'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Tafsir of Surah Al-Jinn

And it is Makki by consensus of the interpreters.

His saying, exalted is He:

﴿Say, 'It has been revealed to me that a group of the jinn listened and said,

And the saying of the jinn: "Indeed, we have heard" refers to a discourse from them to their people who turned to them as warners. And "a wondrous Qur'an" means: it is one of wonder; because wonder occurs from the one who hears the Qur'an due to its eloquence and its profound meanings. The Qur'an itself is not the wonder. The majority of people read: "to guidance" with a dammah on the ra and a sukoon on the sheen. And 'Isa al-Thaqafi read: "to guidance" with a fatha on the ra and sheen. And whoever breaks the hamzah from His saying, the Exalted, "And indeed, He, the Exalted" is on the cutting, and the sentence is connected to their saying: "Indeed, we have heard." And whoever opens the alif from His saying, the Exalted: "And indeed, He, the Exalted" has differed in the interpretation of that. Some of them said: it is a conjunction to "that he listened," so it comes in this way with His saying, the Exalted: "And indeed, He, the Exalted" as something that was commanded to be said that it was revealed to him, and it is not from the speech of the jinn, and in this is concern. And some of them said: rather it is a conjunction to the pronoun in "by it," so it is as if they are saying: so we believed in it and in that He, the Exalted, is the true Lord of us. And this saying is clearer in meaning, but in terms of grammar, the conjunction to the pronoun that is in the genitive without repeating the preposition is not good.

And the majority of the people read: "The greatness of our Lord" with the opening of the جيم and its addition to "the Lord" exalted is He. The majority of the interpreters said: Its meaning is: His greatness. It has been narrated from Anas that he said: When a man recited [Al-Baqarah and Aal 'Imran], he appeared great in our eyes, meaning: he became great. Anas ibn Malik and Al-Hasan said: The greatness of our Lord is His wealth. This is from the greatness that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, mentioned when he said: "And the greatness will not benefit the one who has greatness." Mujahid said: He mentioned it. Some of them said: His majesty. Ibn Abbas said: His status and command. All of this is directed to the fact that greatness is the share of the great one from the good things and beautiful attributes. So the greatness of Allah, exalted is He, is the complete share of the overpowering authority, the high ranks, and the greatness. From this, the Jew said when the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, arrived in Medina: "O children of Qaila, this is your greatness that you are waiting for," meaning: your share of good things and your fortune. Ali ibn Al-Husayn, Abu Ja'far Al-Baqir, his son Ja'far, and Al-Rabi' ibn Anas said: Allah, exalted is He, does not have a greatness. This is the saying of a people who are ignorant among the jinn who made Allah a greatness, meaning a father. Many of the interpreters said: This saying is weak, and their saying: "And we will not associate anyone with our Lord" refutes it. And their being on a previous Shari'ah in what has been narrated and their understanding of the Quran. Muhammad ibn Al-Samifa' Al-Yamani read: "The greatness of our Lord," which is the benefit and usefulness. Ikrimah read: "The greatness of our Lord" with the opening of the جيم and the damm of the دال and its tanween and the raising of the Lord, as if they were saying: Exalted and great is our Lord, and "our Lord" is a substitute. And the جَدّ is the great one in the language. Humayd ibn Qays read: "The greatness of our Lord" with the damm of the جيم, and its meaning is: the great one, as reported by Sibawayh, and he added it to "the Lord," as if he said: "The great Lord of ours." This is an addition of stripping, raising this name when the attribute is added to the described, as you say: "A noble Zayd came to me," meaning: Zayd the noble. And this is similar to the saying of Al-Mutanabbi:

........... The great one of the kingdom in the eyes

He meant: the great kingdom. Some of the grammarians said: This example is objectionable because he added to a genus that includes both the great and the insignificant. Ikrimah also read: "Truly our Lord" with the opening of the جيم and دال and its tanween and the raising of "the Lord," and "truly" was placed as a distinction as you say: "I burst with fat and sweat poured down." Qatadah read: "Truly our Lord" with the kasrah of the جيم and the emphasis on the دال, so he placed "truly" as a حال, and its meaning is: a reality and firmly established. This meaning is different from the first. Abu Al-Dardaa read: "Exalted is the mention of our Lord," and it has been narrated from him: "The majesty of our Lord."

His saying, exalted is He: "And that he was saying" is undoubtedly the saying of the jinn. The breaking of the alif in it is clearer, and its being opened has no basis except for following the conjunction with the pronoun. It is as if they said: "And we have now believed that our fool's saying about Allah was excessive." The fool mentioned, the majority of the interpreters said, is Iblis, may Allah curse him. Others said it is a generic name for every fool among them. There is no doubt that Iblis is foremost among the fools, and this saying is better. "Excessive" means transgression and exceeding the limit in saying or action. From this is the saying of Al-A'sha:

"Will you cease? And those of excessive nature do not cease, Like a stab in which the oil and the fat go."

And His saying, exalted is He: "And we thought" is the speech of those individuals from the jinn. It cannot be interpreted otherwise. The breaking of the alif in it is clearer, and the meaning is: "We used to think before our belief that the sayings we heard from Iblis and the deviants among the jinn and humans regarding the deities and what relates to that were true and not false; because we thought they would not lie about Allah, exalted is He, nor would they accept that." The majority of the people read: "You say" with a ت and the ق is pronounced lightly. Al-Hasan, Al-Jahdari, Ibn Abu Bakrah, and Ya'qub read: "He claimed" with an opened ت, ق, and a doubled و. The term "claiming" is specific to lying, while the term "saying" is general for both lying and truth. However, their saying: "a lie" brings the saying here back to the meaning of claiming.