Surah 72. Al-Jinn

SAY: "It has been revealed to me that some of the unseen beings gave ear [to this divine writ],¹ and thereupon said funto their fellow-beings]: "'Verily, we have heard a wondrous discourse,

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., had heard and accepted it: this being the meaning, in the above context, of the verbal form istama'a. - As regards the various meanings attributable to the plural noun jinn (rendered by me here as "unseen beings"), see Appendix III. As pointed out there, the jinn are referred to in the Qur'an in many connotations. In a few cases - e.g., in the present instance and in {46:29-32} - this expression may possibly signify "hitherto unseen beings", namely, strangers who had never before been seen by the people among and to whom the Qur'an was then being revealed. From 46:30 (which evidently relates to the same occurrence as the present one) it transpires that the jinn in question were followers of the Mosaic faith, inasmuch as they refer to the Qur'an as "a revelation bestowed from on high after [that of] Moses", thus pointedly omitting any mention of the intervening prophet, Jesus, and equally pointedly (in verse {3} of the present surah) stressing their rejection of the Christian concept of the Trinity. All this leads one to the assumption that they may have been Jews from distant parts of what is now the Arab world, perhaps from Syria or even Mesopotamia. (Tabari mentions in several places that the jinn referred to in this surah as well as in 46:29 ff. hailed from Nasibin, a town on the upper reaches of the Euphrates.) I should, however, like to stress that my explanation of this occurrence is purely tentative.

O Prophet say: "It has been revealed to me that a band of jinns listened to the Qur'an, then returned to their folk and said: 'We have heard a wonderful Qur'an

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say, 'O Prophet,' 'It has been revealed to me that a group of jinn listened 'to the Quran,' and said 'to their fellow jinn': 'Indeed, we have heard a wondrous recitation.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Say (O Muhammad): It is revealed unto me that a company of the Jinn gave ear, and they said: Lo! it is a marvellous Qur'an,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: It has been revealed to me that a company of Jinns listened (to the Qur'an). They say `We have really heard a wonderful Recital! ^{5727 5728 5729}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xlvi. 29-32, n. 4809. The Jinns had evidently heard of previous revelations, that of Moses (xlvi. 30), and the error of Trinitarian Christianity (lxxii. 3). The community from which they come have all sorts of good and bad persons, but they are determined to preach the good Message of Unity which they have heard and believed in.

For Jinns, see n. 929 to vi. 100.

The Holy Qur-an would be to them a wonderful Recital-both in subject-matter and in the circumstance that it had come in Arabia among a pagan and ignorant nation.

guiding towards consciousness of what is right; and so We have come to believe in it. And we shall never ascribe divinity to anyone beside our Sustainer,

  - Mohammad Asad

which guides to the Right Way. We have believed in it and henceforth shall worship none besides Our Rabb.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

It leads to Right Guidance so we believed in it, and we will never associate anyone with our Lord 'in worship'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Which guideth unto righteousness, so we believe in it and we ascribe unto our Lord no partner.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

It gives guidance to the Right and we have believed therein: We shall not join (in worship) any (gods) with our Lord.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

for [we know] that sublimely exalted is our Sustainer's majesty: no consort has He ever taken unto Himself, nor a son!

  - Mohammad Asad

Surely our Rabb's Majesty is exalted: He has neither taken a wife nor a son.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'Now, we believe that' our Lord- Exalted is His Majesty- has neither taken a mate nor offspring,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And (we believe) that He--exalted be the glory of our Lord!--hath taken neither wife nor son,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

`And exalted is the Majesty of our Lord: He has taken neither a wife nor a son. ⁵⁷³⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

They abjure paganism and also the doctrine of a son begotten by Allah, which would also imply a wife of whom he was begotten. Cf. vi. 101.

"And [now we know] that the foolish among us were wont to say outrageous things about God,²

  - Mohammad Asad

If we accept the supposition that the beings spoken of here were Jewish strangers, the "outrageous things" (shatat) which they mention would appear to be an allusion to the deep-set belief of the Jews that they were "God's chosen people" - a belief which the Qur'an consistently rejects, and of which the new converts now divested themselves.

Some who are foolish among us have been uttering atrocious lies about Allah,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

and that the foolish of us used to utter 'outrageous' falsehoods about Allah.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Meaning, evil jinn tempted some pagan Arabs to believe that the angels are Allah’s daughters through female jinn.

And that the foolish one among us used to speak concerning Allah an atrocious lie.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

`There were some foolish ones among us who used to utter extravagant lies against Allah;

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

and that [we were mistaken when] we thought that neither man nor [any of] the invisible forces would ever tell a lie about God.³

  - Mohammad Asad

In this and the next verse, the term jinn (rendered here as "invisible forces") apparently refers to what is described as "occult powers" or, rather, to a person's preoccupation with them (see Appendix III). Irrespective of whether these "forces" are real or mere products of human imagination, they "tell lies about God" inasmuch as they induce their devotees to conceive all manner of fantastic, arbitrary notions about the "nature" of His Being and of His alleged relations with the created universe: notions exemplified in all mystery-religions, in the various gnostic and theosophical systems, in cabalistic Judaism, and in the many medieval offshoots of each of them.

and we had presumed that no man or jinn could tell a lie concerning Allah.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

We certainly thought that humans and jinn would never speak lies about Allah.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And lo! we had supposed that humankind and jinn would not speak a lie concerning Allah--

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

`But we do think that no man or spirit should say aught that is untrue against Allah. ⁵⁷³¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

No one ought to entertain false notions about Allah. For by joining false gods in our ideas of worship, we degrade our conception of ourselves and the duty we owe to our Creator and Cherisher, to Whom we have to give a final account of life and conduct. If we worship idols or heavenly bodies, or human beings, or any creatures, or false fancies born of self or foolish abstractions, or the lusts and desires of our own hearts, we are not only doing violence to Truth, but we are causing discord in the harmony of the world.

Yet [it has always happened] that certain kinds of humans would seek refuge with certain kinds of [such] invisible forces:⁴ but these only increased their confusion -

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "that men (rijal) from among the humans used to (kana) seek refuge with men from among the jinn". Since the reference to "the humans" (al-ins) applies to men and women, the expression rijal is obviously used here - as so often in the Qur'an - in the sense of "some persons" or "certain kinds" of people. "Seeking refuge" is synonymous with seeking help, protection or the satisfaction of physical or spiritual needs; in the context of the above passage, this is evidently an allusion to the hope of "certain kinds of humans" that the occult powers to which they have turned would successfully guide them through life, and thus make it unnecessary for them to look forward to the coming of a new prophet.

Indeed, some individuals among mankind used to seek protection with some individuals among the jinns, so they caused such jinns to become more arrogant,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And some men used to seek refuge with some jinn- so they increased each other in wickedness.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 See footnote for 6:128.

And indeed (O Muhammad) individuals of humankind used to invoke the protection of individuals of the jinn so that they increased them in revolt (against Allah);

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

`True there were persons among mankind who took shelter with persons among the Jinns but they increased them in folly. ⁵⁷³²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

If human beings think that by a resort to some spirits they can shelter themselves from the struggles and actualities of their own lives, they are sadly mistaken. They must "dree their own weird", as the Scots would say. It is folly to try to escape from the duties which they can understand in their own natural surroundings, or to try to avoid the consequences of their own acts. Only such persons do so as do not realise that they will ultimately have to answer at the Judgment-Seat of Allah, whose first outpost is in their own conscience.

so much so that they came to think, as you [once] thought, that God would never [again] send forth anyone [as His apostle].⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

Thus Tabari (on the authority of Al-Kalbi) and Ibn Rathir. The overwhelming majority of the Jews were convinced that no prophet would be raised after those who were explicitly mentioned in the Old Testament: hence their rejection of Jesus and, of course, Muhammad, and their "reaching out towards heaven" (see next verse) in order to obtain a direct insight into God's plan of creation.

as a result, they presumed as you presumed that Allah would not appoint anyone as a Rasool.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And those 'humans' thought, just like you 'jinn', that Allah would not resurrect anyone 'for judgment'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And indeed they supposed, even as ye suppose, that Allah would not raise anyone (from the dead)

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

`And they (came to) think as ye thought that Allah would not raise up anyone (to Judgment).

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

"And [so it happened] that we reached out towards heaven:⁶ but we found it filled with mighty guards and flames,⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

The above may be understood as alluding not only, metaphorically, to the arrogant Jewish belief in their being "God's chosen people", but also, more factually, to their old inclination to, and practice of, astrology as a means to foretell the future. Apart from this - and in a more general sense - their "reaching out towards heaven" may be a metaphorical description of a state of mind which causes man to regard himself as "self-sufficient" and to delude himself into thinking that he is bound to achieve mastery over his own fate.

See notes [16] and [17] on {15:17-18}.

We searched the heaven, and found it filled with stern guards and shooting stars.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'Earlier' we tried to reach heaven 'for news', only to find it filled with stern guards and shooting stars.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Some jinn used to eavesdrop on the heaven, then pass on what they heard to fortune-tellers. But this practice came to an end once Muḥammad (ﷺ) was sent as a messenger with the Quran.

And (the Jinn who had listened to the Qur'an said): We had sought the heaven but had found it filled with strong warders and meteors.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

`And we pried into the secrets of heaven; but we found it filled with stern guards and flaming fires. ⁵⁷³³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

See notes 1951, 1953, and 1954 to xv. 17-18. See also n. 5562 to lxvii. 5. The speakers here have repented of sin and evil; but they recognise that there are evil ones among them, who love stealth and prying, but their dark plots will be defeated by vigilant guardians of the Right, whose repulse of the attacks of evil is figured by the shafts of meteoric light in the heavens.

notwithstanding that we were established in positions [which we had thought well-suited] to listening to [whatever secrets might be in] it:⁸ and anyone who now [or ever] tries to listen will [likewise] find a flame lying in wait for him!⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., "we failed notwithstanding our status as descendants of Abraham, and despite all our ability and learning".

As the sequence shows (and as has been pointed out in note [17] on 15:18 , this relates to all attempts at predicting the future by means of astrology or esoteric calculations, or at influencing the course of future events by means of "occult sciences".

Before this we used to find a seat in heaven for eavesdropping, but now eavesdroppers find shooting stars lying in ambush for them.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

We used to take up positions there for eavesdropping, but whoever dares eavesdrop now will find a flare lying in wait for them.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And we used to sit on places (high) therein to listen. But he who listened now findeth a flame in wait for him;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

`We used indeed to sit there in (hidden) stations to (steal) a hearing; but any who listens now will find a flaming fire watching him in ambush. ⁵⁷³⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

What is the force of "now"? It refers to the early Makkan period of Revelation. It means that whatever excuse there may have been before, for people to try to seek out the hidden truths of the Unseen World through jinns, there was none now, as the perspicuous Qur-an had restored the Message of Unity and cleared religion of all the cobwebs, mysteries, and falsehoods with which priestcraft and pious fraud had overlaid it. The result is that such seekers after false hidden knowledge will find themselves confronted now by the flaming fire, which, like the shafts of meteoric light (see note), will lie in wait for and nip such priestcraft and black magic in the bud.

"And [now we have become aware] that we [created beings] may not know whether evil fortune is intended for [any of] those who live on earth, or whether it is their Sustainer's will to endow them with consciousness of what is right:¹⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

Thus, as in verses {2} and {21} of this surah, "consciousness of what is right" (rashad or rushd) is equated with the opposite of evil fortune, i.e., with happiness.

We did not know whether an evil was intended for the dwellers of the earth or whether their Rabb intended to guide them.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Now, we do not really know whether evil is intended for those on earth, or their Lord intends for them what is right.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And we know not whether harm is boded unto all who are in the earth, or whether their Lord intendeth guidance for them;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

`And we understand not whether ill is intended to those on earth or whether their Lord (really) intends to guide them to right conduct. ⁵⁷³⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

To these jinns this gospel is yet new, and appears like a flaming sword which destroys falsehood while it protects Truth. They frankly confess that they do not clearly understand whether on the whole it will be a mercy to mankind or a punishment for mankind forsaking the paths of Allah. But they rightly feel that it must be a blessing if all seek right Guidance.