Tafseer of Those drawn up in Ranks · As-Saaffaat · 37:103
And when they had both submitted and he put him down upon his forehead,
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.
Exposition of the interpretation of His statement, the Exalted: فَلَمَّا أَسْلَمَا وَتَلَّهُ لِلْجَبِينِ ("Then, when they had both submitted and he had laid him down upon his temple") (103)
He, exalted be His mention, says: when they both surrendered their affair to Allah, entrusting it to Him, and were of one accord regarding submission (taslīm) to His command and contentment with His decree.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, spoke the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl).
* Mention of those who said that:
Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār related to me, saying: Thābit ibn Muḥammad related to us; and Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muslim ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us; both of them said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, concerning His statement فَلَمَّا أَسْلَمَا ("Then, when they had both submitted"), he said: they came to agreement upon one and the same matter.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, on the authority of Yazīd, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His statement فَلَمَّا أَسْلَمَا وَتَلَّهُ لِلْجَبِينِ , he said: they both submitted to the command of Allah; the boy consented to the slaughter and the father consented to slaughtering him. Then he said: "O my father, throw me down upon my face, so that you do not look at me and have mercy upon me, and so that I do not look at the knife and become afraid; lay the knife beneath me and carry out the command of Allah." That is His statement فَلَمَّا أَسْلَمَا وَتَلَّهُ لِلْجَبِينِ . When he had done that: وَنَادَيْنَاهُ أَنْ يَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ قَدْ صَدَّقْتَ الرُّؤْيَا إِنَّا كَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ ("And We called out to him: O Ibrāhīm, you have fulfilled the vision. Verily, thus do We reward the doers of good").
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda فَلَمَّا أَسْلَمَا ("Then, when they had both submitted"), he said: this one submitted himself to Allah, and that one submitted his son to Allah.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, 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 His statement فَلَمَّا أَسْلَمَا , he said: they submitted to what they had been commanded.
Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī فَلَمَّا أَسْلَمَا , he says: they both submitted to the command of Allah.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq فَلَمَّا أَسْلَمَا : that is, Ibrāhīm submitted to slaughtering him when he was commanded to do so, and his son submitted to enduring it patiently, when he knew that Allah had commanded him with that.
And His statement وَتَلَّهُ لِلْجَبِينِ ("and he had laid him down upon his temple") means: he threw him down upon the temple. The two temples (al-jabīnān) are what lie to the right and left of the forehead; the face has two temples, and the forehead lies between them.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, spoke the exegetes.
* Mention of those who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū al-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 His statement وَتَلَّهُ لِلْجَبِينِ , he said: he laid his face upon the ground. He [Ismāʿīl] said: "Do not slaughter me while you are looking at my face; perhaps you will have mercy upon me and will not bring it to completion against me. Bind my hands to my neck and then lay my face upon the ground."
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda وَتَلَّهُ لِلْجَبِينِ : that is, he threw him down upon his mouth and took the knife وَنَادَيْنَاهُ أَنْ يَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ قَدْ صَدَّقْتَ الرُّؤْيَا ("And We called out to him: O Ibrāhīm, you have fulfilled the vision"), up to "And We ransomed him with a tremendous sacrifice."
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 وَتَلَّهُ لِلْجَبِينِ , he said: he threw him down upon his forehead.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement وَتَلَّهُ لِلْجَبِينِ , he said: his temple; he said: he seized his temple in order to slaughter him.
Ibn Sinān related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ḥammād, on the authority of Abū ʿĀṣim al-Ghanawī, on the authority of Abū al-Ṭufayl, he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: when Ibrāhīm was commanded to perform the rites (manāsik), the devil (al-shayṭān) appeared to him at the running-place (al-masʿā) and vied with him, but Ibrāhīm outpaced him. Then Jibrīl brought him to the Jamrat al-ʿAqaba, and the devil appeared to him, and he pelted him with seven pebbles until he departed. Then he appeared to him at the middle Jamra, and he pelted him with seven pebbles until he departed. Then he threw him down upon the temple, while Ismāʿīl was wearing a white shirt. He said to him: "O my father, I have no garment to be wrapped in except this; take it off so that you may wrap me in it." Ibrāhīm turned around, and there was a large-eyed white ram, which he slaughtered. Ibn ʿAbbās said: verily, we have seen ourselves following after this kind of ram.
