As-Sajdah 32:15 - Linguistic Miracle

The only ones who believe in our verses are those who, when reminded of them, fall down in prostration, and declare His perfection accompanied with His praise. They alone do not seek greatness.

The people described earlier did not believe in Allah nor in His signs. So who believes in them? The only ones who believe in our signs are those who, when reminded of them, fall

down in prostration, and declare His perfection accompanied with His praise.

First, the word “reminded” has the shaddah on it which means being constantly reminded, not just one single reminder. It means - whenever they are reminded.....

Secondly, it is in the passive voice. Reminded by whom? That is not specified to create generality. Whenever they are reminded by anyone.....

But we need to understand the word dhikr (reminded) as well. At its root, it was used

for something strong and sturdy. The male gender is called zakar (from the same

root) because men are physically stronger than women. Dhikr does not mean any reminder. It means a strong and effective reminder. You can teach the Qurʾān to people, but when you do it in a way that has a strong impact on people, you have done dhikr. This is important because the manner of teaching matters and the Qurʾān recognizes it. The Qurʾān itself uses this word here to imply that whenever dhikr of the Qurʾān is done in front of them i.e; whenever they are reminded of the

Qurʾān in an appropriate and effective manner by anyone, it changes them. It is not a random mention or reminder of the Qurʾān.

Thirdly, the phrase the only ones who believe, is in the present tense because it conveys that their faith is renewed and that its strength keeps increasing moment after moment because they are already believers.

Fall down in prostration -The word kharra, translated as fall down at its root means a

complete reversal of the state of something. It is normally used in the Qurʾān for falling over such as when Allah destroyed the habitations of some people causing their roofs - the highest part - to crash on them. Here, it does not simply mean falling down in prostration, it means a reversal and a change. When they are reminded of Allah’s verses, it produces a change in them. What kind of change? Prostration does not simply mean prostrating on the earth as we do in our prayers. It also implies submitting, obeying and humility. Whenever they are reminded of Allah’s verses, it affects them and changes them to become more submissive and humble before Allah. This ties in perfectly with the previous ayah. Remember the word نكس conveyed the reversal of the disbelievers pride and arrogance into disgrace and humility. The believer is he who turns his pride and arrogance into humility and submission to God INSIDE this world while the disbelievers are those who do it on judgment day. The disbeliever of today will be a believer on judgment day but by that time, it will be too late.

Declare His tasbīḥ accompanied with His hamd - Tasbīḥ comes from the root sīn bāʾ ḥāʾ

which was used for a loose garment that hangs away from the body, for swimming above the surface of water, as well as for a horse that gracefully stretches its legs while running etc. Te central meaning is to remain in contact with something that could

engulf while remaining above its surface and not getting engulfed.¹²⁶

A swimmer for example swims above the surface of the water without getting engulfed by it, and the loose garment described above does not cling to the body. It hangs down.

From this concept comes the meaning of transcendence. For something to be above something else. Tasbīḥ of Allah means that Allah is far above everything else. He is

transcendent and above anything unworthy of Him. This goes back to verse 4 where Allah mentioned the istiwāʾ above the throne. Allah is transcendent and above all creation. Creation by definition is defective and flawed because being created implies a beginning in time, with no prior existence. Allah is transcendent and free of all defects and flaws. He is above the throne, distinct and separate from all creation. Everything besides Him is created.

Hamd comes from the root ḥāʾ mīm dāl which at its very root was used for healthy and

nutritious food that gives you energy, strength and contentment.¹²⁷ This root came to be used in the meanings of praise and gratitude because when someone helps or lends strength to another person, the natural reaction is praise and thank him.

Tasbīḥ is declaring Allah to be free of all faults and shortcomings and above all things. The core points of this surah so far have been refuting the disbelievers regarding resurrection and the fact that actions have binding consequences to them. In addition, it also answers their claim that the prophet ﷺ forged this Qurʾān by himself to cause corruption. As explained before, if there is no final reckoning after death where people are repaid for their actions, then there really is no justice. This would imply that Allah is unjust and He created a system which is inherently unjust, imperfect and flawed. So these believers, they do tasbīḥ of Allah - they declare and believe Allah to be free of injustice and declare Him to be perfectly just. How do they do that? By believing in the last day when people will face the consequences that come binding to their actions. Also, the disbelievers accused the prophet ﷺ of forging the Qurʾān to cause corruption. The believers declare tasbīḥ of Allah by declaring and believing Him free of this attribute. Since Allah is the rabb. it necessitates that He sends down a book that serves to guide and rectify people, not to cause corruption. Believers believe that Allah does not cause corruption, rather He only does good, and hence, by believing this and by believing the Qurʾān to be sent down by Allah, not forged by Muhammad ﷺ , they do Tasbīḥ of Allah.

With the hamd of their Rabb- They do tasbīḥ of Allah accompanied with His hamd. Tasbīḥ is the negation of everything unworthy of Allah while hamd is the affirmation

of everything worthy of Him. Together, they complete faith and belief in God. Allah is free from every defect and He possesses every single perfection and blessing. Without tasbīḥ, someone might praise Allah while imagining human-like flaws while without hamd, someone might deny flaws without recognizing His blessings.

They alone, do not seek greatness -Most translations render it as They are not arrogant. The word مستكبر means someone who desires or seeks greatness. Secondly, there is an extra pronoun here which is why I added the word “ alone” in the translation. It creates a meaning of exclusivity. Only these people do not seek greatness. Which means that others do seek it. These people, as opposed to the disbelievers mentioned before who entered Hell, do not seek greatness. Rather, they do tasbīḥ of Allah combined with His hamd. They recognize that Allah is not only free of all defects but also that all blessings and

goodness only comes from Him. They fall down in prostration - they humble and submit themselves before God when reminded of His signs and when the Qurʾān is recited on them. They obey Him, and become

humble before Him; the exact opposite of being arrogant and seeking greatness. The Qurʾān calls us to

obey Allah and submit to Him. Therefore, when someone denies the Qurʾān and disobeys this command, he is seeking greatness and displaying arrogance. He is rejecting the command to serve and be humble before God, which necessarily equates to seeking greatness.

This verse summarizes Islamic belief in God. To do tasbīḥ of Him combined with His

hamd. Without tasbīḥ, someone might praise Allah while imagining human-like flaws

while without Hamd, someone might deny flaws without recognizing His blessings. Obeying God necessarily implies becoming humble and lowly before Him and to deny any and all desire for greatness. When we say all Hamd belongs to Allah, it

means just that. It belongs to Him, not to us. When we do tasbīḥ of Allah it means that

He alone is free from all defects, we are not. Since we do not deserve hamd nor tasbīḥ, we do not deserve to be great, lofty and elevated. The believer in Allah believes in these facts and hence, he is neither arrogant, nor does he desire to be great. He recognizes his reality and submits humbly to Allah. Therefore, denying Allah and the Qurʾān, necessarily implies the opposite; that you deny these facts. Hence, disbelief in Islam is defined as seeking greatness and being arrogant. This is attested to in the famous Ḥadīth:

فَمَنْ يُنَازعُني في ، والكِبْرياءُ رِدَائِي ، العِزُّ إِ زاري : قَالَ اللَّ ه عزَّ وجلَّ : قَالَ رسولُ اللَّ هِ ﷺ : وعن أبي هريرة قَالَ واحدٍ منهُما فقَدْ عذَّ بتُه رواه مسلم

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah ( )ﷺ said: Allah (mighty and sublime be He) said: Pride is my cloak and greatness My robe, and he who competes with Me in respect of either of them I shall cast into Hell.

It was related by Abu Dāwūd (also by Ibn Majah and Ahmad) with sound chains of authority. This Ḥadīth also appears in Muslim in another version.

¹²⁶ Al-Muʿjam al-Ishtiqāqī al-Muʾaṣṣal li-Alfāẓ al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, vol. 2, p. 947
¹²⁷ Al-Muʿjam al-Ishtiqāqī al-Muʾaṣṣal li-Alfāẓ al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, vol. 1, p. 492