'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī
تفسير : the jews left the guidance of all the prophets (and they followed that which the devils falsely related) they acted upon what the devils had written (against the kingdom of solomon) about the collapse of solomon's kingdom, and 40 days of sorcery and white magic. (solomon disbelieved not) did not write this sorcery and white magic; (but the devils disbelieved) did write it, (teaching mankind) the devils taught people, as it is said that the jews taught people (magic and that which was revealed to the two angels) but the angels were not taught sorcery and white magic; and it is said that this means: they also taught what the angels were inspired with (in babel, harut and marut. nor did they teach it to anyone) nor did the angels describe anything to anyone (till they had said) at the outset: (we are only a temptation) we have been tried with calling people to this in order that we reduce the intensity of the torment inflicted on ourselves, (therefore disbelieve not) do not learn or act upon it. (and from these two (angels) people learn) without being taught by them (that by which they cause division between man and wife) that by which a man finds excuse to leave his wife; (but they injure thereby) with sorcery and causing rift (no one save by allah's leave) except through allah's will and with his knowledge. (and they learn) the devils, the jews and sorcerers learn from each other (that which harms them) in the hereafter (and profits them not) in this world or the next. (and surely they do know) this refers to the angels, and it is said that it refers to the jews in their book, as it is said that his refers to the devils (that he who trafficketh therein) chooses sorcery and white magic (will have no (happy) portion in the hereafter) in paradise; (and surely evil is the price for which they sold their souls) by choosing sorcery for themselves, and the reference here is to the jews, (if they but knew) but they do not know; and it is said that this means: and they did know this from their own book.
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
تفسير : and they follow (wa’ttaba‘ū is a supplement to nabadha, ‘[it] cast away’) what the devils used to relate, during the time of, solomon’s kingdom, in the way of sorcery: it is said that they [the devils] buried these [books of sorcery] underneath his throne when his kingdom was taken from him; it is also said that they used to listen stealthily and add fabrications to what they heard, and then pass it on to the priests, who would compile it in books; this would be disseminated and rumours spread that the jinn had knowledge of the unseen. solomon gathered these books and buried them. when he died, the devils showed people where these books were, and the latter brought them out and found that they contained sorcery, and said, ‘your kingdom was only thanks to what is in here’; they then took to learning them and rejected the scriptures of their prophets. in order to demonstrate solomon’s innocence and in repudiation of the jews when they said, ‘look at this muhammad, he mentions solomon as one of the prophets, when he was only a sorcerer’, god, exalted, says: solomon disbelieved not, that is, he did not work magic because he disbelieved, but the devils disbelieved, teaching the people sorcery (this sentence is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the person governing the verb kafarū); and, teaching them, that which was revealed to the two angels, that is, the sorcery that they were inspired to [perform] (al-malakayn, ‘the two angels’: a variant reading has al-malikayn, ‘the two kings’) who were, in babylon — a town in lower iraq — hārūt and mārūt (here the names are standing in for ‘the two angels’, or an explication of the latter). ibn ‘abbās said, ‘they were two sorcerers who used to teach [people] magic’; it is also said that they were two angels that had been sent to teach [sorcery] to people as a trial from god. they taught not any man, without them saying, by way of counsel, ‘we are but a temptation, a trial from god for people, so that he may test them when they are taught it: whoever learns it is a disbeliever, but whoever renounces it, he is a believer; do not disbelieve’, by learning it; if this person refused and insisted on learning it, they would teach him. from them they learned how they might cause division between a man and his wife, so that they would hate each other, yet they, the sorcerers, did not hurt any man thereby, that is, by this magic, save by the leave of god, by his will; and they learned what hurt them, in the hereafter, and did not profit them, and this was sorcery. and surely (the lām [of la-qad, ‘surely’] is for oaths) they, the jews, knew well that whoever (la-man: the lām denotes [part of] the subject of the sentence and is semantically connected to what precedes it; the man introduces the relative clause) buys it, [whoever] chooses it and took it in place of god’s book, he shall have no share in the hereafter, that is, no portion of paradise; evil then would have been, the thing, that they sold themselves for, those sellers, that is to say, the portion due for this [act] in the hereafter, if they were to learn it; for it would have made the fire obligatory in their case; if they had but known, the reality of the chastisement they would be destined for, they would not have learnt it.
Ali ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi
تفسير : (and follow that which the devils falsely related against the kingdom of solomon…) [2:102].
muhammad ibn 'abd al-'aziz al-qantari informed us> abu'l-fadl al-haddadi> abu yazid al-khalidi> ishaq ibn ibrahim> jarir> husayn ibn 'abd al-rahman> 'imran ibn al-harith who said: “once as we were sitting with ibn 'abbas when he said: 'the devils used to eavesdrop on heaven. one of them would bring a word of truth from therein, and when he is trusted for telling the truth, he would add to it seventy lies with which he earns the hearts of people. when solomon came to know about it, he took it and buried it beneath his throne. when he died, a devil stood in the street and said: 'shall i guide you to solomon's guarded treasure, the like of which he does not have?' they said: 'yes, do'. he said: 'it is under his throne; go and unearth it'. they said: 'this is magic'. different nations then copied it from them. and thus allah, exalted is he, revealed solomon's excuse (and follow that which the devils falsely related against the kingdom of solomon. solomon disbelieved not.)' ”.
said al-kalbi: “the devils wrote down magic and talismans (niranjiyyat) and attributed them to asaf ibn barakhiya. they wrote: 'this is what asaf ibn barakhiya has taught the king solomon' and they buried it in the place where solomon worshipped without him realizing it. this happened when solomon was stripped of his kingdom. when solomon died, they unearthed it from under his place of worship and said to people: 'solomon left this in your possession so that you learn it'. as for the scholars of the children of israel, they said: 'allah forbid that this be the knowledge of solomon'. the lowly among people said: 'this is solomon's knowledge', and therefore sought its knowledge and rejected the scriptures of their prophets. solomon was later blamed for this and this remained the case until allah sent muhammad, allah bless him and give him peace. allah revealed solomon's excuse was revealed in his own words. he showed his innocence from what he was blamed for (and follow that which the devils falsely related against the kingdom of solomon…)”.
sa'id ibn al-'abbas al-qurashi informed us in his epistle that al-fadl ibn zakariyya informed them> ahmad ibn najdah> sa'id ibn mansur> 'itab ibn bashir> khusayf who said: “solomon used to ask any newly grown tree: 'which disease can you cure?' the tree would say: 'this and that!' when the carob tree (al-khurnubah) grew, he asked it: 'what are you for?' it replied: 'i am for the purpose of destroying your sanctuary!' he said: 'would you really destroy it?' 'yes', came the reply. 'what an evil tree you are', said solomon. shortly after this he died. people began to say regarding their own sick ones: 'if only we had someone like solomon'. the devils then wrote a book and buried it under the place where solomon used to worship. after which they said [to the people]: 'we will direct to that with which solomon used to treat others'. they then proceeded and unearthed that book which contained magic and spells. allah, exalted is he, therefore revealed (and follow that which the devils falsely related against the kingdom of solomon) up to his saying (therefore disbelieve not) [2:102]”.
said al-suddi: “people in solomon's time wrote magic from each other and devoted themselves to learning it. solomon took all that which was written of magic, put it in a chest and buried it under his throne after he warned them against it. when solomon died and all those who knew the incident of burying these writings then passed away after him, a devil appeared in the shape of a human and went to a group among the children of israel. he said to them: 'shall i direct you to an inexhaustible treasure?' when they answered in the affirmative, he said: 'dig under the throne [of solomon]'. when they did, they found those writings. upon unearthing them, the devil said: 'it is by means of these that solomon controlled the jinn, humans, devils and birds'. the children of israel used those writings from then on, and it is for this reason that one finds magic more widespread among the jews. allah, gloried and exalted is he, absolved solomon of this deed and revealed this verse”.
Sahl al-Tustari
تفسير : …but they could not thus harm anyone except by god’s permission…that is, save that it be in god’s prior knowledge, which precedes the occurrence of the act of the one doing it.concerning his words, exalted is he:
…fear god as he should be feared…[sahl said]:that is, by the worship he has prescribed for you, and not by that which god merits in his essence (fī dhātihi).
