In the name of God, the Lord of Grace, the Ever Merciful Now ask the unbelievers if it be true that your Lord has daughters, while they would have sons? Or is it that We have created the angels female in their presence? Out of their falsehood they say: “God has begotten children.” They are lying indeed. Would He then choose daughters in preference to sons? What is the matter with you? How do you make your judgment? Do you not reflect? Or do you, perhaps, have a clear authority? Bring your scriptures, if you are speaking the truth! They claim that He has kinship with the jinn; yet the jinn themselves know that they will be brought (before God) for judgment. Limitless is God in His glory, above all what people attribute to Him. Not so God’s true servants. Neither you nor what you worship can lure away from God any except one who is destined for hell. Every single one of us has his appointed place: we are ranged in ranks, and we too extol His limitless glory. They have long been saying: “If only we had before us a tradition from those of old, we would certainly be true servants of God.” Yet they reject it. In time, they will come to know. (Ranged in Rank, Al-Saffat: 37: 149-170)
The surah uses every means to refute the unbelievers’ claims; it shows their false superstition for what it is, draws its argument on the basis of their own logic and how it works in their own environment.
They used to prefer boys to girls, considering the birth of a girl something of a tragedy. Yet they allege at the same time that the angels were female and that they were God’s daughters. Therefore, the surah takes up the argument, using their own standards to show how stupid their claims were: “Now ask the unbelievers if it be true that your Lord has daughters, while they would have sons?” If women are of a lesser rank, how could they assign daughters to their Lord and keep sons for themselves? Or was it that He chose for Himself daughters and gave them sons? Neither possibility stands to reason. The Prophet (peace be upon him) is instructed to question them about this worthless claim. He is also to ask them about the source of the superstition and how it came about. In other words, where did they get the idea that the angels were females? Did they witness their creation in order to know their sex? “Or is it that We have created the angels female in their presence?” The surah gives the exact wording of their fabricated lies about God: “Out of their falsehood they say: ‘God has begotten children.’ They are lying indeed.” They are liars even according to their own tradition, which prefers sons to daughters. How could it be, then, that God would choose daughters for Himself? “Would He then choose daughters in preference to sons?” It wonders at their judgment, which ignores their own logic: “What is the matter with you? How do you make your judgment? Do you not reflect?” Where do you get the evidence on which you base your judgment? “Or do you, perhaps, have a clear authority? Bring your scriptures, if you are speaking the truth!” The surah moves on to refute the other superstition, which alleged that some relationship existed between God and the jinn: “They claim that He has kinship with the jinn; yet the jinn themselves know that they will be brought (before God) for judgment.” The allegation being that the angels were God’s daughters born to Him by the jinn! The unbelievers claimed that this is how the relation started. The jinn, however, know for certain that they are created by God, like all other creation, and they also know that they will be brought before Him for judgment.
God places Himself far above this worthless fabrication: “Limitless is God in His glory, above all what people attribute to Him.” (Verse 159) He also makes clear that the believers among the jinn would not be driven to suffer their punishment. “Not so God’s true servants.” The surah then quotes an address made to the idolaters, their alleged deities and their deviant beliefs.
Apparently, the address is made by the angels: “Neither you nor what you worship can lure away from God any except one who is destined for hell. Every single one of us has his appointed place: we are ranged in ranks, and we too extol His limitless glory.” What this address means is that neither the unbelievers, nor the deities they worship could turn anyone away from God’s path except one who is considered to belong to the people of hell and destined for it. They cannot lead astray a believer who is God’s obedient servant. Hell has its own people who are of a known type. These respond to temptations and listen to those who try to lead them astray.
The angels also refute this superstition, making it clear that each one of them has his own position which he does not exceed. They are a type of God’s creation who worship Him alone. They are assigned certain tasks and they fulfill them, ranging themselves in rows for prayer and extolling God’s glory.
The surah then speaks about the idolaters who circulate such superstitions, mentioning the promises they made when they envied the people of earlier revelations for receiving such messages. They used to say that had they had some sort of traditional beliefs inherited from Abraham or later prophets, they would have had a degree of faith that would have enhanced their position with God: “They have long been saying: If only we had before us a tradition from those of old, we would certainly be true servants of God.” Yet when they received the best revelations ever bestowed from on high, they turned away and forgot their promises: “Yet they reject it. In time, they will come to know.” The verse carries an implicit threat, which is suitable for those who persist in disbelief, going back on expressed wishes and promises: “They will come to know.”
