سُبْحَانَ الذِيٍ 693 الکهف
وَعُرِضُوا عَلَى رَبِّكَ صَفًّا لَقَدْ جِئْتُمُونَا كَمَا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ بَلْ زَعَمْتُمْ أَلَّنْ نَجْعَلَ لَكُمْ مَوْعِدًا ﴿۴۸﴾ وَوُضِعَ الْكِتَابُ فَتَرَى الْمُجْرِمِينَ مُشْفِقِينَ مِمَّا فِيهِ وَيَقُولُونَ يَا وَيْلَتَنَا مَالِ هَذَا الْكِتَابِ لَا يُغَادِرُ صَغِيرَةً وَلَا كَبِيرَةً إِلَّا أَحْصَاهَا وَوَجَدُوا مَا عَمِلُوا حَاضِرًا وَلَا يَظْلِمُ رَبُّكَ أَحَدًا ﴿۴۹﴾ وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لِآدَمَ فَسَجَدُوا إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ كَانَ مِنَ الْجِنِّ فَفَسَقَ عَنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِ أَفَتَتَّخِذُونَهُ وَذُرِّيَّتَهُ أَوْلِيَاءَ مِنْ دُونِي وَهُمْ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ بِئْسَ لِلظَّالِمِينَ بَدَلًا ﴿۵۰﴾ مَا أَشْهَدْتُهُمْ خَلْقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَلَا خَلْقَ أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَمَا كُنْتُ مُتَّخِذَ الْمُضِلِّينَ عَضُدًا ﴿۵۱﴾
﴾48﴿ Wa 'uridoo 'alaa Rabbika saffaa, laqad ji'tumoonaa kamaa khalaqnaakum awala marrah; bal za'amtum allannaj'ala lakum maw'idaa
﴾49﴿ Wa wudi'al kitaabu fataral mujrimeena mushfiqeena mimmaa feehi wa yaqooloona yaa wailatanaa maa lihaazal kitaabi laa yughaadiru saghee ratanw wa laa kabeeratan illaaa ahsaahaa; wa wajadoo maa 'amiloo haadiraa; wa laa yazlimu Rabbuka ahadaa
﴾50﴿ Wa iz qulnaa lil malaaa'ikatis judoo li Aadama fasajadooo illaaa Ibleesa kaana minal jinni fafasaqa 'an amri Rabbih; afatattakhizoonahoo wa zurriyatahooo awliyaaa'a min doonee wa hum lakum 'aduww; bi'sa lizzaalimeena badalaa
﴾51﴿ Maaa ash hattuhum khalqas samaawaati wal ardi wa laa khalqa anfusihim wa maa kuntu muttakhizal mudilleena 'adudaa
﴾48﴿ And they will be presented before your Lord in rows. (It will be said,) 'Indeed, you have come to Us as We created you the first time. But you claimed that We would never appoint a time for you
﴾49﴿ "And the record [of deeds] will be laid open, and you will see the criminals fearful of what is within it, and they will say, 'Woe to us! What is this book that leaves nothing small or great but has enumerated it?' And they will find all that they did present [before them]. And your Lord does not wrong anyone
﴾50﴿ And [mention] when We said to the angels, 'Prostrate to Adam,' and they prostrated, except for Iblis. He was of the jinn and disobeyed the command of his Lord. Will you then take him and his descendants as allies instead of Me, while they are enemies to you? Wretched is the exchange for the wrongdoers
﴾51﴿ We did not make them witnesses to the creation of the heavens and the earth or to their own creation, and I would not take the misleaders as assistants
[50] From this verse until verse 99, the passage responds to the doubts and false beliefs of the polytheists who claim that non-divine beings, such as saints, have power and influence based on dreams or supernatural experiences.
For example, they say: “A saint came to me in a dream and said not to fulfill a vow,” or “Ask for your needs at my grave,” or “Build a dome over my grave.” Others claim: “I made a vow to a saint and didn’t fulfill it; my cow stopped giving milk—this proves the saint has power.”
In response to such false claims of attributing control to other than Allah, the story of Adam (peace be upon him) and Iblīs is presented in verses 50–51.
The core message is that Iblīs is your ancient enemy, and it is he who implants these false beliefs through dreams and illusions to lead people into shirk.
In verses 52–53, there is a warning about the Hereafter, and then come four admonitions:
1. First admonition – against arguing about the Qur’an, in verse 54.
2. Second rebuke – against delaying repentance and waiting for punishment, in verse 55.
3. Third warning – against arguing based on false doubts, in verse 56.
4. Fourth rebuke – for turning away from the Qur’an, in verse 58.
Then, in verses 58–59, there is also a worldly warning, showing the consequences of rejecting the truth.
In verse 50, the incident of Adam and Iblīs is revisited as a clear refutation of the polytheists’ arguments. That’s why the verse includes a sharp rebuke:
(أَفَتَتَّخِذُونَهُ وَذُرِّيَّتَهُ أَوْلِيَاءَ مِنْ دُونِي) – “Will you then take him and his offspring as allies besides Me?”
It means: Iblīs and his descendants are your sworn enemies, and yet you are assigning them the status of divinity or guardianship?
(كَانَ مِنَ الْجِنِّ) – There is a disagreement on this:
Some early scholars said Iblīs was among the angels, and “jinn” refers to a type or tribe among the angels.
Others interpreted it as “he became one of the jinn due to his actions.”
But the correct and widely accepted view, transmitted from the majority of the Salaf, is that Iblīs was from the jinn, and jinn are a separate creation from the angels.
Three main evidences support this view:
1. Difference in creation: Angels are created from light, while jinn are created from a smokeless flame of fire (mārij min nār)—as mentioned in a Muslim hadith.
2. Angels do not have offspring, while jinn do—as indicated by the word (ذُرِّيَّتَهُ) (“his descendants”).
3. In Surah Saba (34:41): (بَلْ كَانُوا يَعْبُدُونَ الْجِنَّ) – “Rather, they used to worship the jinn,” which shows that jinn are distinct from angels.
Also, claims that Iblīs was an angel are not authentically attributed to the Salaf with strong chains of narration. Ibn Kathīr (may Allah have mercy on him) gave a detailed refutation of this view.
(فَفَسَقَ) – “So he rebelled” – The word fisq originally means to come out, like fruit breaking out of its shell. Here, it refers to rebelling against Allah’s command.
(أَوْلِيَاءَ) – “Allies” – refers to companions through obedience, or even helpers and objects of worship. Some people even fall under the label of “worshippers of Shayṭān”, due to their devotion and submission to these evil influences.
[51] This verse is a refutation of those who associate devils (shayāṭīn) as partners with Allah Most High.
The core of the refutation is that these beings:
1. Were not present at the creation of the heavens and the earth,
2. Nor were they present at the creation of their own kind,
3. And Allah does not require the help of anyone.
So there is no basis for associating them with Him in divinity or authority.
(وَمَا كُنْتُ مُتَّخِذَ الْمُضِلِّينَ عَضُدًا) – “And I did not take the misguiders as assistants.”
The term muḍillīn (those who misguide) here is either:
an incidental qualifier (qayd ittifāqī), not restrictive (iḥtirāzī), meaning: even generally, Allah has no need for help, whether from misguiders or anyone else.
or it is a restrictive qualifier, meaning those who actively misguide others are excluded, even though Allah may at times use open sinners or wrongdoers to support His religion.
As mentioned in the authentic ḥadīth: “Indeed, Allah supports this religion even through a sinful man.”
But those who intentionally misguide others, like devils and corrupters of belief, are never used to aid the religion.