Sūrah 37 · As-Saffat ٱلصَّافَّات
Verses 114–132
Verses
This section summarizes the story of Moses and Aaron, and alludes to the story of Elias (Ilyās). It explains how God blessed them and the punishment accorded to those who belied them. In this section, God’s mercy and glad tidings exceed His warnings and wrath.
وَلَقَدْ مَنَنَّا عَلَىٰ مُوسَىٰ وَهَـٰرُونَ ١١٤
33:21037:114 And We were gracious (manannā) to Moses and Aaron.
The verb manannā means “to bless”. Possibly, here, it specifically refers to the ways that God blessed Moses, Aaron, and his people which are mentioned in the next few verses, such as saving them [from the Pharaoh], offering divine assistance, giving them a divinely revealed book, and guidance. In this case, the verses And We saved them both and their people from the great calamity (37:115) would be appended to this verse via the conjunction and to demonstrate that these verses explain what these blessings are.
وَنَجَّيْنَـٰهُمَا وَقَوْمَهُمَا مِنَ ٱلْكَرْبِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ ١١٥
37:115 And We saved them both (najjaynāhummā) and their people from the great calamity.
This [the great calamity] was the severe distress that befell them when the Pharaoh weakened them, punished them terribly, and slew their boychildren while keeping the girls alive.
وَنَصَرْنَـٰهُمْ فَكَانُوا۟ هُمُ ٱلْغَـٰلِبِينَ ١١٦
37:116 And We helped them (wa naṣarnāhum), so they were victorious.
This is what paved the way for their escape from Egypt, their crossing the Read Sea, and destruction of Pharaoh and his forces.
Some hold the mistaken notion that divine assistance (naṣr, as in the verb naṣarnāhum) should have been mentioned before being saved, since being saved depends on divine assistance. However, this view is wrong, because the expression “divine assistance (naṣr)” is used for someone [such as a warrior] who has some power or strength but needs a boost in order to be victorious. After the Israelites left Egypt, they had some strength but still were in need of divine assistance; therefore, the expression “divine assistance” is used for the time after they left Egypt. However, the expression “saving someone” is used when someone has no power of their own; and, before they left Egypt, the Israelites were enslaved prisoners, completely powerless. That is why it first describes them as being “saved” (najjaynāhummā) from Egypt and then as “divinely assisted”.
وَءَاتَيْنَـٰهُمَا ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ ٱلْمُسْتَبِينَ ١١٧
33:21137:117 And We gave them the Book that makes [things] clear.
Meaning that it makes clear the hidden things that they were unaware of; this is what people need in this life and in the hereafter.
وَهَدَيْنَـٰهُمَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ ١١٨
37:118 And We guided them both on the straight path.
“Guidance” is used here in the full sense of the word. For that reason, it is used with respect to both of then [Moses and Aaron] and does not include their people. The meaning of “guidance to the straight path” was discussed previously in the exegesis of Sūrah al-Fātiḥah.
وَتَرَكْنَا عَلَيْهِمَا فِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرِينَ ١١٩ سَلَـٰمٌ عَلَىٰ مُوسَىٰ وَهَـٰرُونَ ١٢٠ إِنَّا كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِى ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ ١٢١ إِنَّهُمَا مِنْ عِبَادِنَا ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ١٢٢
37:119–122 And We kept them [their memory, their praise, Our blessings upon them] alive among the later generations. Peace be upon Moses and Aaron. Thus do We reward the virtuous. They were among Our faithful servants.
These verses have already been explained.
وَإِنَّ إِلْيَاسَ لَمِنَ ٱلْمُرْسَلِينَ ١٢٣
37:123 And Elias (Ilyās) was one of the messengers.
Exegetes say that Elias was from the family of Aaron and was appointed as a prophet for Baalbek.1 However, there is no evidence for this [in the verses].
إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِۦٓ أَلَا تَتَّقُونَ ١٢٤ أَتَدْعُونَ بَعْلًا وَتَذَرُونَ أَحْسَنَ ٱلْخَـٰلِقِينَ ١٢٥ ٱللَّهَ رَبَّكُمْ وَرَبَّ ءَابَآئِكُمُ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ ١٢٦
33:21237:124–126 When he said to his people, “Will you not be mindful
[of Allah, or of evil]? You call upon Baal and forsake the best of creators, [while] Allah is your Lord and the Lord of your fathers of old!”
This is part of his call to his people to invite them to the unity of God and to reprimand them for worshipping Baal (one of their idols) in lieu of God.
While he is criticizing them, his words also contain a clear proof for the unity of God. When he says [you] forsake the best of creators, [while] Allah is your Lord and the Lord of your fathers of old, he is firstly censuring them for abandoning the worship of the best of creators. However, the creation and origination of things are imbued in their essences as well as the order which flows through all creation and which is known as “divine management”. So just as God created things, He looks after them; He is the manager of all He created. He points to this when he says Allah is your Lord after describing God as the best of creators.
Then he points to the lordship of God. God’s lordship is not limited to specific groups of people, unlike the idols, in that each group of people had their own idol which they took as a lord. God is both their Lord and the Lord of their first forefathers; he is the creator and maintainer of all. He points to this when he says Allah is your Lord and the Lord of your fathers of old.
فَكَذَّبُوهُ فَإِنَّهُمْ لَمُحْضَرُونَ ١٢٧
37:127 But they denied him; therefore, they shall be arraigned
(muḥdarūn).
33:213Meaning, they shall be resurrected to be brought forward for punishment. Previously, it was explained that muḥdarūn has the connotation of summoning someone to something dreadful.
إِلَّا عِبَادَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلْمُخْلَصِينَ ١٢٨
37:128 Except for Allah’s purified servants.
This shows that there were a number of Allah’s purified servants among his people.
وَتَرَكْنَا عَلَيْهِ فِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرِينَ ١٢٩ سَلَـٰمٌ عَلَىٰٓ إِلْ يَاسِينَ ١٣٠ إِنَّا كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِى ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ ١٣١ إِنَّهُۥ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ١٣٢
37:129–132 And We kept them [their memory, their praise, Our blessings upon them] alive among the later generations. Peace be upon Elias (Il Yāsīn). Thus do We reward the virtuous. He was one of Our faithful servants.
Similar verses have already been explained.
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Possibly, they adopted this view because it is said that Baalbak was known for having a temple of Baal, and Elias censures the people for their worship of Baal. [Trans.] ↩
Examining Narrations
(1) In Tafsīr al-Qummī, regarding you call upon Baal? (37:125), it says:
They had an idol whom they called Baal.
(2) In Maʿānī [al-Akhbār], with a chain of narration to Qādiḥ from Imam al-Ṣādiq, from his father, from his forefathers, from ʿAlī, it says regarding Peace be upon Elias (Il Yāsīn) (37:130):
Yāsīn is Muḥammad, and we are Āl Yāsīn (the family of Yāsīn). Author’s comments: A similar narration is related in ʿUyūn Akhbār al-Riḍā from Imam Riḍā. This interpretation is based on reading the verse as Āl Yāsīn [instead of Il Yāsīn], as reflected in the readings of Nāfiʿ, Ibn ʿĀmir, Yaʿqūb, and Zayd.
Some Words on the Story of Elias (Ilyās)
1. His Story in the Qur’an
The Qur’an only mentions his name in two places—here and in Sūrah al-Anʿām, when it is speaking of the guidance of the prophets:
And Zakariyā and Yaḥyā and ʿĪsā and Ilyās: all among the virtuous (6:85).
33:214In this chapter, God does not mention any of his story except to say that he called his people to worship God and that they were worshipping Baal. A group of his people believed in him and had sincere faith, whereas the others called him a liar. The latter formed the majority of his people, who will be summoned forth for judgment.
God praises him in Sūrah al-Anʿām along with all the other prophets, and, here, along with God’s virtuous, faithful servants. According to the most commonly adopted recitation, He greets him with the divine blessing of peace: Peace be upon Elias (Il Yāsīn) (37:13).
2. Narrations About Him
As with most of the stories of the prophets, there are varying, conflicting narrations about him. Some of the most astonishing ones are:
(1) It is related from Ibn Masʿūd that Elias was actually Idrīs.
(2) It is related from Ibn ʿAbbās from the Prophet that Elias was actually al-Khiḍr.
(3) It is related from Wahab, Kaʿb al-Aḥbār, and others that Elias has eternal life and will not die until the blowing of the trumpet [at the end of the world].
(4) It is related from Wahab that Elias besought God to relieve him of his people, and so God sent him a mount in the form of a horse the color of fire. Elias hopped on it, and it bore him away. God clad him in feathers and light and made him lose interest in food and drink. Thus, he abided among the angels.
(5) It is related from Kaʿb al-Aḥbār that Elias governed mountains and lands, and he was actually the one whom God calls Dhū al-Nūn [in the Qur’an].
(6) It is related from al-Ḥasan that Elias was entrusted with the deserts, and al-Khiḍr was entrusted with the mountains.
(7) It is related from Anas: “Elias met the Prophet on one of his travels. They sat together and talked; then, a table-spread from the heavens was sent down, and they ate and fed me [Anas]. Then, he bade farewell to him and bade farewell to me, and I saw him travel up into the clouds in the sky.”
There are similar narrations as well.1
33:215Some Shiʿi narrations also ascribe eternal life to him.2 However, they are weak, and are unsupported by what the verses actually say.
(8) In Biḥār al-Anwār, there is a narration about the story of Elias taken from the book Qiṣaṣ al-Anbiyāʾ related from [al-Shaykh] al-Ṣadūq via of a chain of narration ending in Wahab ibn Munabbih. Al-Thaʿlabī also relates it in his al-ʿArāʾis from Ibn Isḥāq and other scholars of hadith who popularized it. The narration is quite long; in summary, it says:
After the territory of the Israelites was split apart, some of them migrated to Baalbek. They had a king who used to worship an idol called Baal, and he also used to make the people worship it as well. This king had a wanton wife who had married seven kings before him and had given birth to ninety children—and that did not even include her grandchildren. Whenever the king went away, he set her in his place in his stead to judge between the people. He had a faithful, wise scribe who had rescued from her grasp three hundred of the faithful whom she wanted dead. Near the castle, there lived a believing man who had an orchard. The king used to respect him greatly and honor him. However, once, when the king was gone, she killed this believing neighbor and seized his orchard.
When the king returned and learned what had happened, he censured her. She apologized and mollified him, and it fell upon God to take vengeance for the victim, unless the king and his wife repented.
So God sent Elias to them to call them to the worship of God, and to inform them of what had now fallen to God to do. Infuriated, they swore to torture and kill him, so he fled to the harshest mountain there and remained atop it for seven years, living on the herbs of the land and fruits of the trees.
Then, God caused one of the king’s sons to fall ill. The king loved this son enormously, and he beseeched Baal to cure him, but it was to no avail. Someone said to him, “He is angry at you for not killing Elias.”
So the king sent some of his people to deceive Elias and capture him, but God sent them a fire that burned them. Then the king sent a contingent of stout warriors, as well as his believing scribe, and Elias went with the scribe to protect him from the king’s anger. However, in the meantime, God caused the king’s son to die, and the king was so overwhelmed with grief that he forgot Elias. Therefore, Elias returned unscathed.
33:216to in these verses.
Then, after a long time had passed, Elias left the mountain and sought refuge in the house of the mother of Yūnus ibn Mattā (Prophet Jonah). At that time, Jonah was still a suckling boy. Then, after six months, Elias went back to the mountain.
As it happened, Jonah died afterwards; however, God brought Jonah back to life at the bequest of Elias. This was after Jonah’ mother went in search of Elias and found him and pleaded to him [to do this].
Then he asked God to take vengeance on behalf of the Israelites and to withhold rain from them. And so God afflicted them with a drought, and, for years, they struggled and regretted what they had done, and came to him, repented, and proclaimed their faith. So he asked God to send rain to them, and God granted them rain and brought the lands back to life. They complained to him about the destruction of their walls and about how they did not have any seeds to grow crops from, so God revealed to him that he should tell them to sow grains of salt and sand. From the salt, chickpeas grew; from the sand, grain sprouted.
Then, once God had relived them of their difficulty, they broke their word and reverted to their vilest deeds. Elias tired of that and asked God to relive him of his people, so God sent him a horse of fire. Elias hopped onto it, and it carried him up into the heavens, whereupon God clad him in feathers and light, and he abided among the angels.
Then God set an enemy upon the king and his wife who sought them out, defeated them, killed them, and tossed their corpses into the orchard of the faithful man whom they had killed and whose orchard they had seized.
Upon contemplating this account, you will be left with no doubt that it is weak.