The Prophets — Verse 27
21:27 · al-Anbiya`
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لَا یَسۡبِقُونَهُۥ بِٱلۡقَوۡلِ وَهُم بِأَمۡرِهِۦ یَعۡمَلُونَ ٢٧
lā yasbiqūnahu bil-qawli wahum bi-amrihi yaʿmalūn
The Prophets / al-Anbiya` (21:27)
Connections 4 single-source 1 commentator
Multi-source connections
No verses on this ayah are cited by 2 or more commentators using numeric S:A notation. All extracted references come from a single source's commentary.
Single-source mentions (4) cited by only one commentator
By commentator who cites how many verses on this ayah
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Tafsir Ibn Kathir (abridged) 4 verses
Note: these connections are extracted from numeric S:A references inside the commentary text and are therefore biased toward mufassirun who use that notation. Prose-style references (e.g. "Surat al-Baqarah verse 30") will be added later, which should surface additional multi-source consensus.
they do not speak before He speaks and they act by His command
lā yasbiqūnahu bil-qawli wahum bi-amrihi yaʿmalūn
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Tafsir Commentary
The Refutation of Those Who claim that the Angels are the Daughters of Allah; description of their Deeds and Status
Here Allah refutes those who claim that He has offspring among the angels -- exalted and sanctified be He. Some of the Arabs believed that the angels were the daughters of Allah, but Allah says:
سُبْحَانَهُ بَلْ عِبَادٌ مُّكْرَمُونَ
(Glory to Him! They are but honored servants.) meaning, the angels are servants of Allah who are honored by Him and who hold high positions of noble status. They obey Him to the utmost in all their words and deeds.
لاَ يَسْبِقُونَهُ بِالْقَوْلِ وَهُمْ بِأَمْرِهِ يَعْمَلُونَ
(They speak not until He has spoken, and they act on His command.) meaning, they do not initiate any matter before Him or go against His commands; on the contrary, they hasten to do as He commands, and He encompasses them with His knowledge so that nothing whatsoever is hidden from Him.
يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ
(He knows what is before them, and what is behind them,)
وَلاَ يَشْفَعُونَ إِلاَّ لِمَنِ ارْتَضَى
(and they cannot intercede except for him with whom He is pleased.) This is like the Ayat:
مَن ذَا الَّذِى يَشْفَعُ عِندَهُ إِلاَّ بِإِذْنِهِ
(Who is he that can intercede with Him except with His permission) 2:255
وَلاَ تَنفَعُ الشَّفَـعَةُ عِندَهُ إِلاَّ لِمَنْ أَذِنَ لَهُ
(Intercession with Him profits not except for him whom He permits) 34:23. There are many Ayat which say similar things.
وَهُمْ مِّنْ خَشْيَتِهِ
(And they for fear of Him) means, because they fear Him.
مُشْفِقُونَوَمَن يَقُلْ مِنْهُمْ إِنِّى إِلَـهٌ مِّن دُونِهِ
(And they stand in awe. And if any of them should say: "Verily, I am a god besides Him,") meaning, whoever claims to be a god instead of Allah, i.e., alongside Allah,
فَذلِكَ نَجْزِيهِ جَهَنَّمَ كَذَلِكَ نَجْزِى الظَّـلِمِينَ
(such We should recompense with Hell. Thus We recompense the wrongdoers.) meaning, everyone who says this. This is a conditional sentence, and the condition stated does not necessarily have to take place. This is like the Ayat:
قُلْ إِن كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَـنِ وَلَدٌ فَأَنَاْ أَوَّلُ الْعَـبِدِينَ
(Say: "If the Most Gracious had a son, then I am the first of worshippers.") 43:81
لَئِنْ أَشْرَكْتَ لَيَحْبَطَنَّ عَمَلُكَ وَلَتَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَـسِرِينَ
(If you join others in worship with Allah, (then) surely, (all) your deeds will be in vain, and you will certainly be among the losers.) 39:65
They do not venture to speak before Him — they only speak after He has spoken and they act according to His command that is following His issuing of it.
وقال المشركون: اتخذ الرحمن ولدًا بزعمهم أن الملائكة بنات الله. تنزَّه الله عن ذلك؛ فالملائكة عباد الله مقربون مخصصون بالفضائل، وهم في حسن طاعتهم لا يتكلمون إلا بما يأمرهم به ربهم، ولا يعملون عملا حتى يأذن لهم.
" لا يسبقونه بالقول وهم بأمره يعملون " أي لا يتقدمون بين يديه بأمر ولا يخالفونه فيما أمرهم به بل يبادرون إلى فعله وهو تعالى علمه محيط بهم فلا يخفى عليهم منه خافية ".
وقوله : ( لاَ يَسْبِقُونَهُ بالقول ) أى : لا يتكلمون إلا بما يأمرهم به ، ولا يقولون شيئا بدون إذنه ، كما هو شأن العبيد الطائعين لسيدهم .وأصل الكلام : لا يسبق قولهم قوله - عز وجل - إلا أنه - سبحانه - أنسد السبق إليهم ، تنزيلا لسبق قولهم لقوله ، منزلة سبقهم إياه ، للإشعار بمزيد طاعتهم وتنزيههم عن كل قول بغير إذنه - تعالى - .وقوله : ( وَهُمْ بِأَمْرِهِ يَعْمَلُونَ ) بيان لتبعيتهم له - تعالى - فى الأعمال إثر بيان تبعيتهم له - سبحانه - فى الأقوال .أى : وهم بأمره وحده يعملون لا بأمر أحد سواه ، ولا بأمر أنفسهم ، كما قال - تعالى - فى آية أخرى : ( ياأيها الذين آمَنُواْ قوا أَنفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَاراً وَقُودُهَا الناس والحجارة عَلَيْهَا مَلاَئِكَةٌ غِلاَظٌ شِدَادٌ لاَّ يَعْصُونَ الله مَآ أَمَرَهُمْ وَيَفْعَلُونَ مَا يُؤْمَرُونَ ).
وقوله: ( لا يَسْبِقُونَهُ بِالْقَوْلِ ) يقول جلّ ثناؤه: لا يتكلمون إلا بما يأمرهم به ربهم، ولا يعملون عملا إلا به.حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة، قال: قال الله ( لا يَسْبِقُونَهُ بِالْقَوْلِ ) يثني عليهم ( وَهُمْ بِأَمْرِهِ يَعْمَلُونَ ).
( لا يسبقونه بالقول ) لا يتقدمونه بالقول ولا يتكلمون إلا بما يأمرهم به ، ( وهم بأمره يعملون ) معناه أنهم لا يخالفونه قولا ولا عملا .
لَا يَسْبِقُونَهُ بِالْقَوْلِ وَهُمْ بِأَمْرِهِ يَعْمَلُونَ (27) فقوله تعالى : { لا يسبقونه بالقول } معناه لا يصدر منهم قول قبل قوله ، أي لا يقولون إلاّ ما أذن لهم أن يقولون . وهذا عام يدخل فيه الردّ على زعم المشركين أن معبوداتهم تشفع لهم عند الله إذا أراد الله عقابهم على أعمالهم ويقولون هؤلاء شفعاؤنا عند الله كما سيصرح بنفيه .وتقديم { بأمره } على { يعملون } لإفادة القصر ، أي لا يعملون عملاً إلا عن أمر الله تعالى فكما أنهم لا يقولون قولاً لم يأذن فيه كذلك لا يعملون عملاً إلا بأمره .
{ لَا يَسْبِقُونَهُ بِالْقَوْلِ ْ} أي: لا يقولون قولا مما يتعلق بتدبير المملكة، حتى يقول الله، لكمال أدبهم، وعلمهم بكمال حكمته وعلمه.{ وَهُمْ بِأَمْرِهِ يَعْمَلُونَ ْ} أي: مهما أمرهم، امتثلوا لأمره، ومهما دبرهم عليه، فعلوه، فلا يعصونه طرفة عين، ولا يكون لهم عمل بأهواء أنفسهم من دون أمر الله
لا يسبقونه بالقول أي لا يقولون حتى يقول ، ولا يتكلمون إلا بما يأمرهم . وهم بأمره يعملون أي بطاعته وأوامره . يعلم ما بين أيديهم وما خلفهم أي يعلم ما عملوا وما هم عاملون ؛ قاله ابن عباس . وعنه أيضا : ما بين أيديهم الآخرة وما خلفهم الدنيا ؛ ذكر الأول الثعلبي ، والثاني القشيري .
To consider one thing as right and some other thing as wrong curtails the freedom of human beings. Therefore, they have always attempted to find a theory according to which the difference between truth and untruth should vanish, so that they might live in the world in whatever manner they liked and have the satisfaction of not being answerable for what they did or for what they did not do. Irreligious people have tried to achieve this by denying the life hereafter while religious people have had recourse to polytheistic practices. Angels are invisible creatures. Human beings were informed of the existence of angels through the prophets, so that they might realise God’s power. But they (the human beings) formed the erroneous idea that the angels were the daughters of God and adopted the strange belief that they should perform certain rites of worship in the name of the angels, who would in turn recommend them to their ‘Father’, have them (the worshippers) pardoned and procure their salvation. All such beliefs amount to a negation of the godhood of the Almighty. God is God only because He is free of all shortcomings. Had He been subject to shortcomings, He would not have been God.
لَا يَسْبِقُونَهُ بِالْقَوْلِ وَهُم بِأَمْرِهِ يَعْمَلُونَ (They do not precede Him in speech and only under His command they act. 21:27) This verse refutes the claim of pagans of Makkah that angels were daughters of Allah. How can angels be Allah's children when they stand in such awe in His presence that they neither initiate any talk nor act against His commands. They simply await His words and act accordingly. This also points towards an important etiquette of behaving in the company of elders. That is, when a matter is brought forth in front of a group of people, the people before speaking themselves first, should wait until the elder among such a group has spoken. Speaking prior to the elder is contrary to the manners governing respect of elders.
(They speak not until He hath spoken) Gabriel does not go ahead of Michael, whether by words or acts, until He commands him, (and they act by His command) and they, i.e. the angels, say and do in accordance with Allah's command.
They do not [venture to] speak before He speaks, and they act according to His command.He said:Verily God, Exalted is He, has assigned every token of honour (karāmāt) [firstly] to those among His servants who are mindful of Him (muttaqūn), and then to novices (mubtadiʾūn). Then he described them saying They do not [venture to] speak before He speaks, meaning: There is no choice for them along with His choice; they act according to His command, which is outwardly following the Sunna, and inwardly, maintaining vigilence (murāqabat) concerning God.His words: