Tafsir Al-Jalalayn: Al-Mulk, Ayah 19
Common Words
Other Scholars on This Ayah
Tafsir
(Have they) i.e. the disbelievers of Mecca (not seen the birds above them) above their heads (spreading out their wings and closing them? Naught upholdeth them) after their spreading out (save the Beneficent. Lo! He is Seer of all things) whether it is spreading out or closing.
Related Hadiths
" Certainly he saw of the greatest signs of Allah" (al-Qur'an, liii. 18) imply that he saw Gabriel in his (original) form and he had six hundred wings.
" The heart belied not what he saw" (al Qur'an, Iiii. 11) imply that he saw Gabriel (peace be upon him) and he had six hundred wings.
I asked Zirr b. Hubaish about the words of Allah (the Mighty and Great):" So he was (at a distance) of two bows or nearer" (al-Qur'an, Iiii 8). He said: Ibn Mas'ud informed me that, verily, the Messen...
Al-Jalalayn Commentary
Or have they not seen the birds above them in the air spreading their wings and closing? their wings after spreading them? in other words read wa-yaqbidna as wa-qābidātin similar to sāffātin ‘spreading’. Nothing sustains them from falling either when they are spreading them or closing them except the Compassionate One by His power. Indeed He is Seer of all things. The meaning is have they not inferred from the fact that the birds are able to remain in the air that We have the power to do with them what has been mentioned above as well as inflicting upon them other kinds of chastisement?