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سُورَةُ الأَنبِيَاءِ · 21:27
MeccanRevelation order ٧٣Juzʾ ١٧Page ٣٢٤

لَا يَسْبِقُونَهُۥ بِٱلْقَوْلِ وَهُم بِأَمْرِهِۦ يَعْمَلُونَ

٢٧
Saheeh International · EN

They cannot precede Him in word, and they act by His command.

IntroductionRevelationTafsirTransmissionDebate
Bio

Introduction

This is āyah 27 of Sūrat Al-Anbiyaa (The Prophets), the 73rd sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 17. Meccan verses tend to address faith, the oneness of God, and the hereafter.

This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.

Bio

Revelation & occasion

Asbāb al-Nuzūl
Period
Meccan
Order revealed
73 of 114
Surah
Al-Anbiyaa (21)

No specific occasion of revelation (Asbāb al-Nuzūl) is recorded for this āyah in al-Wāḥidī's collection. Many verses were revealed without a single triggering event.

Commentary

Tafsir

4 works

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

And they say: "The Most Gracious has begotten children." Glory to Him! They are but honored servants (26)They speak not until He has spoken, and they act on His command (27)He knows what is before them, and what is behind them, and they cannot intercede except for him with whom He is pleased. And they stand in awe for fear of Him (28)And if any of them should say: "Verily, I am a god besides Him," such We should recompense with Hell. Thus We recompense the wrongdoers (29) The Refutation of Those Who claim that the Angels are the Daughters of Allah;discription of their Deeds and Status Here Allah refutes those who claim that He has offspring among the angels – exalted and sanctified be He. Some of the Arabs believed that the angels were the daughters of Allah, but Allah says: سُبْحَانَهُ ۚ بَلْ عِبَادٌ مُّكْرَمُونَ (Glory to Him! They are but honored servants.) meaning, the angels are…
Provenance

Chains of transmission

Oral — isnād

  1. ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation

    Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.

  2. 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation

    Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.

  3. TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation

    Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.

Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.

Written — the manuscript record

  1. ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation

    The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).

  2. 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation

    Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.

  3. Modern printModern printawaiting curation

    The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.

A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.

The wall

And now — what do you think?

The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.

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Provenance

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