Surah al-A`raf (The Elevated Places) 7 : 12

قَالَ مَا مَنَعَكَ أَلَّا تَسْجُدَ إِذْ أَمَرْتُكَ ۖ قَالَ أَنَا۠ خَيْرٌ مِّنْهُ خَلَقْتَنِى مِن نَّارٍ وَخَلَقْتَهُۥ مِن طِينٍ

Translations

 
 Muhsin Khan
 Pickthall
 Yusuf Ali
Quran Project
[Allāh] said, "What prevented you from prostrating when I commanded you?" [Satan] said, "I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay [i.e., earth]."

1. Lessons/Guidance/Reflections/Gems

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Explanatory Note

The scene portrays three different types of God’s creation: the first is that given to absolute obedience and complete self-surrender. In this scene, its role is completed with the submission it makes which manifested itself in the angels prostrating themselves, one and all, to Adam as commanded by their Lord. The second type is that of absolute disobedience and spiteful arrogance, while the third is that of human nature. We will be discussing shortly the characteristics of these latter types and how they work.
 
Iblīs here claims for himself a private opinion and a right of discretion to consider whether to comply with an order given by God or not. He wants to base his action on what appears to him to be justifiable. Needless to say, when a clear order is given by God no one has the right of discretion. The only thing that is left is complete obedience and perfect compliance. However, fully aware that God is the Creator and Sustainer of all creation and who controls the universe to the extent that nothing takes place without His permission and consent, Iblīs refuses to comply, justifying his disobedience by his own logic.
 

2. Linguistic Analysis

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Frequency of Root words in this Ayat used in this Surah *


3. Surah Overview

4. Miscellaneous Information

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5. Connected/Related Ayat

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6. Frequency of the word

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7. Period of Revelation

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A study of its contents clearly shows that the period of its revelation is about the same as that of Surah 6: al-An’am (The Grazing Livestock), i.e. the last year of the Prophet's life at Makkah, but it cannot be asserted with certainty which of these two were sent down earlier. The manner of its admonition clearly indicates that it belongs to the same period. [Ref: Mawdudi]

It is considered the longest surah revealed during the Makkan period. Some consider this surah to have been revealed after Surah 38: Sad. [Ref: Tafsir al-Maudheei, Dr. Mustafah Muslim, vol. 3, p. 2]

8. Reasons for Revelation

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9. Relevant Hadith

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`Aishah narrated that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said,"The angels were created from light, Shaytan from a smokeless flame of fire, while Adam was created from what was described to you". (Muslim)

10. Wiki Forum

Comments in this section are statements made by general users – these are not necessarily explanations of the Ayah – rather a place to share personal thoughts and stories…

11. Tafsir Zone

 

Overview (Verses 12 - 17)

Three Different Natures

The scene portrays three different types of God’s creation: the first is that given to absolute obedience and complete self-surrender. In this scene, its role is completed with the submission it makes which manifested itself in the angels prostrating themselves, one and all, to Adam as commanded by their Lord. The second type is that of absolute disobedience and spiteful arrogance, while the third is that of human nature. We will be discussing shortly the characteristics of these latter types and how they work.

And [God] said: “What has prevented you from prostrating yourself when I commanded you?” Answered [Iblīs]: “I am nobler than he: You created me out of fire, while You created him out of clay” (Verse 12)

Iblīs here claims for himself a private opinion and a right of discretion to consider whether to comply with an order given by God or not. He wants to base his action on what appears to him to be justifiable. Needless to say, when a clear order is given by God no one has the right of discretion. The only thing that is left is complete obedience and perfect compliance. However, fully aware that God is the Creator and Sustainer of all creation and who controls the universe to the extent that nothing takes place without His permission and consent, Iblīs refuses to comply, justifying his disobedience by his own logic: “I am nobler than he: You created me out of fire, while You created him out of clay.” (Verse 12) Immediately, he received the right answer to his arrogance: “[God] said: Off with you hence! It is not for you to show your arrogance here. Get out, then; you will always be among the humiliated.” (Verse 13)

Neither his knowledge of God nor his belief in God’s existence and attributes were of any benefit to Iblīs. The same applies to anyone who receives a divine order and claims for himself a degree of discretion about whether to accept or refuse that order, or claims the right to refuse God’s ruling on any question whatsoever. For this entails disbelief in spite of knowledge and certitude. Iblīs was not at all lacking in either his knowledge of God or his certainty of His attributes. He was expelled from Heaven and deprived of God’s grace. He incurred God’s displeasure and was condemned to permanent humiliation.

Evil and obstinate as he is, Iblīs does not forget the cause of his expulsion and God’s displeasure with him: namely, Adam. He does not want to accept his miserable fate without trying to avenge himself. Furthermore, he wants to fulfil his task in accordance with the evil nature which he has come to symbolize: “Said he: ‘Grant me a respite until the Day when all will be raised [from the dead].’ God replied: ‘You shall indeed be among these granted respite.’ [Iblīs] said: ‘Since You let me fall in error, I shall indeed lurk in ambush for them all along Your straight path, and I shall most certainly fall upon them from the front and from the rear, and from their right and from their left; and You will find most of them ungrateful.’” (Verses 14-17)

His attitude, then, is one of complete determination to follow the evil path, and absolute insistence on trying to lead people astray. Here we see his nature revealing its main characteristic of a deeply entrenched, deliberate evil, and not a passing or temporary one.

We also see here a concrete outline of thoughts, concepts and reactions, all portrayed with exceptional vividness. Iblīs requests his Lord to give him respite until the Day of Resurrection, knowing that what he is asking can only be granted by

God’s will. God granted his request and gave him respite until the “Day of the appointed time” as it is described in another sūrah. A number of reports explain that this is a reference to the Day of the blowing of the Trumpet when everything that exists in the heavens and the earth is stunned unconscious, with the exception of whomever God wills. In other words, his respite does not extend to the Day of Resurrection.

As he has been granted prolonged life, Iblīs announces with wicked arrogance that he will concentrate his efforts in leading astray the very creature on whom God has bestowed His honour and who was the cause of Iblīs’s own tragedy and rejection. His endeavour to tempt human beings away from the right path is shown here by drawing the practical import of what he declared: “I shall indeed lurk in ambush for them all along Your straight path, and I shall most certainly fall upon them from the front and from the rear, and from their right and from their left.” (Verses 16-17)

He wants always to be close to God’s straight path watching for Adam and his offspring, trying to turn away any human being who tries to pass along. The way to God cannot be a concrete one, because God is above being confined to a certain place. It is, then, the road of faith and obedience which leads to God’s pleasure. Iblīs, then, will have to come at human beings from every direction: “I shall most certainly fall upon them from the front and from the rear, and from their right and from their left.” (Verse 17) His aim will always be to try to prevent them from believing in God and obeying Him. This is a very lively portrait of Iblīs falling upon human beings in his never- ending endeavour to tempt them away from God’s path so that they cannot believe in God or show their gratitude to Him, except for a small number of them who manage to escape Iblīs’s efforts: “You will find most of them ungrateful”

Gratitude is mentioned here because it is in harmony with what was mentioned earlier in this sūrah: “How seldom are you grateful.” (Verse 10) We have here the reason for this lack of gratitude on the part of human beings. Its real cause is Iblīs’s endeavour and the fact that he lurks in ambush for human beings to prevent them from believing in God. Human beings are then alerted to the designs of their enemy who tries to stop them from following divine guidance. They should be on their guard, since now they know the reason for their ingratitude.

Iblīs’s request has been granted because God has willed human beings to find their own way since their nature is susceptible to good and evil. Furthermore, man has been given a mind to think, reflect and choose, and he has been given reminders and warnings through God’s messengers. Furthermore, he has been given the means to control and correct himself. It is God’s will that he receives signals of right guidance and error, and that goodness and evil should have their fight within him so that his faith is determined in accordance with the law God has set in operation. God’s will is thus accomplished by testing human beings. Whether they follow right guidance or go astray, God’s law is thus accomplished.


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