Tafseer of Those drawn up in Ranks · As-Saaffaat · 37:158
And they have claimed between Him and the jinn a lineage, but the jinn have already known that they [who made such claims] will be brought to [punishment].
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 saying of the Exalted: وَجَعَلُوا بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ الْجِنَّةِ نَسَبًا وَلَقَدْ عَلِمَتِ الْجِنَّةُ إِنَّهُمْ لَمُحْضَرُونَ ("And they have made a kinship between Him and the jinn; and indeed, the jinn know that they will surely be brought forward") (37:158).
The Exalted, whose remembrance is sublime, says: And these polytheists (mushrikīn) have made a kinship between Allah and the jinn.
The people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the meaning of the kinship which Allah reports of them that they ascribed to Allah, the Exalted. Some of them said: It is that the enemies of Allah said: Allah and Iblīs are brothers.
Mention of who said that:
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 His saying وَجَعَلُوا بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ الْجِنَّةِ نَسَبًا ("And they have made a kinship between Him and the jinn"), he said: The enemies of Allah claimed that He — blessed and exalted is He — and Iblīs were brothers.
Others said: It is that they said: The angels are the daughters of Allah, and they said: The jinn, they are the angels.
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: وَجَعَلُوا بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ الْجِنَّةِ نَسَبًا ("And they have made a kinship between Him and the jinn"), he said: The unbelievers (kuffār) of Quraysh said: The angels are the daughters of Allah. Then Abū Bakr asked: Who are their mothers? They said: The daughters of the nobles among the jinn. They held that they were created from that out of which Iblīs was created.
ʿAmr ibn Yaḥyā ibn ʿImrān ibn ʿAfra related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Saʿīd al-Abaḥḥ related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūba, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying وَجَعَلُوا بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ الْجِنَّةِ نَسَبًا ("And they have made a kinship between Him and the jinn"): The Jews said: Allah — blessed and exalted is He — married among the jinn, and from the two of them the angels came forth. He (Qatāda) said: Glorified is He; He magnified Himself far above that.
Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His saying وَجَعَلُوا بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ الْجِنَّةِ نَسَبًا ("And they have made a kinship between Him and the jinn"), he said: The jinn, they are the angels; they said: They are the daughters of Allah.
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: وَجَعَلُوا بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ الْجِنَّةِ نَسَبًا ("And they have made a kinship between Him and the jinn"): the angels.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His saying وَجَعَلُوا بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ الْجِنَّةِ نَسَبًا ("And they have made a kinship between Him and the jinn"), he said: Between Allah and the jinn a kinship which they fabricated.
And His saying وَلَقَدْ عَلِمَتِ الْجِنَّةُ إِنَّهُمْ لَمُحْضَرُونَ ("And indeed, the jinn know that they will surely be brought forward"): the people of interpretation differed concerning its meaning. Some of them said: Its meaning is: And indeed, the jinn know that they will be brought forward at the reckoning.
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: وَلَقَدْ عَلِمَتِ الْجِنَّةُ إِنَّهُمْ لَمُحْضَرُونَ ("And indeed, the jinn know that they will surely be brought forward"): that they will be brought forward at the reckoning.
Others said: Its meaning is: Indeed, the speakers of this saying will be brought forward to the punishment (ʿadhāb) in the Fire.
Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: إِنَّهُمْ لَمُحْضَرُونَ ("Indeed, they will surely be brought forward"): indeed, those who said this will surely be brought forward, that is to say: surely be punished.
And the most correct of the two sayings concerning that is the saying of the one who said: Indeed, they will be brought forward to the punishment — for the remaining verses in which the being brought forward (al-iḥḍār) is mentioned in this surah, by it only the being brought forward to the punishment is intended; so too in this place.
