Verses 64–65
These two verses are a digression from the rest of the verses in the sūrah. Their flow of meaning testifies to the fact that they are the words of the Angel of revelation revealed as Qur’an by God because the composition (naḍhm) is indubitably a Qur’anic one. Thus, there is support for that which is narrated via various of Ahl al-Sunna’s chains of narration and narrated also in Majmaʿ al-bayān via Ibn ʿAbbās that God’s Messenger thought that Gabriel was slow in coming down, so he asked him about it. He replied in the form of revelation from God , And we do not descend but by the command of your Lord …
A number of exegetes went to great pains to come up with explanations to show that the two verses are connected to the previous ones. Some exegetes said that the verses mean: “This being said, Gabriel said: And we do not descend but by the command of your Lord … ”. Others said that these two verses are linked to what Gabriel said to Mary—cited earlier: I am only a messenger of your Lord: That I will give you a boy who will grow up properly … Another group said that, And we do not descend but by the command of your Lord … are the words of those who are Godwary (al-muttaqīn) when they enter Heaven. In other words, it is as if the verse read: “And those who are God-fearing said: And we do not descend into Heaven but by the command of your Lord … ”. Other claims have also been made.
They are all clearly brittle explanations unsupported by the context and below standards of effective literary composition. There is no need to labor on explaining the ways in which they are wrong. Another explanation for how they are connected appears at the end of our discussion of the second verse.
Commentary
وَمَا نَتَنَزَّلُ إِلَّا بِأَمْرِ رَبِّكَ ۖ لَهُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِينَا وَمَا خَلْفَنَا وَمَا بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ ۚ وَمَا كَانَ رَبُّكَ نَسِيًّا ٦٤
(19:64) And we do not descend (tanazzul) but by the command of your Lord; to Him belongs whatever is before us and whatever is behind us and whatever is between these, and your Lord is not forgetful.
The word tanazzul means descending slowly without haste. Tanazzal is the submissive form of nazal and it expresses the action of descending in submission to a command or pressure. In Arabic, one says nazzalahu, he made him descend, fa tanazzal, and so he descended. The negation, we do not descend, followed by the exception, but by the command of your Lord, together produce a restrictive. Thus, the Angels only descend by God’s command—as He says: … they do not disobey God in what He commands them, and [they] do as they are commanded ().
… to Him belongs whatever is before us and whatever is behind us and whatever is between these: One says that such and such a thing is qudāmahu, ahead of him, amāmahu, in front of him, or bayna yadayhi, literally between his hands,—they all mean the same thing, that is, before or in front of him. The only minor difference is that one says bayna yadayhi of something which is close to a person, which he oversees or which he manipulates and controls. Thus the apparent meaning of whatever is between our hands [or whatever is before us] is whatever we oversee, which is exposed and visible to us. The apparent (ḍhāhir) meaning of whatever is behind us, by virtue of being opposite to what preceded it, is whatever is absent or concealed from us. Consequently, if whatever is before us and whatever is behind us and whatever is between these are locative descriptors, then they encompass what is before them, the space they are in, and some of what is behind without applying to every place. Similarly, if the said descriptors are time qualifiers, then they only apply to the the past, the present, and the near future. The line of reasoning of the phrase, to Him belongs whatever is before us and whatever is behind us and whatever is between these is more conducive to full and not partial breadth.
Hence, whatever is before us should be interpreted as the actions that the Angels perform and control as well as the effects of their actions on their existence. In turn, whatever is behind us refers to the causes of their existence that naturally came before them. Finally, whatever is between these refers to their very existence. It is one of the most original and elegant expressions. It is in this fashion that they [the Angels] are entirely contained by divine encompassment. Indeed, the verse ultimately refers back to God Who is the Owner (Mālik) of our existence and everything pertaining to it, be it past or present.
There are differences of opinion over the exegesis of this sentence:
- Whatever is before us means the future and whatever is behind us means the past and whatever is between these means the present.
- Whatever is before us refers to what was before the Angels’ coming to being. Whatever is behind us refers to what will be after their death to the perpetuity of the Hereafter. Whatever is between these refers to what is during their lifetime.
- Whatever is before us refers to what is in this world (dunyā) till the first blow [of the trumpet]. Whatever is behind us refers to what comes after the second blow. Whatever is between these refers to what will be between the two blows, that is, forty years.
- Whatever is before us refers to the Hereafter, while whatever is behind us alludes to this world.
- Whatever is before us means what came before creation. Whatever is behind us means what will come after annihilation (fanā’). Whatever is between these means what comes between this world and the Hereafter.
- Whatever is before us means what remains of the matter of this world. Whatever is behind us means whatever has passed of the matter of this world. Whatever is between these means what they are in currently.
- Whatever is before us means the beginning of their creation. Whatever is behind us refers to the end of their lives. Whatever is between these is the duration of their lives.
- Whatever is before us means the sky. Whatever is behind us means the earth. Whatever is between these means whatever is between the two.
- The opposite of (8) above.
- Whatever is before us means the place they are moving towards. Whatever is behind us means the place they have come from. Whatever is between these means the place they are in.
The last three opinions all have one thing in common, taking “whatever” to refer to a place. In the first seven, “whatever” was taken to refer to time. Another opinion is that the verse applies both to time and to place; this brings the total up to eleven opinions, none of which have any evidence. Moreover, they contain parts that ascribe what is for Angels to human beings.
The correct interpretation is the one we presented above. Thus, whatever is before us and whatever is behind us and whatever is between these means that the total reign of His rulership over them is true ownership over which no one else has disposal and over which no one else has any power except by His permission and by His will. The Angels do not disobey and do not do a single thing without His commanding them or without His permission; they do not want anything that God does not want. Thus, an Angel only descends by his Lord’s command.
Hence, it is confirmed that the clause, to Him belongs whatever is before us and whatever is behind us and whatever is between these provides an explanation for the phrase, And we do not descend but by the command of your Lord with the words, and your Lord is not forgetful concluding the explanation. Here, nasiyy is the faʿūl morphological form of nisyān meaning forgetful. In other words, the verse can be understood as saying: “He does not forget a single thing of His kingdom the negligence of which would offset the management of affairs such that, for example, He does not order descent when [His Wisdom dictates that] He should or He orders descent when [His Wisdom dictates that He] should not”. This is the meaning behind preferring to negate the attribution of forgetfulness to Him over the affirmation of His knowledge or remembrance.
In the alternative, it is claimed that the clause, and your Lord is not forgetful means: “He does not forsake His Prophets, that is, the only reason the Angel did not descend was because he was not commanded to, not because He had forsaken you and left you to your own devices”.
Reply: Even though in one respect this conforms with the aforementioned reason for revelation, it makes the justification, to Him belongs whatever is before us, incongruous to the proposed meaning. Note that the phrase, The Lord of the Heavens and the earth and what is between them becomes cut off from what precedes it—as will become apparent.
رَبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا فَاعْبُدْهُ وَاصْطَبِرْ لِعِبَادَتِهِ ۚ هَلْ تَعْلَمُ لَهُ سَمِيًّا٦٥
(19:65) The Lord of the Heavens and the earth and what is between them, so serve Him and be patient in His service. Do you know anyone equal to Him?
The beginning of the verse namely, The Lord of the Heavens and the earth and what is between them provides an explanation for what He said in the previous verse: to Him belongs whatever is before us and whatever is behind us … meaning: “How can He not be the owner of whatever is before them [, meaning the Angels], whatever is behind them and whatever is between these? How can He be forgetful when He is the Lord of the Heavens and the earth and what is between them?” The Lord (rabb) of something is its owner and the manager of its affairs. Thus His ownership of it and His not being forgetful are concomitant to His Lordship.
The words, so serve Him and be patient in His service follow on logically from the beginning of the verse. It is as if the verses [64-65] read as: “If we [the Angels] only came down by your Lord’s command and we brought down to you these words comprising the call to worship Him, it is because the words are His words and the call is His call so serve Him alone, and be patient in His service. For, there is no one else called Lord apart from your Lord. Hence, there is no justification for not being steadfast upon the worship of your Lord or for turning to the exclusive worship of another so-called ‘lord’ or for associating partners to Him”.
It may also be claimed that the sentence follows on logically from, Lord of the Heavens and the earth or and your Lord is not forgetful. The meaning thus rendered would be: “Your Lord has not forgotten you so worship Him … ”
Reply: The problem with both explanations is obvious.
A number of issues have become clear through the above analysis:
First: Do you know anyone equal (samiyy) to Him? completes the rationale for the command, so serve Him and be patient in His service.
Second: Samiyy means sharing the same name. The principal message of the verse being to establish His absolute lordship over all things, the name in question here is al-Rabb, the Lord. Hence, it is as if He is saying: “Do you know anyone with the attribute of lordship who has been called Lord, for this reason, such that it [would] warrant your turning away from Him towards the exclusive worship of that other [lord]?” Thus, the incorrectness of the vast majority of what has been said about the interpretation of the word samiyy in this verse becomes clear. Such views include that:
- It means the like, metaphorically;
- It means son without being literal.
- It means son literally despite the fact that a name’s purpose is not to be shared but to distinguish and that the name in question is Lord of the Heavens and earth;
- It is the proper name of God (ism al-jalāla), Allāh;
- It means al-Ilāh (God);
- It means al-Raḥmān (the Merciful);
- It means God the Creator, the Provider, the Giver and Taker of Life, the One Who is capable of reward and punishment.
Third: The reason for annexing the word rabb with the second person pronoun and the repetition of it in the verse: by the command of your Lord; your Lord is not … as opposed to saying “our Lord” is to prepare for the concluding remarks, in verse 65, that express God’s Unity. In other words, the expression your Lord communicates the fact that “our Lord” by whose command we descend is your Lord. The call is His call, so serve Him. This dynamic may also be at play with, your Lord in the beginning of the sūrah with, a mention of the mercy of your Lord, especially that the verses are, as we have pointed out earlier, part of a single line of meaning and reasoning and have a single purpose.
Fourth: The words, So serve Him and be patient in His service have, in essence, the sole purpose of commanding that worship and service should be exclusive to God. Hence, the command to worship and serve and the command to be steadfast and constant in worship and service, are two commands in one that are inseparably concomitant to each other. It is important to understand this.
It could be inferred from the use of the conjunction fa which means therefore, in the segment of verse 65, therefore serve Him and be patient in His service, that it came to emphasize and confirm the discourse of the verses that preceded these two verses. Thus the link between these two verses and the previous verses becomes clear, obviating the need to treat them as a complete digression.
Thus, it is as if after the Angel of revelation brought the sūrah down to him and revealed to him its sixty-three verses containing a comprehensive call to the pure religion, he told him that he had not hitherto descended, and, would not descend on his own initiative, but rather by a command from his Lord and with a Message from Him. Thus the words were His Words and the call was His call—He is the Lord of the Prophet and of all things so he should serve Him alone. There is no other Lord to turn to. Thus, the two verses are part of what was revealed to the Angel of revelation to transmit it to the Prophet to strengthen his heart and to reinforce the previous verses.
This is similar to a king sending a messenger with a letter from him or a message to one of his workers. The messenger then comes to him and when he reads him the letter or passes on the message, he says to the worker: “I have not come to you on my own initiative but rather by the king’s command and instruction. The letter is his letter and the message is his words and ruling. He is your king and the king of everyone in the kingdom, so listen to him, obey him, and stick to it. There is no other king but him to turn to”.
This messenger’s words are confirmation of the king’s words and if it is supposed that it was the king who commanded him to follow up the message with these words, they are the messenger’s words but also a message from the king and the king’s words. Obviously this explanation is more in conformity with the two verses and more clearly appropriate to them than the oral traditions about the context of revelation not to mention their discrepancies and weakness.
Hence, whatever is before us should be interpreted as the actions that the angels perform… (Ed.) ↩︎