and Exalted.
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The explanation of His words, exalted is He: مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ
(confirming what was before it)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His praise, means by His words: (confirming what was before it), the Qurʾān. And "muṣaddiqan" is in the accusative as ḥāl (a circumstantial qualifier), cut off from the pronoun "hu" in His words: نَزَّلَهُ عَلَى قَلْبِكَ (he has sent it down upon your heart).
The meaning of the word is thus: indeed, Jibrīl sent down the Qurʾān upon your heart, O Muḥammad, confirming what was before the Qurʾān. He means by it: confirming the Books of Allah which preceded before it and which were sent down upon His messengers who were before Muḥammad ﷺ. And its confirmation of them is: the agreement of its meanings with their meanings in the command to follow Muḥammad ﷺ and what he brought from Allah; and they confirm him. As:—
1630 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd related to us, saying: Bishr ibn ʿUmāra related to us, on the authority of Abū Rawq, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: (confirming what was before it), He says: of what preceded it of the Books which Allah sent down, and the signs, and the messengers whom Allah sent with the signs, such as Mūsā, Nūḥ, Hūd, Shuʿayb, and Ṣāliḥ, and their like among the messengers — may the blessings of Allah be upon them.
1631 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: (confirming what was before it), of the Torah and the Gospel (al-Injīl).
1632 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, something similar.
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The explanation of His words, exalted is He: وَهُدًى وَبُشْرَى لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ (97)
(and a guidance and a glad tiding for the believers)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His praise, means by His words: (and a guidance) [hudā]: an indication and a proof. Allah, exalted is His praise, called it only "guidance" because of the believer's being guided by it. And "his being guided by it" is: that he takes it as a leader whom he follows, and as a guide to whose command and prohibition, and to whose permitted and forbidden, he submits. And "al-hādī" (the leader, the foremost) of every matter is: that which is at the front of it. To that belongs that one calls the foremost parts of horses "hawādī," and that is what is at their front; and likewise one calls the neck "al-hādī," because of its advanced position before the rest of the body.
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And as for "al-bushrā" (the glad tiding): that is the glad announcement (al-bishāra). Allah, exalted is His praise, informed His believing servants that the Qurʾān is for them a glad tiding from Him, for He apprised them of what He has prepared for them of honor with Him in His gardens, and what they will attain in their return of His reward; and that is "the glad tiding" with which Allah gladdened the believers in His Book. For the glad announcement (al-bishāra) is, in the language of the Arabs: the apprising of a man of something he did not know and that delights him with the news, before he hears it from another, or comes to know it through another.
And concerning that, a saying has been related from Qatāda that is close in meaning to what we have said:
1633 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words: (a guidance and a glad tiding for the believers), for indeed, when the believer hears the Qurʾān, he learns it by heart and preserves it, and benefits from it and finds rest in it, and holds the promise of Allah with which He promised therein to be true, and is certain of it.
