Tafseer of Explained in detail · Fussilat · 41:29
And those who disbelieved will [then] say, "Our Lord, show us those who misled us of the jinn and men [so] we may put them under our feet that they will be among the lowest."
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: وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا رَبَّنَا أَرِنَا الَّذَيْنِ أَضَلَّانَا مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالإِنْسِ نَجْعَلْهُمَا تَحْتَ أَقْدَامِنَا لِيَكُونَا مِنَ الأَسْفَلِينَ (41:29) — ("And those who disbelieved said: 'Our Lord, show us those two among the jinn and mankind who led us astray, that we may place them both beneath our feet, so that they may be among the lowest.'")
The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: and those who disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger say on the Day of Resurrection, after they have been brought into Hell (jahannam): O our Lord, show us those two among Your creatures, among their jinn and their mankind, who led us astray. And it has been said: the one who is of the jinn is Iblīs, and the one who is of mankind is the son of Ādam who killed his brother.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Thābit al-Ḥaddād, on the authority of Ḥabba al-ʿUranī, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib — may Allah be pleased with him — concerning His saying: أَرِنَا الَّذَيْنِ أَضَلَّانَا مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالإِنْسِ ("Show us those two among the jinn and mankind who led us astray"), he said: Iblīs, the devil of devils, and the son of Ādam who killed his brother.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Salama, on the authority of Mālik ibn Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿAlī — may Allah be pleased with him — concerning His saying: رَبَّنَا أَرِنَا الَّذَيْنِ أَضَلَّانَا مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالإِنْسِ ("Our Lord, show us those two among the jinn and mankind who led us astray"), he said: Iblīs, and the son of Ādam who killed his brother.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Wahb ibn Jarīr related to me, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Salama ibn Kuhayl, on the authority of Abū Mālik and Ibn Mālik, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿAlī — may Allah be pleased with him —: رَبَّنَا أَرِنَا الَّذَيْنِ أَضَلَّانَا مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالإِنْسِ ("Our Lord, show us those two among the jinn and mankind who led us astray"), he said: the son of Ādam who killed his brother, and Iblīs, the devil of devils.
Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib — may Allah be pleased with him — concerning His saying: رَبَّنَا أَرِنَا الَّذَيْنِ أَضَلَّانَا مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالإِنْسِ ("Our Lord, show us those two among the jinn and mankind who led us astray") — the verse —: they are the son of Ādam, the murderer, and Iblīs, the devil of devils. As for the son of Ādam, every committer of a grave sin who has entered the Fire on account of incitement (to the sin) calls upon him; and as for Iblīs, every committer of shirk calls upon him. Both of them call upon them in the Fire.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, saying: Maʿmar related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: رَبَّنَا أَرِنَا الَّذَيْنِ أَضَلَّانَا مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالإِنْسِ ("Our Lord, show us those two among the jinn and mankind who led us astray") — it is the Satan, and the son of Ādam who killed his brother.
And His saying: نَجْعَلْهُمَا تَحْتَ أَقْدَامِنَا لِيَكُونَا مِنَ الأَسْفَلِينَ ("that we may place them both beneath our feet, so that they may be among the lowest") — He says: we place those two who led us astray beneath our feet, for the gates of Hell (jahannam) lie one lower than another, and everything that lies lower therein is harsher for its inhabitants and the punishment of its inhabitants is more severe. For this reason these disbelievers asked their Lord to show them those two who had led them astray, so that they might place them lower than themselves, so that they would be in the most severe punishment, in the lowest level of the Fire.
