al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:221-223

Hal unabbiʾukum ʿalā man tanazzalu'sh-shayāṭīn · Tanazzalu ʿalā kulli affākin athīm · Yulqūna's-samʿa wa aktharuhum kādhibūn

"Shall I tell you upon whom the satans come down? · They come down upon every sinful fabricator. · They lend an ear; and most of them are liars."

هَلْ أُنَبِّئُكُمْ — "shall I tell you?" The mould is used in the Qurʾān to draw attention (hal unabbiʾukum bi-sharrin min dhālika — al-Māʾida 5/60; hal adullukum ʿalā tijāratin — al-Ṣaff 61/10, treated in al-Ṣaff).

And a point of word order must be recorded: the sūra takes up the claim a second time, and this time it changes direction.

The sūra, that is, first refutes and then gives the right address.

I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the structure of the two sections: there are two ways of refuting a claim — to say "it is not so" and to say "the truth is thus". The sūra does both, setting a ten-verse section of commands between them.

أَفَّاك — root أ-ف-ك, the faʿʿāl pattern: an intensive — one who does it continually and much.

The root was analysed at al-Jāthiya 45/7 and I rely on that treatment. The description there: أ-ف-ك — to turn a thing from its direction, to overturn it. And as was recorded there, the root was treated at al-Aḥqāf 46/11 and 46/28 as well (ifkun qadīm, ifkuhum).

And al-Jāthiya 45/7 and al-Shuʿarāʾ 26/222 use the same construction:

The two constructions are exactly the same, and the word kulli is common to both. This is a datum that can be verified from the text.

And the continuation of the note in al-Jāthiya attaches here: there what the affāk does next was recounted (yasmaʿu āyāti'llāhi tutlā ʿalayhi thumma yuṣirru mustakbiran ka-an lam yasmaʿhā). In al-Shuʿarāʾ, what he receives is recounted.

أَثِيم — root أ-ث-م: the core the lexicographers give is to weigh down, to hold back — ithm is the act that keeps a person from good and leaves him behind. The faʿīl pattern: an assimilate adjective — settled, become a trait.

And the coming together of the two attributes must be recorded:

The description, that is, has two wings: what he says and what he does. And this is precisely the measure of the two hundred and twenty-sixth verse: wa annahum yaqūlūna mā lā yafʿalūn — the fit between what one says and what one does.

I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the fields of the two attributes.

And the disputed point in the verse is this: to whom do the pronouns of yulqūna and aktharuhum refer?

Both readings are transmitted; I do not impose a preference.

And the tension with the two hundred and twelfth verse must be recorded: there it was said innahum ʿani's-samʿi la-maʿzūlūn ("they are kept far from the hearing"). Here it says yulqūna's-samʿa ("they lend an ear").

The transmitted explanation: lending an ear (ilqāʾ al-samʿ) is an effort; being kept away is the outcome. That is, "they try to listen but cannot reach". This explanation reconciles the two verses and accords with the mould of the two hundred and twelfth verse — there the passive was used.

ألقى السمع — an idiom in Arabic: to give one's ear, to be all attention. The Qurʾān uses the same idiom once more: aw alqa's-samʿa wa huwa shahīd (Qāf 50/37 — treated in Qāf). The same idiom, in two different contexts.

And the verb alqā must be recorded: the root ل-ق-ي occurred six times in the sūra in the scene of the sorcerers (43-46; tabulated in the section on 26/43-49). The sūra, that is, uses the verb "to cast/to throw" in the scene of sorcery and in the discussion of the satans. This is a repetition that can be verified from the text.

وَأَكْثَرُهُمْ كَٰذِبُون — "and most of them are liars."

And the word akthar (most) must be recorded: it is the same word as in the eight seals of the sūra — wa mā kāna aktharuhum muʾminīn.

The same word, the same construction. This is an overlap that can be verified from the text. And in neither is "all of them" said.