The Statement of the Exalted: "And whoever among them should say, 'Indeed, I am a god besides Him'..."

13636 - From al-Dahhak, may Allah be pleased with him, regarding His statement: "And whoever among them should say," meaning from among the angels, "'Indeed, I am a god besides Him'"—he said: No one from among the angels said that except Iblis; he called to the worship of himself and legislated disbelief.

13637 - From Qatadah regarding His statement: "And whoever among them should say, 'Indeed, I am a god besides Him'..." the verse. He said: This was particular to Iblis.

The Statement of the Exalted: "...they were a joined entity, and We separated them..."

13638 - From Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, regarding His statement: "they were a joined entity," he said: Nothing would emerge from them. "And We separated them," he said: He separated the heaven with rain and the earth with vegetation.

13639 - My father narrated to us, [who said]: Ibrahim ibn Hamzah narrated to us, [who said]: Hatim narrated to us, from Hamzah ibn Abi Muhammad, from Abdullah ibn Dinar, from Ibn Umar: That a man came to him asking him about the heavens and the earth, "they were a joined entity, and We separated them?" He said: "Go to that old man [Ibn Abbas] and ask him, then come back and inform me what he tells you." He said: So he went to Ibn Abbas and asked him, and Ibn Abbas said: "Yes, the heavens were a joined entity, not raining, and the earth was a joined entity, not sprouting vegetation. So when He created the earth for its inhabitants, He separated this [the heaven] with rain, and separated that [the earth] with vegetation." The man returned to Ibn Umar and informed him, so Ibn Umar said: "Now I know that Ibn Abbas has been granted knowledge in the Quran." He said: It was like this. Ibn Umar said: "I used to say, 'I do not admire Ibn Abbas's boldness in interpreting the Quran,' but now I know that he has been granted knowledge in the Quran." Atiyah al-Awfi said: "This was a joined entity, not raining, so it rained; and this was a joined entity, not sprouting, so it sprouted."

13640 - From Abu Salih, may Allah be pleased with him, regarding His statement: "they were a joined entity, and We separated them," he said: The heaven was one, and from it He separated seven heavens, and the earth was one, and from it He separated seven earths.