Tafsir of As-Saffat 37:1

Classification: Meccan. It consists of one hundred and eighty-one verses, though it is also said to be one hundred and eighty-two.

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

{By those who range themselves in ranks, and those who drive [the clouds] with a driving, and those who recite the Reminder: Indeed, your God is One, Lord of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, and Lord of the Easts.}

God, Glorified be He, swears by groups of angels:

• "Those ranged in ranks" (as-saffat): Those who stand with their feet aligned in prayer, as in His saying: "And we are those who range in ranks" (37:165), or those who hold their wings in the air, waiting for God’s command.
• "Those who drive away" (az-zajirat): Those who drive the clouds.
• "Those who recite" (at-taliyat): Those who recite the Word of God from the revealed scriptures and otherwise.

Alternative interpretations:

• "The ranged": Birds, as in His saying: "And the birds with wings outspread" (24:41).
• "The drivers": Everything that restrains from the disobedience of God.
• "The reciters": Everyone who recites the Book of God.

It is also permissible that He swears by:

• The souls of the practicing scholars: Who align their feet in the night vigil (tahajjud), other prayers, and congregational rows; who drive away [sin] with exhortations and advice; and who recite the verses of God and study His laws.
• The souls of the commanders of the warriors in the path of God: Who align the ranks, urge the horses for jihad, and recite the Remembrance (dhikr) alongside these duties, not being distracted from it by those preoccupations, as is narrated of Ali ibn Abi Talib (may God be pleased with him).

If you ask: What is the rule of the fa (the particle "so/then") when it acts as a conjunction between attributes? I say: It indicates one of three things:

1. Sequence in existence: As in the saying: "Oh, the regret of the morning raider, then the plunderer, then the returner," as if to say: he who raided, then plundered, then returned.
2. Sequence in gradation: As when you say: "Take the best, then the most complete; do the good, then the most beautiful."
3. Sequence of the described subjects: As in: "May God have mercy on those who shave their heads, then those who shorten [their hair]."

If you ask: Which of these rules applies here? I say: If you unify the subject (the one described), it indicates the sequence of the attributes in merit. If you diversify the subjects, it indicates the sequence of the subjects themselves in merit.

• If you apply these attributes to the angels—making them possessors of all of them—or to the scholars or commanders, the fa indicates the sequence of the attributes in excellence.
• If you apply the first attribute to one group, the second to another, and the third to a third, it indicates the sequence of the subjects in merit (i.e., the first group has merit, the second has more, and the third has the most, or vice versa). This also applies if you intend "the ranged" to be birds, "the drivers" to be those who restrain from sin, and "the reciters" to be those who recite the dhikr, as the subjects are distinct.

(Note: It has been recited with the assimilation of the 't' into the 's', 'z', and 'dh'.)

"Lord of the heavens": This is a predicate following a predicate, or the predicate of an omitted subject. "And the rising places": There are three hundred and sixty rising places, and likewise the setting places. The sun rises every day in a [new] rising place and sets in a [new] setting place; it does not rise or set in the same one for two days. If you ask: What did He mean by His saying: "Lord of the two easts and Lord of the two wests" (55:17)? I say: He meant the rising and setting points of summer and winter.

"Indeed, We have adorned the lowest heaven with an adornment: the stars. And as protection against every rebellious devil."