Tafsir of Ash-Shu`ara' 26:221

This verse and those that follow are presented to demonstrate the impossibility of the devils descending upon the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), subsequent to the explanation of the impossibility of them descending with the Quran. This sentence, the saying of the Almighty ("And indeed, it is a revelation of the Lord of the worlds"), and His saying ("And the devils have not brought it down") are all synonymous. They are separated by verses that do not hold the same meaning in order to return to their repetition and to refresh the mention of their content time and again. This indicates that the meaning contained within them is among those to which Allah Almighty has paid significant attention. An example of this is when a man speaks of a matter, and in his heart is a concern for a specific part of it and a greater degree of care, so you see him repeating its mention and unable to refrain from returning to it.

The interrogation is for the purpose of affirmation (taqrir). The phrase "upon whom" ('ala man) is linked to "descend" (tanazzal), and it has been placed before the verb due to the priority of the prepositional phrase, as the advancement of the preposition does not cause harm, as has been clarified in grammar.

Al-Zamakhshari stated regarding this: "The word 'who' (man) contains the meaning of an interrogative particle." The meaning of "containing" is not that the noun signifies two meanings simultaneously—the meaning of the noun and the meaning of the particle—but rather that the original construction was a-man (is it upon whom?), so the interrogative letter was omitted, and usage continued with that omission, just as it was omitted from hal (is/do?), where the origin was a-hal. This is as the poet said:

Ask the horsemen of Yarbu' about our intensity: Did they see us at the slope of the valley, the one with mounds?

Thus, when you introduce a preposition to man, estimate the hamza before the preposition in your mind, as if you were saying: "Is it upon whom do the devils descend?" similar to saying: "Is it by Zayd that you passed?"

The author of al-Fara'id objected to this, saying: "What has been mentioned is problematic due to expressions like 'From where are you?' (min ayna anta) and 'From where did you come?' (min ayna ji'ta), and the saying of the Almighty ('From what thing did He create him?'), and expressions like fima (in what?), bima (with what?), mimma (from what?), hattam (until when?), and their likes."

The author of al-Kashf replied that there is no problem in expressions like "From where are you?" because the estimation is: "Are you from Basra or from Kufa, for example?" It is not hidden that, according to what the grammarians have established, there is no need for all of this.

The sentence "upon whom do the devils descend" is in the position of the accusative for the verb "inform you" (unabbi'ukum) because it is suspended by the interrogation. It stands in place of the second object if the verb is considered transitive to two, or in place of two objects if it is considered transitive to three. The intent is: "Shall I inform you of the answer to this question, meaning: upon whom do the devils descend?"

The original form of tanazzal is tatanazzal, but one of the two ta's was dropped. The discourse is based on the meaning of "speech" according to Abu Hayyan, as if it were said: "Say, O Muhammad: Shall I inform you upon whom the devils descend?"