Ash-Shu'ara · Makki · ayah 212 of 227

Ash-Shu'ara 26:212

إِنَّهُمْ عَنِ ٱلسَّمْعِ لَمَعْزُولُونَ

“Indeed they, from [its] hearing, are removed.[1063]”

Saheeh International

Essence

The devils were moved off to one side and cut off from heaven's speech, so the revelation arrived with no stolen word mixed in.

A reflection

The night the listeners found the sky changed

This ayah has a witness from the other side. In Sūrat al-Jinn, a group of jinn describe what happened to them in their own words. 'We touched the sky and found it filled with stern guards and flames. We used to sit there in places for listening. But whoever listens now finds a flame lying in wait for him' (72:8-9).

Then comes their most honest line. 'We do not know whether harm is intended for those on earth, or whether their Lord intends for them right guidance' (72:10). They noticed the change before most people on earth did. They knew something had happened. They did not yet know what.

One commentary on this ayah makes the link explicit. The word maʿzūlūn implies they had once been able to listen, and then were stopped by the flames. Another narration-based commentary gives the timing. During the years the Quran was coming down, the sky was filled with guards. Not one devil got through to hear a single letter of it. The reason it gives is simple: so that the matter would not be confused.

That is the whole drama of 26:212 in one scene. The old eavesdroppers come back to their usual seats. The seats are watched. The door they used to listen at is shut, at the precise moment the most important speech of all is being sent down.

The Quranic Arabic doubles its emphasis here. Inna at the start, and the la- fixed to the last word: truly, they are certainly cut off. The Makkans had suggested a jinn was feeding the Prophet ﷺ. The ayah answers with the jinn's own testimony, given elsewhere in the Book. They were not feeding anyone. They were being chased away.

The same commentary calls this a mercy from Allah to His servants. It protected His law and supported His Book and His Messenger. Every reader who opens a mushaf today is a beneficiary of that guarded night.

The full entry has 4 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.