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سُورَةُ الأَنبِيَاءِ · 21:69
MeccanRevelation order ٧٣Juzʾ ١٧Page ٣٢٧

قُلْنَا يَٰنَارُ كُونِى بَرْدًۭا وَسَلَٰمًا عَلَىٰٓ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ

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Saheeh International · EN

Allah said, "O fire, be coolness and safety upon Abraham."

Bio

Introduction

This is āyah 69 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)
Occasion of revelation · Al-Wahidi

We said, “O fire, be coolness and safety!” For the companions of recognitions and the lords of realities, there is another intimation in this verse. They have said that this was a call to a fire that was made ready in the fireplace of Abra- ham's spirit. When Nimrod placed him in the mangonel, Abraham placed his own secret core in the mangonel of contemplation. As soon as he came near the fire of Nimrod, the burn of witnessing the Real made him want to sigh so as to extinguish Nimrod's fire. The call came, “O fire,” that is, “O fire of witnessing, be coolness. Be cold toward Nimrod's fire and do not exercise your ruling authority over it, for We have decreed that We will bring forth from the midst of the fire a scented garden full of flowers and blossoms to honor Our bosom friend and make manifest a miracle for him. If you extinguish it, it will not become a garden and the miracle will not appear. Be cold toward Nimrod's fire so that the garden may appear, and be safety for Abraham so that the miracle may appear.” Listen to another subtle point, more wonderful than that: Your soul is like Nimrod, the soul's caprice is fire, and your burnt heart is Abraham. The soul has lit up the fire of caprice, placed the heart in the mangonel of disobedient acts with the chains of deception and the fetters of appetite, and thrown it into the fire of caprice. Before it takes one step, intellect comes like someone dis- tracted, a servant-boy to the heart, and says, “Have you any need?” The heart responds, “'Of you, no.' O intellect, do you remember when it was said to you, 'Come!', and you came? It was said, 'Go!,' and you went? It was said, 'Who are you?', and you were at a loss? On that day you did not know your own road. How do you know what is right for me today?” When the heart enters the fire of caprice, the command arrives, “O fire, be coolness! O fire of caprice, be cold for the heart, for it is already burned by love for Me.” For in the lover's heart is the fire of love. The burnt one will not be burned again.

Commentary

Tafsir

4 works

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

They said: "Burn him and help your gods, if you will be doing. (68)We said: "O fire! Be you cool and safety for Ibrahim! (69)And they wanted to harm him, but We made them the worst losers (70) How Ibrahim was thrown into the Fire and how Allah controlled it When their arguments were refuted and their incapability became clear, when truth was made manifest and falsehood was defeated, they resorted to using their power and strength, and said: حَرِّقُوهُ وَانصُرُوا آلِهَتَكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ فَاعِلِينَ ("Burn him and help your gods, if you will be doing.") So they gathered together a huge amount of wood. As-Suddi said, "I if a woman was sick, she would make a vow that if she recovered she would bring wood to burn Ibrahim. Then they made a hole in the ground and set it aflame, and it burned with huge sparks and immense flames. There had never been a fire like it. They put Ibrahim, peace be…
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.

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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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