Surah Al-Kahf 18:50
سُورَةُ الكَهۡفِ · Meccan · Verse 50 of 110
وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ ٱسْجُدُوا۟ لِءَادَمَ فَسَجَدُوٓا۟ إِلَّآ إِبْلِيسَ كَانَ مِنَ ٱلْجِنِّ فَفَسَقَ عَنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِۦٓ ۗ أَفَتَتَّخِذُونَهُۥ وَذُرِّيَّتَهُۥٓ أَوْلِيَآءَ مِن دُونِى وَهُمْ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّۢ ۚ بِئْسَ لِلظَّٰلِمِينَ بَدَلًۭا
Translation
We said to the angels, ‘Bow down before Adam,’ and they all bowed down, but not Iblis: he was one of the jinn and he disobeyed his Lord’s command. Are you [people] going to take him and his offspring as your masters instead of Me, even though they are your enemies? What a bad bargain for the evildoers!
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'And when We said to the angels, Prostrate to Adam, they prostrated, except Iblis. He was of the jinn, and he defied his Lord's command. Will you then take him and his offspring as protectors besides Me, when they are your enemy? Wretched is the exchange for the wrongdoers.' al-Saadi and Ibn Kathir note the astonishing bargain exposed, trusting one's declared enemy over one's Maker. Ask yourself: the verse names the strangest thing a person can do, take the one who openly seeks his ruin as a guide and ally, while turning from the One who made and sustains him. Yet I do a version of this whenever I follow the whisper toward what I know is wrong, I am taking the enemy as 'protector'. It is a 'wretched exchange': trading the friendship of the Creator for the counsel of the destroyer. Whose suggestions am I actually following through my day, and have I forgotten that the source of some of them is a sworn enemy, not a friend?
Grounded in classical tafsir: al-Saadi, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Ashur.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Kahf 18:50 is discussed in 12 study guides on Maani. Each guide gathers the key verses, Arabic words and lessons of one Quranic topic.
Reflect on this verse
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