مُطاعٍ ثَمَّ أَمينٍ

One who is obeyed there, [and] worthy of trust.

EXEGESIS

The passive participle muṭāʿ means one who is obeyed.^{‎[1]Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 577.} The word thamma denotes an adverb of place, indicating a removed point either spatially or in rank.^{‎[2]Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 147.} Here it denotes distance and literally means there or over there.^{‎[3]Amthal, 19/466.} Hence, the translation: One who is obeyed there, [and] worthy of trust.

EXPOSITION

This verse concludes with the fourth and fifth qualities possessed by Gabriel, which are: he is obeyed and wields influence there, which is among the angels, and is obeyed by them, and is trustworthy and reliable. The purpose in extolling Gabriel with all these merits was to drive home the point that the Quran is the speech of God, revealed to the Prophet by means of revelation, and not a product of insane delusions insinuated by the devils (as decried in the next verse as well as in verse 25). Thus the aim was to confirm the secure nature of the revelation and the exalted nature of the one responsible for conveying this revelation by mentioning his great merits in an exaggerated form in order to deem him far above treachery and error.^{‎[4]Mizan, 20/219.}

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Tabatabai writes that the phrase One who is obeyed demonstrates that there are some angels who help and assist God. He commands them for certain tasks and they then control and command as a result of this delegation. The latter part of this verse demonstrates that Gabriel is a trustworthy angel who does not betray the trusts placed on him or act treacherously with respect to the messages that he is supposed to convey.^{‎[5]Mizan, 20/218.}

[1] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 577.
[2] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 147.
[3] Amthal, 19/466.
[4] Mizan, 20/219.
[5] Mizan, 20/218.