وَأَنّا لا نَدري أَشَرٌّ أُريدَ بِمَن فِي الأَرضِ أَم أَرادَ بِهِم رَبُّهُم رَشَدًا
We do not know whether ill is intended for those who are in the earth, or whether their Lord intends good for them.
EXEGESIS
Nadrī is an imperfect tense of the verb darā that lexically means to know and to be aware of something. However, Rāghib defines dary as a type of knowledge that is obtained through unusual ways. In other words, it can be said that the infinitive dary denotes the acquisition of knowledge through means that are normally unknown to people, and indeed some lexicographers have maintained that the derivatives of the term dary are lexically used to signify knowledge that is not derived by acquisition or by building up on clear premises, but rather through extraordinary means. It is by virtue of this very qualification that the word dirāyah becomes distinct from its sister terms such as ʿilm (knowledge) and maʿrifah (in-depth understanding).
The different derivatives of the term dary have appeared numerous times in the Quran, all of which do involve the lexical connotation of the word. Said differently, in the verse under discussion as well as in other places in the Quran, the term dirāyah has been used in relation to phenomena that cannot be comprehended by building on premises commonly known to everyone.
Sharr is a noun that means evil, as opposed to good (khayr). According to Rāghib, sharr is anything that is detested by all, such as corruption and oppression, while khayr is that which is liked by everyone, such as the faculty of intellect, justice, and the like.
In the Quran, the term sharr denotes in some verses evil and mean as in 12:77, whilst in verses like 2:216 it is proper to interpret it as harmful and detrimental. In the verse under discussion, the noun sharr means that which is harmful, and has been identified by the exegetes, in the context of this verse, as incurring divine wrath and punishment.
Urīda is the passive voice of the perfect tense arāda that denotes to want or to intend something. It derives etymologically from the noun rawd that incorporates the common theme of wanting something out of one’s volition and choice. In Arabic, the term irādah signifies will and wish.
It is obvious that in the verse under discussion the verbs urīda and arāda refer to divine will, and as such the verse would mean: We do not know whether ill has been decreed for the inhabitants of the earth, or whether God has wished good for them.
Arḍ (pl. araḍūn) is a generic noun that lexically denotes the lower part of a thing, and as such, it is the opposite of samāʾ. Hence, according to some lexicologists, anything located in a higher position is termed as samāʾ in relation to a thing lower to it, while the lower is called arḍ in relation to the thing above it. Taking into account the context of the verse under discussion and the meaning of the term samāʾ in verse 8, the term arḍ refers here to planet earth as it holds a lower position compared to the visible heaven.
Rabbuhum: rabb is a noun used in the Arabic language to denote the owner or the one who looks after a thing that is under his possession. Rāghib, however, holds that the term rabb lexically involves the idea of nurturing and upbringing, and as such, it means to raise and rear something, from one state to another, until it is complete and fully grown. The frequent ascription of the term rabb to God in the Quran shows that He alone is the creator as well as the nurturer of all beings in the universe.
Rashad – like the term rushd – signifies that which is in the interest of man. The term implies in this verse either divine guidance or divine grace and mercy. In whichever case, the obvious instance of the divine guidance and mercy in the context of this verse is the advent of Prophet Muhammad (s) that has been termed as rashad in the verse since it entails benefit for God’s creation.
EXPOSITION
Further to being wonderstruck due to the heavy patrolling in the heavens that resulted in them being prevented from eavesdropping on heavenly news, the jinn exhibited a lack of knowledge in relation to the consequences this strange phenomenon would have on the inhabitants of the earth. They anticipated that it either signals that divine punishment awaits the people on the earth or that divine guidance is about to reach them.
A close scrutiny of the analysis of the situation given by the jinn described in this verse reveals at least two things; firstly, they drew connection between the extraordinary phenomenon experienced by them and the good or evil consequence of it. Said differently, they interpreted this phenomenon to be indicating that something good or evil is going to happen in future. And secondly, they viewed the anticipated good or evil as something that is related to the inhabitants of the earth.
Based on what has been said, it can be inferred from this verse that the heavenly news on which the jinn endeavoured to eavesdrop was somehow associated with the events taking place on the earth, pleasant or unpleasant. However, since they were barred from eavesdropping at the dawn of revelation, they were now no longer able to tell whether this strange phenomenon was in the interest of the inhabitants of the earth or not. Moreover, it can be further understood from the last three verses that there exists important information in the heavens regarding events that take place on the earth, such that the rebellious among the jinn try to eavesdrop on them but to no avail, as they are constantly being driven away from it by the flames. It is the divine angels only who have access to such information which they then communicate to the divinely sent prophets to the measure that they have been permitted by God.
What is understood from the phrase or whether their Lord intends good for them is that this statement was uttered by this particular group of jinn after they had professed belief in the Quran and the Prophet. As such, although they apparently seemed to be in a state of confusion as to the consequence of the unusual phenomenon encountered by them, these believers from the jinn should have understood principally that this change in the situation is a prelude for the guidance of jinn and humans, since it coincided with the advent of the Prophet of Islam. However, due to their great attachment to the issue of eavesdropping, it appears to have been difficult for them to acknowledge the fact that their inability to have access to the heavenly news was a kind of blessing of God for His creation.
The assumption by the members of the human community that the jinn possessed knowledge of the unseen was itself a form of polytheism. By admitting their lack of knowledge about what this strange phenomenon entailed for the inhabitants of the earth, the jinn refuted the misconception that they know the unseen independent of God’s knowledge.
A point worthy of note here is that evil has been attributed in this verse to the unmentioned subject (fāʿil), whilst the intention of good has been directly ascribed to God, though the source of both the good and the evil is God. By doing so, this group of jinn struck a balance between sound belief in the oneness of God and the ethics of conversation. Furthermore, the verse bears subtle allusion to the fact that the divine will primarily entails good and that which is in the interest of the creation, whereas evil is only secondarily intended for one who qualifies for it as a result of his own actions.
In the last three verses, this group of jinn have been attributing the acts of ascension to the heaven, and the act of eavesdropping to themselves, by virtue of the personal pronoun We. And considering the fact that it was the rebellious among them who used to engage in such activities as asserted in 37:7, it can be inferred that this group of jinn were previously among the obstinate members of this community, who later embraced Islam after listening to the Quran.
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
Mughniyyah is of the opinion that the content of the heavenly news upon which the jinn used to eavesdrop was not related to the unseen – as the knowledge of it is specific to God alone – and nor was it about the good or evil that was going to reach the people in the future. In his view, what is understood from the import of verse 9 is that the jinn used to ascend to a certain location in the heavens where they would hear some kind of sound or speech. Despite the fact that heaven is the abode of the chosen angels, the angels have no knowledge of the unseen except that which God discloses to them: They said: ‘Immaculate are You! We have no knowledge except what You have taught us’ (2:32); hence, he concludes, the jinn could not attain knowledge about the future of people.
[1] Hans Wehr, under darā; Fayyumi, under daraytu.
[2] Raghib, under d-r-y.
[3] Tahqiq, under d-r-y.
[4] Tahqiq, under d-r-y.
[5] Tahqiq, under d-r-y.
[6] Lisan, under sh-r-r.
[7] Raghib, under sh-r-r.
[8] Bahrayn, under sh-r-r.
[9] Raghib, under kh-y-r.
[10] Qamus, under sharr.
[11] Tabrisi, 10/556; Ithna Ashari, 13/345.
[12] Lisan, under r-w-d; Fayyumi, under arāda.
[13] Tahqiq, under r-w-d.
[14] Hans Wehr, under rāda.
[15] Raghib, under ʾ-r-ḍ.
[16] Raghib, under s-m-w.
[17] For a detailed treatment of the word rabb and its significance in the Quran, see rabbinā under the Exegesis of verse 2.
[18] Bahrayn and Lisan, under r-b-b.
[19] Raghib, under rabb.
[20] Qamus, under rabb.
[21] For more information on this word, see rushd under the Exegesis of verse 2.
[22] Fayyumi, under al-rushd; Bahrayn, under r-sh-d.
[23] Nemuneh, 25/113.
[24] Ithna Ashari, 13/345.
[25] Tabrisi, 10/556.
[26] Tibyan, 10/150; Tabari, 29/70.
[27] Ahsan al-Hadith, 11/377.
[28] Mizan, 20/44.
[29] Kawthar, 6/32-33.
[30] Kawthar, 6/32.
[31] Nemuneh, 25/113.
[32] Tantawi, 15/136.
[33] Ibn Kathir, 8/253; Alusi, 15/98.
[34] Nemuneh, 25/113.
[35] Mizan, 20/44.
[36] Kashif, 7/438. See also Qutb, 6/3730.