سورة الشعراء

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): وَتَقَلُّبَکَ فِی السَّاجِدِینَ [and your movement among those who prostrate] refers to the lineage of the prophets.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Abu al-Jarud said: I asked Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) about the words of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: وَ تَقَلُّبَکَ فِی السَّاجِدِینَ [and your movement among those who prostrate]. He said: "It means the transferring of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) through the loins of the prophets; in this way that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) was transferred from one prophet to another, until Allah brought him into the world from the loin of his father, and from the time of Adam (peace be upon him) not one [of these] was the result of an unlawful union."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): The passing of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) is through the loins of monotheistic people; for he was transferred from the loins of one prophet to another until Allah brought him into the world as a prophet.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): The Noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) is the first to have worshipped Allah and the first to have denied that Allah has a son or a partner; we come after the Noble Prophet. Then He placed our light in the loins of Adam (peace be upon him); this light kept passing from one loin and womb to another loin and womb, and from whichever loin it passed, it was made fully clear that this light had passed on from him, and in whichever loin it settled, the marks of the light's nobility became apparent in him, until finally it reached the loins of Abd al-Muttalib and passed into the womb of Fatima, the mother of Abdullah. At that point it divided into two parts: one part settled in Abdullah and the other in Abu Talib. This is the interpretation of the Quranic verse: وَ تَقَلُّبَکَ فِی السَّاجِدِینَ [and your movement among those who prostrate], which refers to the loins of the prophets and the wombs of their women. In this way Allah brought us into being in the loins and wombs of our fathers and mothers from that time.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): Jabir (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) was asked: "Where were you when Adam (peace be upon him) and Hawwa (peace be upon her) were in Paradise?" He said: "I was in the loin of Adam (peace be upon him), and when he descended to the earth I was also in his loin, and I entered the ship together with my father Nuh (peace be upon him) and I was in his loin, and later I was in the loin of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and was cast with him into the fire, and I never had a father and mother whose unlawful relationship brought me into the world, and Allah the Mighty and Majestic continually transferred me to pure loins and purified wombs, and I was a guide and a way-opener, until Allah took a covenant and pledge from me concerning prophethood and Islam, and set out all my attributes in the Torah and the Injil, and raised me up to His heaven, and derived for me a name from among His names, and it came to be that the ummah became Hamid (praisers) and Allah the Lord of the Throne became Mahmud (the Praised) and I too became Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) (the praised one)."

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): Abu Dharr (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) say: "I and Ali (peace be upon him) were created from a single light, and two thousand years before the creation of Adam we were glorifying Allah the Blessed and Exalted before the Throne. When Allah created Adam (peace be upon him), He placed that light in the loin of Adam (peace be upon him). He was in Paradise and we were in his loin, and when he committed the mistake we were in his loin. And Nuh (peace be upon him) boarded the ship and we were in his loin. And Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was cast into the fire and we were in his loin, and Allah the Mighty and Majestic continually transferred us from pure loins to purified wombs, until we reached the loin of Abd al-Muttalib, and then we were divided into two parts: Allah placed me in the loin of Abdullah, and Ali (peace be upon him) in the loin of Abu Talib (peace be upon him), and He placed prophethood and blessing in me, and eloquence and valour in Ali (peace be upon him), and He chose two names from His own names for us. Allah is the Lord of the Throne, Mahmud (the Praised), and I am Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), and Allah is al-A'la (the Most High), and this is Ali (peace be upon him)."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) narrates from his forefathers: Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: 'One day I was sitting in a spacious courtyard and people were gathered around me. One of them came up to me and said: "O Amir al-Mu'minin! You are in the station Allah has placed you in, while your father is being tormented in the Fire." He said: "Be silent, may Allah shut your mouth! By the One who chose Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) with truth, if my father were to intercede for every sinner on the face of the earth, Allah would accept his intercession for them. My father, burning in the Fire, while I myself am the divider of the Fire?!" Then he said: "By the One who raised Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) with truth, the light of Abu Talib on the Day of Resurrection will extinguish the lights of all creation except five lights: the light of Muhammad, my light, the light of Fatima, the light of Hasan and Husayn, and the other Imams (peace be upon them) who come after them, because his light is from our light, which Allah created two thousand years before the creation of Adam."'

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Indeed, Allah, Blessed and Exalted, created the light of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) from a light that He created from the light of His own Majesty and Glory - that same divine [lahuti] light which manifested to Musa ibn Imran (peace be upon him) on Mount Sinai, and he could not bear it, could not gaze upon it, and could not endure it, until he fell to the ground unconscious and overcome. This was that same light of Muhammad. And when Allah willed to create Muhammad from it, He divided that light into two halves: from the first half He made Muhammad, and from the other half He created Ali ibn Abi Talib, and from that light He created no one else. He created the two of them with His own hand, and breathed into them of His own spirit, from Himself for Himself, and shaped them in their form, and made them His trustees and witnesses over His creation and successors over His creatures, an eye of His over them and a tongue of His towards them. He entrusted His knowledge to them, taught them eloquence, and informed them of His unseen. He made one of them His self and the other His spirit, such that neither could act without the other. Outwardly the two of them were human, and inwardly divine [lahuti], appearing to creation in human forms so that people could bear to look upon them - and this is also the meaning of this verse of the Quran: 'and We would confuse for them what they themselves confuse [as they confuse matters for others]' (An'am/9). And He kept confusing the matter for them likewise, and these two are the sign of Allah's majesty and the veil of the Creator of all creatures; through the two of them Allah opened the beginning of creation, and through the two of them He will bring His kingdom and decree to their end. Then from the light of Muhammad He drew forth his daughter Fatima, just as He chose the light of Ali from His own light. Then from the light of these two He drew Hasan and Husayn, just as the light of one lamp is taken from another. They were created from light, and they pass from back to back and womb to womb at the highest degree [of purity], free from any impurity, and this kind of transmission is not, like other human beings, from base fluid and impure sperm; rather they are lights that pass from the loins of the pure to the wombs of the purified women, because they are the chosen of the chosen, and Allah created them for Himself and made them the treasurers of His knowledge and His messengers to His servants, and stationed them in His own place, because He Himself is not seen and not perceived, and His nature and His essence cannot be comprehended. So these are the speakers and messengers on His behalf, who exercise authority in His command and prohibition; through them Allah manifests His power, and through them His signs and miracles are displayed, and through them and by way of them His servants come to know Him. Through them His command is obeyed, and were it not for them, Allah would not be known, and people would not know how to worship the Merciful. So Allah carries out His command however He wills in whatever He wills: 'He cannot be questioned about what He does, but they will be questioned!' (Anbiya/23).

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): وَ تَقَلُّبَکَ فِی السَّاجِدِینَ [and your movement among those who prostrate] - what is meant by 'those who prostrate' here is Ali, Fatima, Hasan, Husayn and the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them).

Ibn Abbas: وَ تَقَلُّبَکَ فِی السَّاجِدِینَ [and your movement among those who prostrate] - meaning He sees you bowing, prostrating, standing and sitting among those who pray.

Ibn Abbas: What is meant by it is that Allah [observes] your movement among those who prostrate when you pray alone; that is, when you perform the prayer in congregation, He sees you.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): It is narrated from Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): 'Do not rise [from bowing] before me, and likewise do not go [into prostration] before me, for I see you from behind just as I see you when you are in front of me.' Then he recited this verse.