• Satan refuses to pay obeisance to Man thinking himself superior to man

• Satan seeks respite to beguile man

• Satan given respite but without any influence over God’s Selected Servants

• Man’s ingratitude to God

Al-Israa (Bani-Israel) Verses 61 – 70

وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لِآدَمَ فَسَجَدُوا إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ قَالَ أَأَسْجُدُ لِمَنْ خَلَقْتَ طِينًا

And (remember O’ Our Apostle Muhammad!) when said We unto the angels: “Prostrate ye (in obeisance) to Adam!” Prostrated all (of them) but ‘Iblis’ (who did it not) said he: “(What!) Am I to prostrate unto him whom Thou hast created of clay?” (17:61)1

قَالَ أَرَأَيْتَكَ هَٰذَا الَّذِي كَرَّمْتَ عَلَيَّ لَئِنْ أَخَّرْتَنِ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ لَأَحْتَنِكَنَّ ذُرِّيَّتَهُ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا

He (Iblis) said: “Seest Thou, (This) is (the creature) whom Thou hath honoured2above me? If thou respiteth me until the Day of Judgment, I will sever3his posterity4(under my sway) from its origin save a few.” (17:62)

قَالَ اذْهَبْ فَمَنْ تَبِعَكَ مِنْهُمْ فَإِنَّ جَهَنَّمَ جَزَاؤُكُمْ جَزَاءً مَوْفُورًا

Said He5: “Begone! But whosoever of them followeth thee, then verily Hell is your recompense, a recompense in full!” (17:63)6

وَاسْتَفْزِزْ مَنِ اسْتَطَعْتَ مِنْهُمْ بِصَوْتِكَ وَأَجْلِبْ عَلَيْهِمْ بِخَيْلِكَ وَرَجِلِكَ وَشَارِكْهُمْ فِي الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَوْلَادِ وَعِدْهُمْ وَمَا يَعِدُهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ إِلَّا غُرُورًا

“And tear thou away whomsoever of them thou canst with thy voice, and collect (against) them thy cavalry and infantry, and partake with them in (their) riches and (their) children, and make promises unto them;” and promiseth not unto them the Satan but a deceit. (17:64)7

إِنَّ عِبَادِي لَيْسَ لَكَ عَلَيْهِمْ سُلْطَانٌ وَكَفَىٰ بِرَبِّكَ وَكِيلًا

“Verily (as for) My (own) servants,8thou shalt not have over them any authority, and sufficeth thy Lord (as their) Guardian.” (17:65)9

رَبُّكُمُ الَّذِي يُزْجِي لَكُمُ الْفُلْكَ فِي الْبَحْرِ لِتَبْتَغُوا مِنْ فَضْلِهِ إِنَّهُ كَانَ بِكُمْ رَحِيمًا

Your Lord is He who saileth the ships for you in the sea that ye may seek of His grace; Verily He is ever unto you the Most Merciful. (17:66)10

وَإِذَا مَسَّكُمُ الضُّرُّ فِي الْبَحْرِ ضَلَّ مَنْ تَدْعُونَ إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ فَلَمَّا نَجَّاكُمْ إِلَى الْبَرِّ أَعْرَضْتُمْ وَكَانَ الْإِنْسَانُ كَفُورًا

When toucheth you any distress in the sea, away go those11whom ye invoke, save He12(alone) yet when He bringeth you safe unto the land ye turn away (from Him); and man hath ever been ungrateful. (17:67)

أَفَأَمِنْتُمْ أَنْ يَخْسِفَ بِكُمْ جَانِبَ الْبَرِّ أَوْ يُرْسِلَ عَلَيْكُمْ حَاصِبًا ثُمَّ لَا تَجِدُوا لَكُمْ وَكِيلًا

What! feel ye then secure13that He will (not) cause the slope of the earth for you (to be swallowed up) I or that He will (not) send against you a violent wind showering stones14(on you), then ye shall find not for you any protector. (17:68)

أَمْ أَمِنْتُمْ أَنْ يُعِيدَكُمْ فِيهِ تَارَةً أُخْرَىٰ فَيُرْسِلَ عَلَيْكُمْ قَاصِفًا مِنَ الرِّيحِ فَيُغْرِقَكُمْ بِمَا كَفَرْتُمْ ثُمَّ لَا تَجِدُوا لَكُمْ عَلَيْنَا بِهِ تَبِيعًا

Or feel ye secure that He will (not) take you back into it (the sea) another time, and then send on you a fierce gale and drown you for what ye disbelieved, then ye shall find not against Us any pleader15(17:69)

وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِي آدَمَ وَحَمَلْنَاهُمْ فِي الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ وَرَزَقْنَاهُمْ مِنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَفَضَّلْنَاهُمْ عَلَىٰ كَثِيرٍ مِمَّنْ خَلَقْنَا تَفْضِيلًا

And indeed We have honoured the children of Adam, and We carry them in the land and on the sea and We provided them with sustenance of good things, and We have exalted them over most of those whom We have created, by (high) decree of exaltation. (17:70)16

Commentary

Verse 62

This clear directive proves that man in Origin is pure from all defects as asserted in verse 95:4, to have been created and best balanced. The defect and the deviation crept into the lineage of Adam by Satanic factor, is a subsequent matter. Hence the concept of the Original Sin of the Christian Church is unfounded. This fact is supported by several verses of Qur’an asserting that those who deviate from the Right Path tending towards the temporal life and its enjoyment are not real human beings - they are like animals or even worse. (A.P.)

Verse 64

Devil’s sharing in the wealth of his followers - his instigating them to earn wealth unlawfully and to spend it also extravagantly in all evil ways17.

Showing in the issues, means for instigation towards adultery and thus causing the questionable birth of illegitimate children. The Devil’s promise is his making the evil fair-seeming and his inviting towards disobeying God’s commands.

Verse 65

My servants - those who never in their lives yielded to the Devil, i.e., the divinely purified ones.18 They are duly protected by God.19

Verse 67

The native tendency in man is pictured in this verse. Any loss or calamity afflicts him, man resorts to seek God’s help and prays and implores for mercy and relief, and once the Lord’s mercy relieves him of the affliction, he forgets the Lord.

Verse 68

God is able to make you sink in the earth as He could drown you in the sea. Thus, man having been saved from a calamity should not think that he is safe for all times against the chastisement from God.

Verse 69

As said in the previous verse though people might be safe for a while, but the chastisement from the Lord, if He wills, will overtake them whenever they earn it, by man’s return to disbelief or evil ways.

Verse 70

This verse confirms what Satan said in verse 17:62 - God has honoured the children of Adam by giving them authority and domination over many creatures. This is only a test. Ref. - preceding verses from verse 17:60 - and to the result of which will be announced as given in the following verse (A.P.).

• 1. Refer to verses 2:34, 7:11, 18:50, 15:28-33 & 20:116. This is a further consolation to what is said in the previous verse 17:60 - Disobedience and mischief are compared to satanic arrogance and disbelief.
• 2. Refer to note on verse 17:70.
• 3. Arabic ‘Ehtanuca’ Lit. Severing from the root.
• 4. Issues.
• 5. God.
• 6. Refer to verse 15:42.
• 7. Children to inherit Satanic Characters.
• 8. Refer to verse 33:33. Those purified by God Himself - The Holy Ahl al Bayt - and also the apostles of God.
• 9. Refer to verses 15:42 & 34:21.
• 10. The object of the life here is a test and a trial to develop each individual’s aptitude and select out the best from the lot - The quantity is immaterial.
• 11. The false gods whom they worshipped.
• 12. God.
• 13. feel secure against.
• 14. Also sand storm.
• 15. To question why – Avenger.
• 16. Refer to verse 17:92.
• 17. See verse 15:42.
• 18. See note on verse 15:42.
• 19. See verse 33:33.