Tafseer of The Poets · Ash-Shu'araa · 26:219
And your movement among those who prostrate.
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.
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 the word وَتَقَلُّبَكَ فِي السَّاجِدِينَ: he said: your standing, your bowing, and your prostrating.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, saying: I heard my father and ʿAlī ibn Badhīma relate on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning the word يَرَاكَ حِينَ تَقُومُ * وَتَقَلُّبَكَ فِي السَّاجِدِينَ: he said: his standing, his bowing, and his prostrating.
Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, saying: ʿIkrima said, concerning the word وَتَقَلُّبَكَ فِي السَّاجِدِينَ: he said: standing, kneeling, bowing, and sitting.
Others said: rather the meaning of this is: and He sees your movements among those who pray, and His gaze upon those who stand behind you, just as He sees those who stand before you.
* Mention of who said this:
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَتَقَلُّبَكَ فِي السَّاجِدِينَ — he saw those who stood behind him, just as he saw those who stood before him.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word وَتَقَلُّبَكَ فِي السَّاجِدِينَ: he said: those who pray — he saw those who stood behind him in the prayer.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word وَتَقَلُّبَكَ فِي السَّاجِدِينَ: he said: those who pray. He said: he saw in the prayer those who stood behind him.
Others said: rather the meaning of this is: and your movement together with those who kneel, that is to say: your association with them in sitting, standing, and setting down.
* Mention of who said this:
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī informed me on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: وَتَقَلُّبَكَ فِي السَّاجِدِينَ — He sees you while you move together with those who kneel: you move, rise up, and sit down with them.
Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning the word وَتَقَلُّبَكَ فِي السَّاجِدِينَ: he said: among those who pray.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning the word وَتَقَلُّبَكَ فِي السَّاجِدِينَ: he said: those who kneel — those who pray.
Others said: rather the meaning of this is: and His gaze upon you in your dealings among the people.
* Mention of who said this:
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā related to us, saying: Rabīʿa ibn Kulthūm related to us, saying: I asked al-Ḥasan about the word وَتَقَلُّبَكَ فِي السَّاجِدِينَ: he said: among the people.
Others said: rather the meaning of this is: and your conduct in your states, just as the prophets before you did so — and those who kneel, in the interpretation of the one who says this, are: the prophets.
* Mention of who said this:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd, concerning the word الَّذِي يَرَاكَ... the verse, he said: just as the prophets before you.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The most correct interpretation of this is the position of the one who said that the meaning is: and He sees your movements together with those who kneel in their prayer with you, when you stand, bow, and prostrate together with them — for that is the most obvious meaning. As for the position of the one who takes it to mean: and your movements among the people — that is a position far removed from the apparent reading, even though it has a basis. For even though there is nothing whose shadow does not prostrate to Allah, the most obvious meaning of the expression "so-and-so is among those who kneel, or in the midst of those who kneel" is not that he is among the people or in their midst; rather, its most obvious meaning is that he is in the midst of a group that kneels — the well-known kneeling. It is better to direct the meanings of the Word of Allah toward the more common sense than toward the more unusual.
Likewise applies to the position of the one who said: the meaning is that He sees you when you move within the gazes of those who kneel — although that has a basis, it is not the most obvious meaning.
The interpretation of the words is thus: and place your trust in the Almighty, the Most Merciful, Who sees you when you rise up for your prayer, and Who sees your movements among those who follow you in it as imām, between standing, bowing, prostrating, and sitting.
