Tafseer of Ornaments of gold · Az-Zukhruf · 43:60
And if We willed, We could have made [instead] of you angels succeeding [one another] on the earth.
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.
His statement: ( وَلَوْ نَشَاءُ لَجَعَلْنَا مِنْكُمْ مَلائِكَةً فِي الأرْضِ يَخْلُفُونَ ) (And if We willed, We would make from among you angels upon the earth who would succeed you). The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: and if We willed, O company of the children of Adam, We would destroy you and cause you all to perish, and in your place upon the earth We would set angels who would succeed you therein and would worship Me. And that is like His statement, the Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted: إِنْ يَشَأْ يُذْهِبْكُمْ أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ وَيَأْتِ بِآخَرِينَ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلَى ذَلِكَ قَدِيرًا (If He wills, He causes you to depart, O people, and brings others; and Allah has power over that), and as He said: إِنْ يَشَأْ يُذْهِبْكُمْ وَيَسْتَخْلِفْ مِنْ بَعْدِكُمْ مَا يَشَاءُ (If He wills, He causes you to depart and appoints as successors after you whatever He wills).
And as that which we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken, except that some of them said: its meaning is: one of them succeeds the other.
* Mention of who said that:
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 statement: ( وَلَوْ نَشَاءُ لَجَعَلْنَا مِنْكُمْ مَلائِكَةً فِي الأرْضِ يَخْلُفُونَ ) (And if We willed, We would make from among you angels upon the earth who would succeed you) — he says: one of them succeeds the other.
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: ( لَجَعَلْنَا مِنْكُمْ مَلائِكَةً فِي الأرْضِ يَخْلُفُونَ ) (We would make from among you angels upon the earth who would succeed you) — he said: they inhabit the earth in your place.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: ( مَلائِكَةً فِي الأرْضِ يَخْلُفُونَ ) (angels upon the earth who succeed) — he said: one of them succeeds the other, in the place of the children of Adam.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: ( وَلَوْ نَشَاءُ لَجَعَلْنَا مِنْكُمْ مَلائِكَةً فِي الأرْضِ يَخْلُفُونَ ) (And if We willed, We would make from among you angels upon the earth who would succeed you) — if Allah had willed it, He would have set upon the earth angels, one of whom succeeds the other.
Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: ( وَلَوْ نَشَاءُ لَجَعَلْنَا مِنْكُمْ مَلائِكَةً فِي الأرْضِ يَخْلُفُونَ ) (And if We willed, We would make from among you angels upon the earth who would succeed you) — he said: as a succession after you.
