Verse 1
بِسۡمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
In the name of Allah, the most Merciful, the most Compassionate
This chapter focuses on three principles: (a) the oneness of God in His lordship, (b) the message of the Messenger, and (c) the return to God [in the afterlife]—and establishes proof for them. To facilitate that, the text recollects some magnificent divine blessings, heavenly and earthly, and points to His precise administration of the universe, in general, and of humanity, in particular.
This is preceded by an overall mention of how God is the only one who can grant or restrict mercy—that is, endow or restrict blessings—in the verse: Whatsoever mercy Allah opens unto mankind, none shall withhold… ().
And this is preceded by mention of the agents of His extended mercy and gifted blessings. They are the angels, mediating between Him and His creation, in delivering different types of blessings from Him and bringing them to His creation. Thus, the chapter begins by mentioning them.
The chapter is Meccan, as the content of the verses indicates. However, some exegetes have excluded two verses from this, namely: Those who recite the book of Allah and establish the prayer and spend of what We have provided them secretly and openly, hoping for an exchange that will never perish. () and Then we gave the book as an inheritance to those of our servants whom We chose. Among them is the one who wrongs his own soul, and among them is the one who takes a middle course, and among the is the one who is foremost in acts of good by the permission of Allah. This is a high grace. ()
It is not clear from the content of these verses whether they were revealed in Mecca or Medina.
Commentary
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ فَاطِرِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ جَاعِلِ الْمَلائِكَةِ رُسُلا أُولِي أَجْنِحَةٍ مَّثْنَى وَثُلاثَ وَرُبَاعَ يَزِيدُ فِي الْخَلْقِ مَا يَشَاء إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ ١
(35:1) All praise be to Allah, originator of the heavens and the earth, maker of the angels as messengers with wings two, three, and four. He adds to creation as He wills. Allah has power over all things.
According to al-Rāghib, fiṭr means to cleave something apart lengthwise. Fāṭir is applied to God figuratively, to indicate that He clove apart nothingness and took out the heavens and the earth from its belly. The gist of it is that it means He is the one who first brought the heavens and the earth into being, without any prior model to follow. This is similar in meaning to [the divine names] badīʿ and mubdiʿ (the creator, the innovator); the difference between ibdāʿ (creating, innovating) and fiṭr (creating, originating, cleaving) is that ibdāʿ rests upon not having a prior model to copy, whereas fiṭr rests upon dispelling nothingness and bringing a thing into being for the first time, unlike a Maker (ṣāniʿ) who fashions new and different things that had never been before.
The heavens and the earth together refer to the visible universe and everything created within it. The phrase either (a) is a figure of speech used to refer to the whole [that is, the entire universe and everything within it] by mentioning the largest pieces [that is, the heavens and the earth], or (b) may in fact specifically indicate the heavens and earth, due to the enormity and wondrousness of their creation and operation. As the verse says:
The creation of the heavens and the earth is greater than the creation of man. ()
In any case, the expression originator of the heavens and the earth (fātir al-samawāti wa al-arḍ) is one of the divine attributes. Thus, it implies a continual act of creation, rather than a single act of creation in the past. For He is continually bringing things into being and bestowing existence upon them, without interruption; were this process to be interrupted, things would cease to be!
The adjectives are used in sequence (that is, originator then maker) to demonstrate why praise must belong to God alone. It is as if it says: “Praise be to God because of how He brought the heavens and earth into being, and because of how He made the angels winged messengers. Therefore, He is exalted and praised. He forges naught but beauty!”
Maker of the angels (al-malāʾikah) as messengers with wings (ajniḥah) two, three and four: Malāʾikah is the plural of malak (angel). The angels are beings which God created as intermediaries between Himself and the visible universe and placed in charge of the domain of creation and legislation (ʿālam al-takwīniyyah wa al-tashrīʿiyyah). They are honored worshippers and do not disobey God in any of His commands; rather, they do as they are told.
Maker of the angels as messengers: Here, angels is in the plural and is preceded by the definite article al- to show that the angels are all being referred to as a whole. This implies—indeed, proves—that all of the angels are messengers mediating between Him and creation in matters of creation and legislation.
However, nothing in this verse requires that messengers be restricted to only the angels which descend to the prophets. The Qur’an uses messengers (rusul) for other angels, such as in the following verses: Until death comes to one of them, and then our messengers take his soul. (); Our messengers record what you plot. (); And when our messengers came to Abraham with glad tidings, they said, “We are going to destroy the people of this city.” ()
Ajniḥah (wings) is the plural of janāḥ (wing). It is what a bird has in place of a human hand, and what a bird uses to ascend and descend in the sky, flying from place to place.
Angels are equipped with something similar to birds’ wings so that they can travel from the heavens to the earth at the command of God, then return to the heavens, and go from any place to any other place. The Qur’an calls them wings because they perform the same function as birds’ wings, not because they have feathers or fluff. This is similar to how the Qur’an uses words like throne (ʿarsh) or seat (kursī) or tablet (lawḥ) or pen (qalam). [That is, they are metaphorical and do not require that the divine throne look exactly the same as a human throne, etc.]
With wings two, three, and four (mathnā wa thulātha wa rubāʿa): This describes the angels. The form of these numbers indicates repetition, such as things being two by two or three by three. That is, it is as if it is saying: “He made the angels, some with two pairs of wings, some with three pairs, and some with four.”
He adds to His creation as He wills: Among the implications of this sentence is that there are angels with more than four pairs of wings.
Allah has power over all things: This explains (a) everything that was mentioned before it, or (b) the previous sentence; this first view is clearer.
Examining Narrations
- In Biḥar al-Anwār, it is related from al-Ikhtiṣāṣ, with a chain of narration from al-Muʿallā ibn Muḥammad, who relates without a chain of narration that Abū ʿAbdullāh [Imām al-Ṣādiq] said:
God, the Mighty and Glorious, created the angels from light.
- In Tafṣir al-Qummī, it is related that Imām al-Ṣādiq said:
God created different types of angels. Jibraʾīl came to the Messenger of God, and he had 600 wings. On his leg was a pearl like a drop of dew upon leaves. He filled the space between the sky and earth. If God had ordered Mikāʾīl to descend to this world, he would have had one foot in the uppermost [seventh] heaven and the other on the lowermost [seventh] earth. And God has angels which are made half of fire and half of ice. They say, “O you who unites fire and ice, make our hearts firm upon Your obedience.” God has other angels too who [are so large] that the distance between their ears and eyes spans 500 years as the birds fly.
The angels do not eat or drink or copulate. They subsist on a breeze flowing from the Throne. God, the Mighty and Glorious, has angels which bow until the Day of Judgment; and God, the Mighty and Glorious, has angels which prostrate until the Day of Judgment.
The Messenger of God said: “God has not created anything more numerous than the angels. Every day or night, 70,000 angels descend and go around the Sacred House. Then they go to the Messenger of God and, after that, the Commander of the Faithful, and send their greetings. Then, they go to al-Ḥusayn and stand before him. When dawn comes, the path back to heaven opens for them, and they never return [to earth].”
Abū Jaʿfar [Imām al-Bāqir] said: “God, the Mighty and Glorious, created Isrāfīl, Jibrāʾīl, and Mīkāʾīl from a single act of glorification, and gave them hearing, sight, a sharp intellect, and quick understanding.”
The Commander of the Faithful said regarding the creation of the angels: “You created angels and settled them in Your heavens. They neither tire nor forget [You] nor disobey. They are the creations who know You the best, who fear You the most, who are closest to You, and who are the most obedient to You. Sleep does not overcome their eyes, nor does forgetfulness overwhelm their intellects, nor do their bodies tire. They neither inhabit loins nor wombs. They were not created from a base fluid. You created them as their own creation and placed them in Your heavens, honored them with nearness to You, and entrusted them with Your revelation. You guarded them from slips, preserved them from misfortunes, and purified them from sins. Were it not for Your power, they would have no power; were it not for your firmness, they would not stand firm; were it not for Your mercy, they would not obey; and were it not for You, they would not be. Still—despite their position with You and their obedience towards You, their status before You and their vigilance in fulfilling Your commands—if they were to see what is hidden from them, their deeds would burn, they would see themselves as low, and they would realize that they had not worshipped You as You truly deserve. Glorified be You, the creator, the worshipped. How beautiful is the way You try your creation!”
- In Biḥār al-Anwār, it is related from al-Durr al-Manthur, from Abū al-ʿAlāʾ ibn Saʿd:
One day, the Messenger of God said to his sitting-companions: “The sky has become constricted, and indeed, rightfully so, for there is no spot in it that an angel could place its feet that does not already have a bowing or prostrating angel on it.” Then he recited: We are the ones who line up, and we are the ones who exalt [Allah]. ()
- In al-Khiṣāl, with a chain of narration from Muḥammad ibn Ṭalḥah, it is related without a chain of narration from the Prophet that the Prophet said:
There are three types of angels. Some have two wings, some have three wings, and some have four wings.
Author’s comments: Something similar is related from ʿAbdullāh ibn Ṭalḥah in al-Kāfī. Perhaps the intent is to describe the majority of angels, so that it does not contradict what the verse and other narrations say.
- In al-Tawḥīd, it is related via a chain of narration from Abū Ḥayyān al-Tamīmi, from his father, that the Commander of the Faithful said:
There is no person who does not have with him a guardian angel, protecting him from slipping into a well or a wall falling on him or misfortune striking him. Then, when his time has come, it allows whatever befalls him to happen.
- In al-Baṣāʾir, it is related from al-Sayyārī from ʿAbdullāh ibn Abū ʿAbdullāh al-Farsī, from someone else, without a further chain of narration, that Abu ʿAbdullāh [Imām al-Ṣādiq] said:
The cherubim (karūbiyyīn) are a group of our followers from the first creation. God placed them behind His throne. Were God to allot the light of one of them to the people of the earth, it would suffice them [alt. “it would blind them”]. When Moses sought what he sought from his Lord [that is, to see God], He ordered one of the cherubim to shine its light on the mountain, and it crumbled.
- In al-Ṣaḥīfah al-Sajjādiyyah, the following prayer is related for the bearers of the throne, and all angels which are near to God:
O God, and [bless] the bearers of Your throne, who tire not from their glorification of You, and never weary from declaring Your holiness. They are never are fatigued from Your worship, never experience any shortcoming in their diligence towards Your command, and are never heedless of love for You.
And [bless] Isrāfīl, the bearer of the trumpet, fixed, awaiting Your permission and Your command to descend, so that he may awaken the fallen, hostages to their graves, with his blast. And [bless] Mīkāʾīl, who has great status before You and a high position in Your worship. And [bless] Jibrīl, who is entrusted with Your revelation, obeyed in the heavens, distinguished before You, and near to You. And [bless] the spirit (rūḥ) which is upon the angels of the veils, and the spirit (rūḥ) which is from Your command.
O God, bless them and the other angels who inhabit the heavens and earth, and those who have been entrusted with your messages; those who are not wearied by perseverance, fatigue, or tiredness. Passions distract them not from glorifying You, nor does forgetfulness interrupt their magnification of You. Their eyes are lowered so they do not steal a glance towards You. Lowered are the chins of those whose desire has long been for You; open are they in celebrating Your blessings; humble are they before Your greatness and magnificence. They are the ones who, when they glimpse Hell roaring over those who disobeyed You, say, “Glory be do you! We have not worshipped you as You truly deserve.”
So bless them and the spiritual angels near You. And bless the bearers of tidings of the unseen to Your messengers, and those entrusted with Your revelation. And bless the tribes of angels whom You have preferred for Yourself, and freed from the need to eat or drink through glorifying You, and established in the depths of the layers of the heavens. And bless those who await the descent of the command to fulfil Your promise.
And bless the keepers of the rain and the drivers of the clouds, and the one whose voice is heard as thunderclaps; when the reverberating clouds swim before him, lightening bolts flash, accompanied by snow and ice. And bless those who descend with rain when it falls, and those who watch over the treasuries of the winds, and those entrusted with the mountains, lest they fail. And bless those whom You have taught the weights of the waters, and the measures of torrents and rain. And bless the angels which are messengers to the people of the earth, who bring down hated misfortunes and beloved ease. And bless the noble scribes, the honorable recorders.
And bless the Angel of Death and his aides. Bless Munkar and Nakīr, and Mubashshir and Bashīr; and bless Ruʾmān, who tests people in their graves. And bless the angels which circle al-bayt al-maʿmūr, Mālik and the guardians, and Riḍwān and the gatekeepers of the gardens. And bless those who do not disobey Allah in His command and do what they are told (). And bless those who say: “Peace be upon you for what you have endured, and what a blessed end is this abode.” And bless the zabāniyah who, when they are told, take him and shackle him, then drive him into hell (), rush ahead without giving him any respite.
And bless those whom we have neglected to mention, not knowing their place with You or with what they have been entrusted. And bless the inhabitants of the sky and the earth and the water, and those of them who have been charged over the creatures. So bless them on the day that every soul will come with a driver and a witness (), and bless them with a blessing that will add more honor to their honor and more purity to their purity.
- In Biḥār al-Anwār, it is related from al-Durr al-Manthur from Ibn Shihāb:
The Messenger of God asked Jibraʾīl to let him catch a glimpse of his form. So Jibraʾīl said: “You cannot endure that.” He said: “I would like that.” So the Messenger of God went to his place of prayer on a moonlight night, and Jibraʾīl came to him in his form. When he saw him, the Messenger of God lost consciousness.
When he came to, Jibraʾīl was holding him, with one of his hands on his chest and the other on his shoulder. The Messenger of God said: “I never thought that anything like this could be in Creation!”
Jibraʾīl replied, “Then how would it be if you were to see Isrāfīl? He has twelve wings—a wing in the east, and a wing in the west—and the throne upon his back. At times, he shrinks before the glory of God, until he looks smaller than a little bird, and then nothing but the greatness of God can bear the throne.”
- In Tafsīr al-Ṣāfī, it is related from al-Tawḥīd, with a chain of narration leading to the Commander of the Faithful, that the Commander of the Faithful said regarding The sight [of the Prophet] did not swerve or transgress; he certainly saw [some] of the greatest signs of his Lord ():
He saw Jibraʾīl in his [true] form twice—on this occasion, and on another occasion. This is because Jibraʾīl is an immense creation; he is one of the spiritual beings whose form and nature none can comprehend other than God.
- It is related in al-Khiṣāl, with a chain of narration from Muḥammad ibn Marwān, that Abū ʿAbdullāh [Imām al-Ṣādiq] said:
The Messenger of God said: “Jibraʾīl came to me and said: ‘We angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or a statue of a body or a chamberpot.’”
Author’s comments: There are innumerable other narrations describing the angels in the chapters [of hadith collections] on the Resurrection and the Prophet’s Night Journey (miʿrāj), as well as in other various chapters. What we have related is a sufficient example of them.
- In ʿUyun Akhbār al-Riḍā, in the chapter on miscellanea, it is related that he said:
The Messenger of God said: “Beautify [the recitation of] the Qur’an with your voices, for a beautiful voice adds to the beauty of the Qur’an.” Then he recited: “He adds to creation as He wills” ().
- It is related in al-Tawḥīd, with a chain of narration from Zurārah, that ʿAbdullāh ibn Sulaymān said:
I heard Abū ʿAbdullāh say: “Destiny and divine decree (qaḍā and qadr) are two creations of God. He adds to His creation as he wills ().”
- Majmaʿ al-Bayān says about He adds to His creation as He wills ():
It is narrated from Abū Hurayrah that the Prophet said: “This is a handsome face, a beautiful voice, and beautiful hair.”
Author’s comments: The last three narrations are specific examples to which this verse can be applied.
Discourse
The discussion “Discourse on the Angels” appears here in the printed volume. Read it in the Al-Mizan App.
This may be a tacit refutation of the belief (found in Near Eastern apocrypha) that fallen angels mated with human women to produce a superhuman race that was later destroyed. [Trans.] ↩︎
This is contingent on whether the verb is read as la-kafāhum (“it would suffice them”) or la-kaffāhum (“it would blind them”). [Trans.] ↩︎
These four names refer to the angels who question people in their graves. According to narrations, those who will have a difficult questioning see them in a frightening form as Munkar and Nakīr (lit. “the hideous”), whereas believers who acted righteously in this world will see them in a welcoming form a Mubashshir and Bashīr (lit. “bearers of glad tidings”). [Trans.] ↩︎