Surah An-Naml (27) — Ayah 8

(Ayah 8) ➊ {فَلَمَّا جَآءَهَا نُوْدِيَ اَنْۢ بُوْرِكَ مَنْ فِي النَّارِ … : } When Musa (peace be upon him) came near that fire, he was called: Blessed is He who is in the fire and whoever is around it. Here the question arises: Who is meant by {’’ مَنْ فِي النَّارِ ‘‘} (He who is in the fire)? And who is meant by {’’مَنْ حَوْلَهَا ‘‘} (whoever is around it)? Some commentators have taken {’’ مَنْ فِي النَّارِ ‘‘} to mean Musa (peace be upon him) and said that Musa (peace be upon him) was near the fire, so he was called {’’ مَنْ فِي النَّارِ ‘‘}, and {’’مَنْ حَوْلَهَا ‘‘} refers to the angels. Some have considered these words from Allah as a greeting for Musa (peace be upon him) and the angels, just as the angels said {’’ رَحْمَتُ اللّٰهِ وَ بَرَكٰتُهٗ عَلَيْكُمْ اَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ ‘‘} to Sarah (peace be upon her). The author of "Mawahib al-Rahman" says, this is not free from forced interpretation. Zamakhshari and those who agree with him have interpreted {’’ بُوْرِكَ مَنْ فِي النَّارِ ‘‘} as {’’بُوْرِكَ فِيْ مَكَانِ النَّارِ‘‘}, meaning the place of the fire is blessed and the area around it, i.e., the whole land of Sham, is blessed. But {’’ مَنْ ‘‘} is used for those with intellect, so taking it to mean a place is far-fetched. The most apparent meaning is what 'Abd al-Razzaq has narrated with an authentic chain from Qatadah, who said: {’’ نُوْرُ اللّٰهِ بُوْرِكَ ‘‘} meaning the light of Allah is blessed. 'Abd al-Razzaq has also narrated from Hasan that {’’ مَنْ فِي النَّارِ ‘‘} means light and {’’مَنْ حَوْلَهَا ‘‘} means angels. The meaning of the verse is that blessed is the Pure Being who is in the fire and the angels who are around it. This meaning is also supported by the words mentioned in the next verse, {’’ يٰمُوْسٰۤى اِنَّهٗۤ اَنَا اللّٰهُ الْعَزِيْزُ الْحَكِيْمُ ‘‘}. The fire that Musa (peace be upon him) saw was not the light of Allah's Essence, but rather a veil of light or fire that is the covering of Allah's Face. This interpretation was given by Abu 'Ubaydah, the son of 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), when he recited the verse under discussion while narrating the hadith about the veils of Allah's light.

In Sahih Muslim, Abu 'Ubaydah narrated from Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood among us and mentioned five things. He (peace be upon him) said: [ إِنَّ اللّٰهَ عَزَّوَجَلَّ لَا يَنَامُ وَلَا يَنْبَغِيْ لَهُ أَنْ يَّنَامَ، يَخْفِضُ الْقِسْطَ وَيَرْفَعُهُ، يُرْفَعُ إِلَيْهِ عَمَلُ اللَّيْلِ قَبْلَ عَمَلِ النَّهَارِ، وَ عَمَلُ النَّهَارِ قَبْلَ عَمَلِ اللَّيْلِ، حِجَابُهُ النُّوْرُ وَفِيْ رِوَايَةِ أَبِيْ بَكْرٍ النَّارُ لَوْ كَشَفَهُ لَأَحْرَقَتْ سُبُحَاتُ وَجْهِهِ مَا انْتَهٰی إِلَيْهِ بَصَرُهُ مِنْ خَلْقِهِ ] [ مسلم، الإیمان، باب في قولہ علیہ السلام إن اللہ لا ینام … : ۱۷۹ ] "Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, does not sleep, nor does it befit Him to sleep. He lowers the scale and raises it. The deeds of the night are raised to Him before the deeds of the day, and the deeds of the day are raised to Him before the deeds of the night. His veil is light." In Abu Bakr's narration, it is fire instead of light. "If He were to remove it, the radiance of His Face would burn everything of His creation that His gaze reaches." In Musnad Ahmad, after narrating this hadith, Abu 'Ubaydah recited this verse: «{فَلَمَّا جَآءَهَا نُوْدِيَ اَنْۢ بُوْرِكَ مَنْ فِي النَّارِ وَ مَنْ حَوْلَهَا وَ سُبْحٰنَ اللّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعٰلَمِيْنَ }» [ مسند أحمد : 400/4، ۴۰۱، ح : ۱۹۶۰۶ ] and Ibn Abi Hatim also narrated this hadith in his Tafsir under the verse of Surah al-Naml, at the end of which Abu 'Ubaydah recited this verse. The researcher of Ibn Abi Hatim has declared its chain authentic. [ الصحیح المسبور ]

Many commentators influenced by Greek philosophy have denied or interpreted away many things about Allah mentioned in the Qur'an and Hadith. For example, it is established from the Qur'an and Hadith that Allah is established above the Throne. Whenever He wills, wherever He wills, He descends veiled in light or fire. He descends to the lowest heaven in the last part of the night. On the Day of Resurrection, He will descend to the earth, and on that day His Throne will be carried by eight angels. Whenever He wills, He can speak to whomever He wills, and He does so. Our commentators have considered all these things contrary to the majesty of Allah and have either denied them or interpreted them in a way worse than denial. These people did not consider that they cannot understand or describe Allah's majesty better than Allah and His Messenger. At this point, the reason for interpreting {’’ مَنْ فِي النَّارِ ‘‘} as referring to Musa (peace be upon him) or someone else instead of Allah's Essence is the same problem.

➋ { وَ سُبْحٰنَ اللّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعٰلَمِيْنَ:} This is a refutation of anyone who thinks that Allah's descent in the veil of fire or His speaking directly is like their own descent or speaking. It is just as He said: «{ لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهٖ شَيْءٌ وَ هُوَ السَّمِيْعُ الْبَصِيْرُ }» [ الشورٰی : ۱۱ ] "There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing." That is, believe that there is nothing like Him, and also believe that He is Hearing and Seeing, but His hearing and seeing are not like yours.

➌ Some people have made efforts to specify the place where this incident happened to Musa (peace be upon him), and they have presented as evidence the construction of a church at that place by the Christian king Constantine in 365 CE. In fact, based on people's traditions, they have even identified a tree as the very tree in which Musa (peace be upon him) saw the fire. The truth is that we have no reliable evidence to specify this place. For guidance, what Allah and His Messenger have stated is sufficient; if it were necessary, Allah would have specified it.