Tafseer of The Jinn · Al-Jinn · 72:2
It guides to the right course, and we have believed in it. And we will never associate with our Lord anyone.
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.
Tafsīr of Sūrah Al-Jinn
In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.
The explanation of the words of the Exalted: قُلْ أُوحِيَ إِلَيَّ أَنَّهُ اسْتَمَعَ نَفَرٌ مِنَ الْجِنِّ فَقَالُوا إِنَّا سَمِعْنَا قُرْآنًا عَجَبًا (١) يَهْدِي إِلَى الرُّشْدِ فَآمَنَّا بِهِ وَلَنْ نُشْرِكَ بِرَبِّنَا أَحَدًا (٢) وَأَنَّهُ تَعَالَى جَدُّ رَبِّنَا مَا اتَّخَذَ صَاحِبَةً وَلا وَلَدًا (٣) (Say: It has been revealed to me that a group of jinn listened, and they said: We have indeed heard a wondrous Qurʾān (1), which guides to the right way; therefore we believe in it, and we shall never ascribe anyone as partner to our Lord (2). And that He — exalted is the majesty of our Lord — has taken neither a wife nor a child (3).)
The Exalted, praised be His praise, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: Say, O Muḥammad: Allah has revealed to me أَنَّهُ اسْتَمَعَ نَفَرٌ مِنَ الْجِنِّ (that a group of jinn listened) to this Qurʾān, فَقَالُوا (and they said) to their people when they had heard it: إِنَّا سَمِعْنَا قُرْآنًا عَجَبًا يَهْدِي إِلَى الرُّشْدِ (We have indeed heard a wondrous Qurʾān, which guides to the right way) — He says: which points to the truth and the way of right conduct — فَآمَنَّا بِهِ (therefore we believe in it) — He says: and we have held it to be true — وَلَنْ نُشْرِكَ بِرَبِّنَا أَحَدًا (and we shall never ascribe anyone as partner to our Lord) from among His creation.
The occasion for this group of jinn listening to the Qurʾān was as follows, as Muḥammad ibn Maʿmar related to me, saying: Abū Hishām — that is, al-Makhzūmī — related to us, saying: Abū ʿAwāna related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not recite the Qurʾān to the jinn, and he did not see them. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ set out with a group of his companions, heading for the market of ʿUkāẓ. He said: And a barrier had been placed between the devils and the news of heaven, and flaming stars were sent down upon them. Thereupon the devils returned to their people, and they said: What is the matter with you? They answered: A barrier has been placed between us and the news of heaven, and flaming stars have been sent down upon us. They said: Nothing has placed a barrier between you and the news of heaven except something that has occurred.
He said: So set out, and traverse the eastern and western regions of the earth, and look at what this is that has occurred. He said: Thereupon they set out and traversed the eastern and western regions of the earth, searching for what this was that had placed a barrier between them and the news of heaven. He said: And the group that had directed itself toward Tihāma came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at Nakhla, while he was on his way to the market of ʿUkāẓ, and he was leading his companions in the morning prayer (ṣalāh). He said: When they heard the Qurʾān, they listened to it and they said: This, by Allah, is what has placed a barrier between you and the news of heaven. He said: Then, at that moment, they returned to their people and said: O our people, إِنَّا سَمِعْنَا قُرْآنًا عَجَبًا يَهْدِي إِلَى الرُّشْدِ فَآمَنَّا بِهِ وَلَنْ نُشْرِكَ بِرَبِّنَا أَحَدًا (We have indeed heard a wondrous Qurʾān, which guides to the right way; therefore we believe in it, and we shall never ascribe anyone as partner to our Lord). He said: Thereupon Allah sent down to His Prophet ﷺ: قُلْ أُوحِيَ إِلَيَّ أَنَّهُ اسْتَمَعَ نَفَرٌ مِنَ الْجِنِّ (Say: It has been revealed to me that a group of jinn listened). And only the speech of the jinn was revealed to him.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Warqāʾ, who said: A group, Zawbaʿa and his companions, came to the Prophet ﷺ at Mecca, and they heard the recitation of the Prophet ﷺ and then departed. That is His words: وَإِذْ صَرَفْنَا إِلَيْكَ نَفَرًا مِنَ الْجِنِّ يَسْتَمِعُونَ الْقُرْآنَ فَلَمَّا حَضَرُوهُ قَالُوا أَنْصِتُوا (And when We turned toward you a group of jinn to listen to the Qurʾān; when they were present at it, they said: Be silent). He said: They were nine in number, among them Zawbaʿa.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His words قُلْ أُوحِيَ إِلَيَّ أَنَّهُ اسْتَمَعَ نَفَرٌ مِنَ الْجِنِّ (Say: It has been revealed to me that a group of jinn listened): It is the word of Allah وَإِذْ صَرَفْنَا إِلَيْكَ نَفَرًا مِنَ الْجِنِّ (And when We turned toward you a group of jinn). Heaven was not guarded in the intervening era between ʿĪsā and Muḥammad. When Allah sent Muḥammad ﷺ, the nearest heaven was guarded, and the devils were pelted with flaming stars. Then Iblīs said: Something has occurred on earth. Thereupon he commanded the jinn, and they spread out over the earth to bring him the news of what had occurred. The first ones to be sent out were a group from Nāṣibīn — that is a region in Yemen — and they were among the nobles of the jinn and their leaders. He sent them to Tihāma and the region adjoining Yemen. That group set out and came to the valley, the valley of Nakhla, which lies at two nights' journey from the valley, and there they encountered the Prophet of Allah ﷺ while he was performing the morning prayer, and they heard him reciting the Qurʾān. When they were present at it, they said: Be silent. And when it was finished — that is, when the prayer was completed — they turned to their people as warners — that is, as believers. The Prophet of Allah ﷺ knew nothing of them and did not perceive that they had been turned toward him, until Allah sent down to him: قُلْ أُوحِيَ إِلَيَّ أَنَّهُ اسْتَمَعَ نَفَرٌ مِنَ الْجِنِّ (Say: It has been revealed to me that a group of jinn listened).
As for His words وَأَنَّهُ تَعَالَى جَدُّ رَبِّنَا (And that exalted is the majesty of our Lord): the interpreters of the Qurʾān differed concerning its meaning. Some of them said: Its meaning is: therefore we believe in it, and we shall never ascribe anyone as partner to our Lord, and we believe that exalted is the command of our Lord, His authority and His power.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His words وَأَنَّهُ تَعَالَى جَدُّ رَبِّنَا (And that exalted is the majesty of our Lord): He says: His action, His command and His power.
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 words وَأَنَّهُ تَعَالَى جَدُّ رَبِّنَا (And that exalted is the majesty of our Lord): He says: Exalted is the command of our Lord.
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār and Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, both of them saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning this verse تَعَالَى جَدُّ رَبِّنَا (exalted is the majesty of our Lord), he said: The command of our Lord.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Suddī: تَعَالَى جَدُّ رَبِّنَا (exalted is the majesty of our Lord), he said: The command of our Lord.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His words تَعَالَى جَدُّ رَبِّنَا مَا اتَّخَذَ صَاحِبَةً وَلا وَلَدًا (exalted is the majesty of our Lord; He has taken neither a wife nor a child), he said: Exalted is His command above that He should take — and it is not as they claimed — a wife or a child. And he recited: قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ (Say: He is Allah, the One; Allah, the Self-Sufficient; He neither begot nor was begotten, and there is none equal to Him), he said: That does not belong to Him.
And others said: By it is meant the glory of our Lord and His renown.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of his father, saying: ʿIkrima said concerning His words جَدُّ رَبِّنَا (the majesty of our Lord), he said: The glory of our Lord.
Muḥammad ibn ʿUmāra related to me, saying: Khālid ibn Yazīd related to me, saying: Abū Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Fuḍayl, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His words وَأَنَّهُ تَعَالَى جَدُّ رَبِّنَا (And that exalted is the majesty of our Lord), he said: The glory of our Lord.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Sulaymān al-Taymī, he said: ʿIkrima said: تَعَالَى جَدُّ رَبِّنَا (exalted is the majesty of our Lord): The glory of our Lord.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words وَأَنَّهُ تَعَالَى جَدُّ رَبِّنَا (And that exalted is the majesty of our Lord): That is to say: exalted is His glory, His greatness and His command.
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 words تَعَالَى جَدُّ رَبِّنَا (exalted is the majesty of our Lord), he said: Exalted is the command of our Lord: exalted is His greatness.
And others said: Rather, its meaning is: exalted is the wealth of our Lord.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir related to us, on the authority of his father, saying: al-Ḥasan said concerning His words تَعَالَى جَدُّ رَبِّنَا (exalted is the majesty of our Lord), he said: The wealth of our Lord.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Sulaymān al-Taymī, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: تَعَالَى جَدُّ رَبِّنَا (exalted is the majesty of our Lord), he said: The wealth of our Lord.
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Abū Rajāʾ, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His words تَعَالَى جَدُّ رَبِّنَا (exalted is the majesty of our Lord), he said: The wealth of our Lord.
Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿArafa related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Sulaymān al-Taymī, on the authority of al-Ḥasan and ʿIkrima, concerning the words of Allah وَأَنَّهُ تَعَالَى جَدُّ رَبِّنَا (And that exalted is the majesty of our Lord): One of them said: His wealth, and the other said: His greatness.
And others said: By it is meant the jadd (grandfather) who is the father of the father. They said: That was among the sayings of the ignorant ones among the jinn.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Sāra related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar: تَعَالَى جَدُّ رَبِّنَا (exalted is the majesty of our Lord), he said: It was a saying of the ignorant ones among the jinn.
And others said: By it is meant: His renown.
* 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, concerning the words of Allah تَعَالَى جَدُّ رَبِّنَا (exalted is the majesty of our Lord), he said: His renown.
The correct of these sayings, in our view, is the saying of the one who said: By it is meant: exalted is the greatness of our Lord, His power and His authority.
We have only said that this is the correct one because the jadd in the language of the Arabs has two meanings. The first of them is the jadd who is the father of the father or the father of the mother. It is not permissible that this group, which Allah described with this quality, should be described therewith, for they said: فَآمَنَّا بِهِ وَلَنْ نُشْرِكَ بِرَبِّنَا أَحَدًا (therefore we believe in it, and we shall never ascribe anyone as partner to our Lord), and whoever describes Allah as though He had a child, or a grandfather, or as though He were the father of a father or the father of a mother, such a one belongs without doubt among the polytheists (mushrikīn).
The other meaning is: the jadd in the meaning of the fortunate share (al-ḥaẓẓ). One says: So-and-so has a jadd in this matter, when he has a share therein; that is what is called in Persian al-bakht (fortune). It is this meaning that this group of jinn intended by their saying وَأَنَّهُ تَعَالَى جَدُّ رَبِّنَا (And that exalted is the majesty of our Lord), if Allah wills.
They meant only that His share of kingship, authority, power and greatness is exalted, so that He has neither a wife nor a child; for the wife exists only for the weak and incapable, who is compelled by driving desire to take her, and the child comes only from a desire that drives him to the sexual intercourse from which the child arises. Therefore the group of jinn said: Exalted is the kingship of our Lord, His authority, His power and His greatness, above that He should be weak with the weakness of His creatures who are compelled by desire to take a wife, or to have sexual intercourse from which a child arises.
The correctness of what we have said concerning that is made clear by Allah's report about them, that they exonerated Allah only from taking a wife and a child, by His words وَأَنَّهُ تَعَالَى جَدُّ رَبِّنَا مَا اتَّخَذَ صَاحِبَةً وَلا وَلَدًا (And that exalted is the majesty of our Lord; He has taken neither a wife nor a child). Of this one says: a man who is jaddī, jadīd and majdūd, that is to say: possessor of a fortunate share in that in which he is. To this belongs the saying of Ḥātim al-Ṭāʾī:
Wage war, O sons of Thuʿal, for war is your fortune (jadd); count the hills and weep not for him who is slain. (1)
And another said:
May your fortune (jadd) be exalted — I am indeed a man who has been led to you by the enemies in brimming buckets. (2)
And His words مَا اتَّخَذَ صَاحِبَةً (He has taken no wife) mean: a wife وَلا وَلَدًا (and no child).
The reciters differed over the reading of His words وَأَنَّهُ تَعَالَى (And that exalted is). Abū Jaʿfar the reciter, and six other vowel-forms, read it with the fatḥa, among which: أَنَّهُ اسْتَمَعَ نَفَرٌ (that a group listened), وَأَنَّ الْمَسَاجِدَ لِلَّهِ (and that the mosques belong to Allah), وَأَنَّهُ كَانَ يَقُولُ سَفِيهُنَا (and that the foolish one among us used to say), وَأَنَّهُ كَانَ رِجَالٌ مِنَ الإنْسِ (and that there were men among mankind), وَأَنَّهُ لَمَّا قَامَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ يَدْعُوهُ (and that when the servant of Allah arose to call upon Him), وَأَنْ لَوِ اسْتَقَامُوا عَلَى الطَّرِيقَةِ (and that had they remained steadfast on the way). And Nāfiʿ read it with the kasra, except for three vowel-forms: the first of them قُلْ أُوحِيَ إِلَيَّ أَنَّهُ اسْتَمَعَ نَفَرٌ (Say: It has been revealed to me that a group listened), the second وَأَنْ لَوِ اسْتَقَامُوا (and that had they remained steadfast), and the third وَأَنَّ الْمَسَاجِدَ لِلَّهِ (and that the mosques belong to Allah). And as for the reciters of Kūfa, with the exception of ʿĀṣim: they read everything at the end of Sūrah al-Najm and at the beginning of Sūrah al-Jinn with the fatḥa, except His words فَقَالُوا إِنَّا سَمِعْنَا (and they said: We have indeed heard) and His words قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَدْعُو رَبِّي (Say: I call only upon my Lord) and what comes after it until the end of the surah; that they read with the kasra, except His words لِيَعْلَمَ أَنْ قَدْ أَبْلَغُوا رِسَالاتِ رَبِّهِمْ (so that He may know that they have indeed conveyed the messages of their Lord). And as for ʿĀṣim: he read all of it with the kasra, except His words وَأَنَّ الْمَسَاجِدَ لِلَّهِ (and that the mosques belong to Allah), which he read with the fatḥa. And as for Abū ʿAmr: he read all of it with the kasra, except His words وَأَنْ لَوِ اسْتَقَامُوا عَلَى الطَّرِيقَةِ (and that had they remained steadfast on the way), which he read — this and what comes after it — with the fatḥa.
As for those who read it all with the fatḥa, except in the place of speaking, such as His words فَقَالُوا إِنَّا سَمِعْنَا (and they said: We have indeed heard) and His words قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَدْعُو رَبِّي (Say: I call only upon my Lord) and the like: they linked the anna throughout the surah to His words فَآمَنَّا بِهِ (therefore we believe in it), that is to say: and we believe all of it, so they read it with the fatḥa because belief applies to it. And al-Farrāʾ used to say: Let it not deter you that you find that belief stands awkwardly with some of it under the fatḥa, for that with which belief, when it is explicitly mentioned, stands awkwardly, with it a verb in the imperfect that corresponds to belief may well stand fittingly, so that the fatḥa of anna is obligatory, as the Arabs said:
When the fair women come forth one day and outline (zajjajna) their eyebrows and their eyes. (1)
He placed "the eyes" in the accusative because they follow "the eyebrows," whereas they are not outlined (tuzajjaj) but only made up with kohl; therefore he implicitly assumed for them the application of kohl. In the same way one implicitly assumes, in the place where "we believe" does not stand fittingly, "we hold to be true," "we believe" and "we testify." He said: And among the reading with the naṣb is His words وَأَنْ لَوِ اسْتَقَامُوا عَلَى الطَّرِيقَةِ (and that had they remained steadfast on the way); it is then fitting for the one who reads it with the kasra to drop the "an" from "law," for when "an" is lightened (shortened), it does not constitute a quotation. Do you not see that you say: I say: had you acted, you would have acted, without inserting "an"? And as for those who read it all with the kasra, while they nonetheless say وَأَنْ لَوِ اسْتَقَامُوا (and that had they remained steadfast): it is as though they implicitly assumed an oath at "law," and cut off the connection with the beginning of the sentence, so that they said: by Allah, had they remained steadfast. He said: And the Arabs insert "an" in this place together with the oath, and also omit it. The poet said:
I swear: had any other than you reached us as his messenger — but we found for you no repelling. (2)
They said: And another recited to us:
Indeed, by Allah, were it so that you were a free man — but you belong neither to the freeborn nor to the freedmen. (3)
