ﱽ ﱾ ﱿ ﲀ ﲁ ﲂ ﲃ ﲄ ﲅ ﲆ ﲇ ﲈ ﲉ ﲊ ﲋ ﲌ ﲍ ﲎ
And We have certainly honored the children of Adam and carried them on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what We have created, with [definite] preference.
Tafsir
Verse range: 17:70
Regarding the honoring of the son of Adam, it is said: God honored him with intellect, speech, discernment, writing, a beautiful form, an upright stature, and the management of his worldly and afterlife affairs.
It is also said: By granting them dominion over what is on earth and subjecting it to them.
It is also said: Everything eats with its mouth except the son of Adam. It is narrated that Harun al-Rashid once had food brought and called for spoons while Abu Yusuf was with him. He said to him: "It has come down in the tafsir of your ancestor, Ibn Abbas, regarding the verse: 'And We have honored the children of Adam,' that He gave them fingers to eat with." So he sent the spoons away and ate with his fingers.
"And preferred them over much of what We have created" This refers to everything other than the angels. It is sufficient as a mark of preference for the children of Adam that the angels are raised above them, given who they are and their status before God.
It is astonishing how the Mujbira (determinists) have inverted everything and engaged in sophistry, to the point that their habit of denial has emboldened them to commit the grave error of preferring humans over angels. This, despite hearing how God magnified their (the angels') status, multiplied their mention with glorification, knowing where He settled them, how He brought them near, and how He placed them in relation to His prophets as His prophets are to their nations. Then, their extreme fanaticism drove them to fabricate sayings and reports, among them:
"The angels said: 'Our Lord, You gave the children of Adam the world to eat from and enjoy, but You did not give us that, so give it to us in the Hereafter.' He replied: 'By My Might and Majesty, I will not make the offspring of one whom I created with My own hands like one to whom I said "Be," and he was.'"
They also narrated from Abu Huraira that he said: "A believer is more honorable to God than the angels who are with Him."
Among their transgressions is that they interpreted "much" (kathiran) to mean "all" in this verse. They were abandoned [by God] to the point that their taste was stripped away, and they did not perceive the ugliness of their claim: "And We preferred them over all of what We have created." Even though the meaning of their claim—"over all of what We have created"—is more choking to their throats and more irritating to their eyes, they do not perceive it.
Observe their artifice and their clinging to far-fetched interpretations in their hostility toward the Heavenly Host, as if Gabriel (peace be upon him) angered them when he destroyed the cities of the people of Lot; thus, that resentment does not dissolve from their hearts.
"The Day We will call every people with their leader. Then whoever is given his record in his right hand—those will read their records, and they will not be wronged, [even as much as] a thread."
