The root meaning of the word Safarah is to uncover or reveal something.43 They originally used it for a woman who uncovered her face, and for winds that scattered the clouds, revealing the blue sky above, as well as for writing, because writing reveals what is held inside. Safar from the same root means to travel because in those times, when someone had to walk large distances on foot or on camels under the scorching sun of the desert, such a tough task would reveal the real character of the traveler, whether he was strong enough to sustain it or not.
Safarah is generic and can mean a number of things and much has been said about it. It can refer to angels that travel with revelation from Allah down to the prophets. It can also refer to the angels that write down the word of God that they hear into the preserved tablet in heaven. I prefer the first position that it refers to angels that travel and bring down the revelation from God to the prophets on earth because as we will see, this ties in perfectly with the context of the surah.
In hands of Safarah
The root meaning of the word Safarah is to uncover or reveal something.43 They originally used it for a woman who uncovered her face, and for winds that scattered the clouds, revealing the blue sky above, as well as for writing, because writing reveals what is held inside. Safar from the same root means to travel because in those times, when someone had to walk large distances on foot or on camels under the scorching sun of the desert, such a tough task would reveal the real character of the traveler, whether he was strong enough to sustain it or not.
Safarah is generic and can mean a number of things and much has been said about it. It can refer to angels that travel with revelation from Allah down to the prophets. It can also refer to the angels that write down the word of God that they hear into the preserved tablet in heaven. I prefer the first position that it refers to angels that travel and bring down the revelation from God to the prophets on earth because as we will see, this ties in perfectly with the context of the surah.
43 Al-Muʿjam al-Ishtiqāqī al-Muʾaṣṣal li-Alfāẓ al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, vol. 2, p. 1023