The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 393
PT. 14 AL-HIJR CH. 15 فَسَجَدَ الْمَلَبِكَةُ كُلُّهُمْ أَجْمَعُونَ & So the angels submitted, all. 31 of them together, إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ اَبى أَنْ يَكُونَ But Iblis did not; he refused. 32 مَعَ السُّجِدِينَ those who to be among submit. 1737 "2:35; 7:12; 17:62; 18:51; 20:117. b2:35; 7:12; 17:62; 18:51; 20:117. and spiritual perfection has been cited, and we are told that he was vouchsafed Divine revelation and angels were pressed into his service and were made to carry out his programme and plans. The mention of man or Adam here implies that the descending of the Word of God upon man and its preservation and protection have gone on from the beginning of creation. The pronoun "him" in the expression (I have fashioned him) refers not only to Adam but to every human being; for it is into every man that God breathes His spirit and angels are also appointed to serve him. When a peasant, for instance, ploughs his land and casts his seed in it, the angels are bidden to help him and produce the results of his labour. Thus the injunction, fall ye down in submission to him, given to the angels holds good for every human being. It appears from the Quran that whereas all things are subject to the control of angels, all things have been created for the service of man (45:14). This shows that angels are employed in the service of mankind. 1737. Commentary: The word (but) has been used thus مستثنى منقطع here in the form of hinting that Iblis was not one of the angels. This is also clear from the words (all of them together) used about the angels in the preceding verse. Such emphatic expression could not be used about angels, if Iblis had belonged to their community. 1601 It may be asked why God punished Satan (vv. 35, 36) for his failure to carry out a command which was addressed only to angels (vv. 29, 30). In reply to this, it should be remembered that when a command is given to a person, it automatically applies to all those who are under his jurisdiction and subject to his control. As angels were commanded to submit to, and serve, Adam, therefore this command automatically applied to all those creatures of God who were made subject to the administration of angels. Elsewhere, the Quran itself makes the point clear that the command to angels implied a command to Iblis (7:12, 13). As man was endowed with the power to do both good and evil, it was necessary that both kinds of incentive should have been created for him. One incentive was created in the form of angels, and the other came into being in the form of Satan. When God created Adam, angels