17:109 Al-Israa (The Night Journey)

{ وَيَخِرُّونَ لِلْأَذْقَانِ } أي: على وجوههم { يَبْكُونَ وَيَزِيدُهُمْ } القرآن { خُشُوعًا } وهؤلاء كالذين من الله عليهم من مؤمني أهل الكتاب كعبد الله ابن سلام وغيره، ممن أمن في وقت النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم وبعد ذلك.

وقوله "ويخرون للأذقان يبكون" أي خضوعا لله عز وجل وإيمانا وتصديقا بكتابه ورسوله "ويزيدهم خشوعا" أي إيمانا وتسليما كما قال "والذين اهتدوا زادهم هدى وآتاهم تقواهم" وقوله "ويخرون" عطف صفة على صفة لا عطف السجود على السجود كما قال الشاعر: إلى الملك القرم وابن الهمام وليث الكتيبة في المزدحم.

Those Who were given Knowledge before truly admit the Qur'an

Allah says to His Prophet Muhammad ﷺ:

قُلْ

(Say) O Muhammad to these disbelievers concerning what you have brought to them of this Glorious Qur'an:

ءَامِنُواْ بِهِ أَوْ لاَ تُؤْمِنُواْ

("Believe in it (the Qur'an) or do not believe (in it).) meaning, it is all the same whether you believe in it or not, for it is true in and of itself. It was revealed by Allah, Who mentioned it previously in the Books that He revealed to other Messengers. Hence He says:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْعِلْمَ مِن قَبْلِهِ

(Verily, those who were given knowledge before it,) meaning righteous people among the People of the Book, who adhered to their Books and appreciated them without distorting them.

إِذَا يُتْلَى عَلَيْهِمْ

(when it is recited to them,) means, when this Qur'an is recited to them,

يَخِرُّونَ لِلاٌّذْقَانِ سُجَّدًا

(fall down on their chins (faces) in humble prostration. ) means, to Allah, in gratitude for the blessing He has bestowed on them by considering them fit to live until they met this Messenger to whom this Book was revealed. Hence they say:

سُبْحَانَ رَبِّنَآ

(Glory be to our Lord!), meaning, they extol and glorify their Lord for His perfect power and for not delaying the fulfillment of the promise which He made through His earlier Prophets, that He would send Muhammad ﷺ. Hence they said:

سُبْحَانَ رَبِّنَآ إِن كَانَ وَعْدُ رَبِّنَا لَمَفْعُولاً

(Glory be to our Lord! Truly, the promise of our Lord must be fulfilled.)

وَيَخِرُّونَ لِلاٌّذْقَانِ يَبْكُونَ

(And they fall down on their chins (faces) weeping) means, in submission to Allah, may He be glorified, and in expression of their belief and faith in His Book and His Messenger .

وَيَزِيدُهُمْ خُشُوعًا

(and it increases their humility.) means, it increases them in faith and submission. As Allah says:

وَالَّذِينَ اهْتَدَوْاْ زَادَهُمْ هُدًى وَءَاتَـهُمْ تَقُوَاهُمْ

(While as for those who accept guidance, He increases their guidance and bestows on them their Taqwa. ) (47:17).

وَيَخِرُّونَ

(And they fall down) is a description rather than an action (i.e., this is a further description of their humility as referred to in Ayah 107; it does not imply that they prostrate twice).

And they fall down on their faces weeping yabkūna is a supplement to yakhirrūna ‘they fall down’ also containing an adjectival qualification of those falling down; and it the Qur’ān increases them in humility’ in humbleness before God.

About the last sentence: يَبْكُونَ وَيَزِيدُهُمْ خُشُوعًا (And they fall down on their faces weeping and it increases them in the humbleness of heart -109), it appears in Tafsir Mazhari that being in tears while reciting the Qur’ an stands as a highly recommended and reward worthy act (mustahabb). Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ narrates that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, 'a person who wept in fear of Allah shall not go to Hell until milk is returned to the udder after having been milked. (It means, as it is not possible to put milk once milked back into the udder, very similarly, it is also not possible that a person who weeps in fear of Allah were to go to Hell). And says another report, 'Allah Ta’ ala has forbidden the fire of Hell on two eyes - the eye that weeps in fear of Allah, and the eye that stays awake at nights guarding the Islamic frontiers. (Baihaqi, and Hakim) And Sayyidna Nadr ibn Sa'd ؓ reports that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, 'a people, among whom there is someone who weeps in fear of Allah, will be delivered from the fire of Hell because of him.' (Ruh al- Ma’ ani from Tirmidhi)

The reason for the big trouble Muslims are in today is no other but that there are very few left among them who would weep fearing Allah. After reporting the Ahadith showing the merits of weeping in fear of Allah at this point, the author of Ruh al-Ma’ ani says: وینبغی ان یکون ذٰلَک حال العلماء (And that is the state the ` Ulama' should be in) - because, Ibn Jarir, Ibn al-Mundhir and others have quoted the following saying of ` Abd al-Ala Taimi:

'A person who has received the kind of knowledge that does not make him cry [ because of having realized the reality of things ] should be enough to make you understand that he has not been given the knowledge that brings benefits.'

They fall down on their faces weeping. Weeping is the state of the beginners and the attribute of the travelers-everyone according to his own state and every traveler in the measure of his own deeds. The repenter looks upon his own sin and weeps in fear of punishment. The obedient person looks upon his own lax obedience and weeps in fear of shortcoming. The worshiper weeps in fear of the outcome: “What will be done with me tomorrow?” The recognizer looks at the beginningless precedent and weeps: “What was done to me and decreed for me in the Beginningless?” All this happens to travelers on the path and is a mark of the weakness of their state. As for those who have been snatched away from themselves, the folk of stability, for them weeping is an imperfection and defect in their road. Thus it is related that Junayd was sitting with his wife and Shiblī entered. The wife wanted to cover herself, but Junayd said to her, “Shiblī is not aware of you, so sit.” Junayd kept speaking to her, and then Shiblī wept. When Shiblī began to weep, Junayd said to his wife, “Cover yourself, for Shiblī has come back from absence to awareness.”