Surah as-Saffat

Introduction

It is Meccan, and there is no disagreement reported regarding this. It consists of one hundred and eighty-one verses according to the Basrans, and one hundred and eighty-two according to others. It contains a detailed account of the conditions of the generations referred to regarding their destruction in the Almighty’s saying in the preceding Surah: "Do they not see how many generations We destroyed before them? They will not return to them." It contains such details regarding the states of the believers and the states of their unbelieving enemies on the Day of Resurrection that serve as an elucidation of what was mentioned in that regard in the previous Surah. It also mentions matters concerning the celestial bodies that were not mentioned previously. Due to the sum of what was mentioned, it was placed thereafter.

In al-Bahr, it is noted that the relevance of the beginning of this Surah to the end of Surah Yasin is that when the Almighty mentioned the Resurrection and His—glory be to Him—power to resurrect the dead, and that He is their Originator, and that whenever His will attaches to a thing it comes into being, He—the Almighty and Majestic—here mentioned His Oneness—glory be to Him—for that to which the will attaches, in terms of bringing into existence or bringing into non-existence, cannot be completed except by the Willer being One, as is indicated by His—the Almighty’s—saying: "Had there been within the heavens and earth gods besides Allah, they both would have been ruined."

Al-Saffat: (1) By those who range themselves in ranks

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

(1) By those who range themselves in ranks:

This is an oath taken by Allah—the Exalted—by the angels (peace be upon them), as has been narrated from Ibn Abbas, Ibn Mas’ud, Masruq, Mujahid, Ikrimah, Qatadah, and al-Suddi.

Abu Muslim said: It is not permissible to apply the term here, or what follows it, to the angels because the word suggests feminine gender, and the angels are free from this attribute. [The response to this is] that this meaning represents the plural of the plural; it is the plural of saffah (a feminine noun), meaning a group or party that is saffah (ranking). It is also permissible for the singular to be feminine considering it as a "being" or "essence," and it is the semantic femininity [as applied to gender] that is inappropriate to apply to them, whereas there is no impediment to the grammatical femininity. How could there be, when they are named "angels" (mala'ikah—a noun form that is grammatically feminine)?

Furthermore, the mentioned attribute is treated as an inherent necessity, assuming the intent is the occurrence of the action itself without intending a specific object. That is, [it means] those that perform the act of ranging into ranks. Alternatively, the object is omitted, meaning: "those who range themselves," i.e., those who organize themselves into rows by standing in their known stations as stated by His saying: "And there is not among us any except that he has a known station." This is in consideration of the precedence of rank and proximity to the Holy Enclosure.

It is also said: They are those who stand themselves in rows for worship. It is said: They are those who range their feet for prayer. It is said: They are those who spread their wings in the air, awaiting the command of Allah—the Exalted. It is said: The intended meaning of al-Saffat is the birds, based on His saying: "And [also] the birds, spreading [their wings]." However, no reliance should be placed upon this.

Saffan is an emphatic infinitive (masdar).