Tafsir of Al-Isra 17:92

(Or you cause the heaven to fall) — the celestial body is well-known — (as you have claimed, upon us in pieces). Kisafan is the plural of kisfah, like qit‘ah and qita‘ in both pronunciation and meaning. It is a state (hal) of "the heaven." The kaf (preposition) in kama (as) is in the accusative position, acting as an adjective for an implied verbal noun; that is: "a falling similar to that which you claimed." They intend by this the saying of the Exalted: "Or you cause the heaven to fall upon us in pieces" (17:92). Some have claimed that they meant what is in this Surah: "Do you then feel secure that He will not cause a part of the land to swallow you up, or send against you a storm of stones?" (17:68), but this is unfounded. It has also been said: The meaning is, "as you have claimed that if your Lord wills, He will do it." This will be discussed, God willing, in the report of Ibn Abbas.

Mujahid read yusqit (he causes to fall) with a ya (denoting the third person) and with al-sama in the nominative case. Ibn Kathir, Abu ‘Amr, Hamza, al-Kisa’i, and Ya‘qub read kisafan with a quiescent sin throughout the Quran, except in Surah al-Rum, and Ibn ‘Amir, except in this Surah. Nafi‘ and Abu Bakr read it with a vowel in other instances, and Hafs in all instances except in Surah al-Tur. According to al-Nashr, they reached a consensus on quiescing the sin in Surah al-Tur. It is either a lightened form of the vowelized version, since quiescence is a form of movement in general, like sidr and sidr, or it is a verbal noun functioning as a passive participle, like tahn (grinding) meaning mat-hun (ground), meaning: something broken or cut into pieces.

(Or you bring God and the angels before us) — meaning, face to face, like ‘ashir and ma‘ashir. As Ibn Abi Hatim recorded from Ibn Abbas, they intended "visibly." This is like their saying, "Why are the angels not sent down to us, or why do we not see our Lord?" In another narration from the learned scholar (Ibn Abbas) and al-Dahhak, qabilan is interpreted as kafil (a guarantor); meaning, a guarantor for what you claim, intended as a witness who testifies to the truth of what you have said, and a surety who guarantees the consequences of it. It is, under both interpretations, a state of the Majestic Name (Allah), while the state for the angels is omitted due to the implication of the mentioned state for the former; meaning qubila’ (plural). This is similar to the omission of the predicate in the verse: "And whoever whose mount spends the night in the city, I, and Qiyar, am a stranger in it."

Al-Tabarsi mentioned from al-Zajjaj that he interpreted qabilan as muqabalah (confrontation) and mu‘ayanah (observation). He said the Arabs use it in this sense as an infinitive; it is neither dualized, pluralized, nor feminized, so do not be heedless. From Mujahid: qabil is a group, like qabilah. Thus, it would be a state of the angels. In al-Kashf, he made it a state of the angels because of the proximity of the wording and the soundness of the meaning, for the meaning is "that you bring God the Exalted and a group of the angels." Do not bring them as a group to be a state of plurality, as the meaning of accompaniment with Him—Exalted is He—is not intended. Do you not see His saying, narrating their words: "Or we see our Lord"? And the Quran interprets itself. Thus it ends. Al-A‘raj read qubulan as being from al-muqabalah (confrontation), and this supports the first interpretation.