Tafsir of Surah Al-Isra - Verse 109

Those Who were given Knowledge before truly admit the Qur'an

Allah says to His Prophet Muhammad ﷺ:

قُلْ

(Say) O Muhammad to these disbelievers concerning what you have brought to them of this Glorious Qur'an:

ءَامِنُواْ بِهِ أَوْ لاَ تُؤْمِنُواْ

("Believe in it (the Qur'an) or do not believe (in it).) meaning, it is all the same whether you believe in it or not, for it is true in and of itself. It was revealed by Allah, Who mentioned it previously in the Books that He revealed to other Messengers. Hence He says:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْعِلْمَ مِن قَبْلِهِ

(Verily, those who were given knowledge before it,) meaning righteous people among the People of the Book, who adhered to their Books and appreciated them without distorting them.

إِذَا يُتْلَى عَلَيْهِمْ

(when it is recited to them,) means, when this Qur'an is recited to them,

يَخِرُّونَ لِلاٌّذْقَانِ سُجَّدًا

(fall down on their chins (faces) in humble prostration. ) means, to Allah, in gratitude for the blessing He has bestowed on them by considering them fit to live until they met this Messenger to whom this Book was revealed. Hence they say:

سُبْحَانَ رَبِّنَآ

(Glory be to our Lord!), meaning, they extol and glorify their Lord for His perfect power and for not delaying the fulfillment of the promise which He made through His earlier Prophets, that He would send Muhammad ﷺ. Hence they said:

سُبْحَانَ رَبِّنَآ إِن كَانَ وَعْدُ رَبِّنَا لَمَفْعُولاً

(Glory be to our Lord! Truly, the promise of our Lord must be fulfilled.)

وَيَخِرُّونَ لِلاٌّذْقَانِ يَبْكُونَ

(And they fall down on their chins (faces) weeping) means, in submission to Allah, may He be glorified, and in expression of their belief and faith in His Book and His Messenger .

وَيَزِيدُهُمْ خُشُوعًا

(and it increases their humility.) means, it increases them in faith and submission. As Allah says:

وَالَّذِينَ اهْتَدَوْاْ زَادَهُمْ هُدًى وَءَاتَـهُمْ تَقُوَاهُمْ

(While as for those who accept guidance, He increases their guidance and bestows on them their Taqwa. ) (47:17).

وَيَخِرُّونَ

(And they fall down) is a description rather than an action (i.e., this is a further description of their humility as referred to in Ayah 107; it does not imply that they prostrate twice).

About the last sentence: يَبْكُونَ وَيَزِيدُهُمْ خُشُوعًا (And they fall down on their faces weeping and it increases them in the humbleness of heart -109), it appears in Tafsir Mazhari that being in tears while reciting the Qur’ an stands as a highly recommended and reward worthy act (mustahabb). Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ narrates that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, 'a person who wept in fear of Allah shall not go to Hell until milk is returned to the udder after having been milked. (It means, as it is not possible to put milk once milked back into the udder, very similarly, it is also not possible that a person who weeps in fear of Allah were to go to Hell). And says another report, 'Allah Ta’ ala has forbidden the fire of Hell on two eyes - the eye that weeps in fear of Allah, and the eye that stays awake at nights guarding the Islamic frontiers. (Baihaqi, and Hakim) And Sayyidna Nadr ibn Sa'd ؓ reports that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, 'a people, among whom there is someone who weeps in fear of Allah, will be delivered from the fire of Hell because of him.' (Ruh al- Ma’ ani from Tirmidhi)

The reason for the big trouble Muslims are in today is no other but that there are very few left among them who would weep fearing Allah. After reporting the Ahadith showing the merits of weeping in fear of Allah at this point, the author of Ruh al-Ma’ ani says: وینبغی ان یکون ذٰلَک حال العلماء (And that is the state the ` Ulama' should be in) - because, Ibn Jarir, Ibn al-Mundhir and others have quoted the following saying of ` Abd al-Ala Taimi:

'A person who has received the kind of knowledge that does not make him cry [ because of having realized the reality of things ] should be enough to make you understand that he has not been given the knowledge that brings benefits.'

Divine words require humility from man, for God does not come Himself to the present world to convey His message to man. He selects a human being for this purpose. Now those who are filled with ego and arrogance think that surrendering to the truth is tantamount to surrendering to a human being. That is why they refuse to accept it. On the contrary, those who are free of arrogance can see God in the words falling from the lips of His messenger. So through these words they come in contact with God. They discover their humility vis-à-vis God’s greatness. This experience moves their hearts. They fall prostrate before Him with tears in their eyes. The leaders of the Quraysh are examples of the former, while the People of the Book who believed in the Prophet in the first phase, are examples of the latter. The virtuous people mentioned in this verse are the People of the Book. They had learnt from their ancient divine scriptures that a final prophet was going to come, and that those who believed in him and supported him, would be held deserving of special divine succour. Therefore, they had been eagerly waiting for the advent of the final prophet. That is why they took no time in recognizing the Prophet Muhammad. They were so greatly moved by the words of the Quran that, while reciting it, they would fall down in prostration before God with tears in their eyes. However, this is not a matter of just one group. The same applies to all human beings. God has already vested in the soul of every human being born on this earth the ability to recognize the truth. It is as if every individual is already waiting for the call of truth. Now those who live in a state of awareness can undergo the same experience as that of the People of the Book mentioned here. Consciousness at the level of nature will enable them to recognize the truth and rush towards it wholeheartedly.