Tafseer of Those drawn up in Ranks · As-Saaffaat · 37:28
They will say, "Indeed, you used to come at us from the right."
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 discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: قَالُوا إِنَّكُمْ كُنْتُمْ تَأْتُونَنَا عَنِ الْيَمِينِ ("They will say: 'Indeed, you used to come to us from the right.'") (37:28)
He, exalted be His remembrance, says: the people will say to the jinn: indeed you, O jinn, used to come to us from the direction of religion and the truth, and thus you led us astray by way of the strongest path. And "al-yamīn" (the right side) means, in the language of the Arabs: strength and power; to this belongs also the saying of the poet:
When a banner is raised for glory, ʿArāba receives it with the right hand (al-yamīn).
He means: with strength and power.
And in agreement with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes too have spoken.
* Mention of those 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 of them — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement تَأْتُونَنَا عَنِ الْيَمِينِ ("you used to come to us from the right"), he said: from the truth; the disbelievers say this to the satans.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: قَالُوا إِنَّكُمْ كُنْتُمْ تَأْتُونَنَا عَنِ الْيَمِينِ ("They will say: 'Indeed, you used to come to us from the right'"), he said: the people will say to the jinn: indeed you used to come to us from the right — he said: from the direction of goodness — and thus you forbade it to us and kept us away from it.
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, concerning His statement إِنَّكُمْ كُنْتُمْ تَأْتُونَنَا عَنِ الْيَمِينِ ("Indeed, you used to come to us from the right"), he said: you used to come to us from the direction of the truth, you made falsehood alluring to us and kept us away from the truth.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement إِنَّكُمْ كُنْتُمْ تَأْتُونَنَا عَنِ الْيَمِينِ ("Indeed, you used to come to us from the right"), he said: the children of Adam will say to the satans who were disbelievers: indeed you used to come to us from the right — he said: you placed yourselves between us and goodness, and you turned us away from Islam, faith (īmān), and the performance of the good that Allah commanded.
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Footnotes:
(1) This verse is among the evidentiary verses of al-Farrāʾ in Maʿānī al-Qurʾān. He said concerning His statement "kuntum taʾtūnanā ʿani l-yamīn": it means: you used to come to us from the direction of religion, that is, you used to come to us and lead us astray by way of the strongest path; and "al-yamīn" means: with strength and power. I say: the verse is by al-Shammākh, in which he praises ʿArāba al-Awsī; preceding it is: "I saw ʿArāba al-Awsī raised up to goodness, peerless without peer." See (al-Lisān: yaman). And he explained it as al-Farrāʾ explained it. ʿArāba al-Awsī is the son of Aws ibn Qayẓī; it is said that he is the one who said to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at the Battle of the Trench: "Our houses lie exposed." Al-Suhaylī said in al-Rawḍ al-Unuf 2:190: ʿArāba al-Awsī was a nobleman, but he was not among the Companions; we mentioned him among those who were deemed too young on the day of Uḥud. He is the one about whom al-Shammākh says: "When a banner is raised for glory … (the verse)."
