Surah Ar-Rahman 55:15
سُورَةُ الرَّحۡمَٰن · Medinan · Verse 15 of 78
وَخَلَقَ ٱلْجَآنَّ مِن مَّارِجٍۢ مِّن نَّارٍۢ
Translation
the jinn out of smokeless fire.
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'And He created the jinn from a smokeless flame of fire.' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the two addressees of the refrain are now named by their very substances, you from clay, the jinn from fire: two different makings, one Maker, one question put to both. Ask yourself: the verse quietly levels a kind of pride. Fire feels 'higher' than mud, it was exactly this reasoning that led Iblis to refuse Adam ('I am better; You made me from fire, him from clay'). Here both origins are simply listed as the Merciful's handiwork, neither boasting-worthy. Whatever material I imagine makes me superior, my background, my intellect, my 'better' stuff, this verse reminds me it is all equally made, and pride in one's origin was the first sin.
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, al-Biqa'i.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Ar-Rahman 55:15 is discussed in 4 study guides on Maani. Each guide gathers the key verses, Arabic words and lessons of one Quranic topic.
Reflect on this verse
Open Surah Ar-Rahman 55:15 in Maani to reflect on it through the Five Lenses: its wording, its context, what it means for you, its connections across the Quran and its lessons, grounded in classical tafsir.