Tafseer of Those drawn up in Ranks · As-Saaffaat · 37:12
But you wonder, while they mock,
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.
…and it casts off prematurely without being killed.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word فَأَتْبَعَهُ شِهَابٌ ثَاقِبٌ (And a piercing flame pursues him): he said: and al-thāqib means: that which kindles. He said: and the man says: athqib your fire, and he says: istathqib your fire, kindle your fire.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh related to us, saying: al-Ḍaḥḥāk was asked: do the devils (shayāṭīn) have wings? He said: how would they fly to the heaven, unless they have wings?
The statement concerning the explanation of His word, the Exalted: فَاسْتَفْتِهِمْ أَهُمْ أَشَدُّ خَلْقًا أَمْ مَنْ خَلَقْنَا إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاهُمْ مِنْ طِينٍ لَازِبٍ (١١) بَلْ عَجِبْتَ وَيَسْخَرُونَ (١٢) (So ask them for a judgement: are they stronger in creation, or those whom We have created? Indeed We created them from sticky clay (11). But you marvel, while they mock (12)).
Allah, glorified be His mention, says to His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: ask then, O Muḥammad, for a judgement from these polytheists (mushrikīn) who deny the resurrection after death and the raising up after perishing. He says: so ask them: are they stronger in creation? He says: is their creation stronger, or the creation of those whose creation We have enumerated: the angels, the devils, the heavens and the earth?
It was mentioned that in the reading of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd this reads: "أَهُمْ أَشَدُّ خَلْقًا أَمْ مَنْ عَدَدْنَا" (are they stronger in creation, or those whom We have enumerated)?
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
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 أَهُمْ أَشَدُّ خَلْقًا أَمْ مَنْ خَلَقْنَا (are they stronger in creation, or those whom We have created)? He said: the heavens, the earth and the mountains.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, that he read: "أَهُمْ أَشَدُّ خَلْقًا أَمْ مَنْ عَدَدْنَا" (are they stronger in creation, or those whom We have enumerated)? — and in the reading of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd it is "عَدَدْنَا" (We have enumerated). He says: رَبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا وَرَبُّ المَشَارِقِ (the Lord of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, and the Lord of the easts). He says: are they stronger in creation, or the heavens and the earth? He says: the heavens and the earth are stronger in creation than they.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda فَاسْتَفْتِهِمْ أَهُمْ أَشَدُّ خَلْقًا أَمْ مَنْ عَدَدْنَا (So ask them for a judgement: are they stronger in creation, or those whom We have enumerated) — from the creation of the heavens and the earth. Allah said: لَخَلْقُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ أَكْبَرُ مِنْ خَلْقِ النَّاسِ (Truly, the creation of the heavens and the earth is greater than the creation of mankind) … the verse.
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī فَاسْتَفْتِهِمْ أَهُمْ أَشَدُّ خَلْقًا (So ask them for a judgement: are they stronger in creation) — he said: he means the polytheists (mushrikīn); ask them: are they stronger in creation أَمْ مَنْ خَلَقْنَا (or those whom We have created)?
And His word إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاهُمْ مِنْ طِينٍ لَازِبٍ (Indeed We created them from sticky clay) — he says: We created them from adhering clay. He, exalted be His praise, described it only with al-luzūb (stickiness), because it is earth mixed with water; and so too the creation of the son of Ādam is from earth, water, fire and air. And earth, when it is mixed with water, becomes sticky clay (ṭīn lāzib); and the Arabs sometimes replace this bāʾ with a mīm and then say: ṭīn lāzim. To that belongs the saying of al-Najāshī al-Ḥārithī:
Baseness built a house, and its pillars stood firm … upon you, O sons of al-Najjār, like an adhering blow (1)
And to the word al-lāzib belongs the saying of Nābigha of the Banū Dhubyān:
And they do not reckon that the good has no evil after it … and they do not reckon that the evil is an adhering blow (2)
And sometimes they replace the zāy that is in al-lāzib with a tāʾ, and then say: ṭīn lātib. It was mentioned that this occurs among Qays. Al-Farrāʾ claimed that Abū al-Jarrāḥ recited to him the following:
Headache, the breaking of the bones and lassitude … and nausea at the break of dawn, in the inmost part adhering (lātib) (1)
in the meaning of: lāzim (adhering). And the verb of lāzib is: laziba, yalzubu, lazban and luzūban (2); and so too the verb of lātib is: lataba, yaltubu, lutūban.
And in accordance with what we have said about the meaning of لَازِبٍ (sticky), the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Yūsuf al-Jubayrī related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Kathīr related to us, saying: Muslim related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning His word مِنْ طِينٍ لَازِبٍ (from sticky clay) — he said: it is the pure, good, sticky clay.
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, both of them saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Muslim al-Baṭīn, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: al-lāzib means: the good.
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, he said: al-lāzib means: the sticky, the good.
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word مِنْ طِينٍ لَازِبٍ (from sticky clay) — he says: adhering.
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, his word إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاهُمْ مِنْ طِينٍ لَازِبٍ (Indeed We created them from sticky clay) — he said: from earth and water, which becomes clay that adheres.
Hannād related to us, saying: Abū al-Aḥwaṣ related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His word إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاهُمْ مِنْ طِينٍ لَازِبٍ (Indeed We created them from sticky clay) — he said: al-lāzib means: the sticky.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاهُمْ مِنْ طِينٍ لَازِبٍ (Indeed We created them from sticky clay) — and al-lāzib is the good clay.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda; Allah said إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاهُمْ مِنْ طِينٍ لَازِبٍ (Indeed We created them from sticky clay) — and al-lāzib is that which clings to the hand.
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 His word مِنْ طِينٍ لَازِبٍ (from sticky clay) — he said: lāzim (adhering).
ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd al-Āmulī related to us, saying: Marwān ibn Muʿāwiya related to us, saying: Juwaybir related to us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His word مِنْ طِينٍ لَازِبٍ (from sticky clay) — he said: it is the adhering.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاهُمْ مِنْ طِينٍ لَازِبٍ (Indeed We created them from sticky clay) — he said: al-lāzib is that which adheres as though it were glue; that is al-lāzib.
His word بَلْ عَجِبْتَ وَيَسْخَرُونَ (But you marvel, while they mock) — the reciters differed over its reading. Most of the reciters of Kūfa read it: بَلْ عَجِبْتُ وَيَسْخَرُونَ (But I marvel, while they mock) with a ḍamma on the tāʾ of ʿajibtu, in the meaning of: yes, it is great [illegible]
