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al-ḥamdu li-llāhi fāṭiri s-samāwāti wa-l-ʾarḍi jāʿili l-malāʾikati rusulan ʾulī ʾajniḥatin mathnā wa-thulātha wa-rubāʿa yazīdu fī l-khalqi mā yashāʾu ʾinna llāha ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīrun
All praise belongs to Allah, originator of the heavens and the earth, maker of the angels [His] messengers, possessing wings, two, three or four [of them]. He adds to the creation whatever He wishes. Indeed Allah has power over all things.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Fatir – Verse 1
1. “(All) praise belongs to Allah, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, Who appointed the angels messengers having wings two, three, and four. He adds to creation what He pleases; verily Allah is All-Powerful over every thing.”
The Qur’anic word /fatir/ means: ‘Originator’, and the Arabic word /’ajnihah/ in the sense of ‘wing’ is derived from /jinah which allusively means power. In Persian it is also said ‘the wing of so and so is burnt or broken’ which indicates he has no power. Similar to Suras: Al-Hamd, Saba, and Al-Kahf, this Surah begins with the praise of Allah, too. His praise is for the sake of the creation of the vast world of existence. Concerning the fact that all bounties and merits of existence originate from His Exalted Being, the Qur’an says:
The Qur’anic word /fatir/ is derived from /futur/ originally means ‘to cleave’ and since the creation of creatures is like cleaving the darkness of nothingness and it is the appearance of the light of existence, this meaning has been used in relation to creation particularly in regarding to the modern science which says that at the beginning the totality of the world of existence had been a single mass which has gradually split and some parts have separated from it.
The application of the word Fatir for the Pure Essence of Allah produces a new and clearer concept. Yes, we do praise Him for His creative Power, because whatever exists is from His side and none has anything from him except Allah. And in view of the fact that the management of this world, because of the fact that this world is the world of means, has been given to the angels, the verse immediately speaks about their creation and the considerable power that Allah, the Almighty, has bestowed on them.
It says:
Then the verse continues saying:
Allah (s.w.t.) adds to the creation whatever His Will and His Wisdom require including wings and other things. In this regard, the verse is absolute and it contains any kind of adding, irrespective of tallness of the body, moderation in face and bodily power and good intellect, and other merits. Some of the commentators say that the purpose of ‘adding to creation’ is: beautiful face, nice voice, and fair hair.
Note
There are many verses in the Qur’an that are about the angels’ attributes, specialties, missions, and duties. Even the Qur’an has considered the faith in angels in the row of the faith in Allah, prophets, and heavenly Books, and this is evidence upon the fundamental importance of this subject. The Holy Qur’an says:
No doubt the angels are among the Unseen things for proving which by these attributes and specialties there is no way save the traditional proofs, and because of belief in Unseen, we must accept them. On the whole, the Qur’an explains the specialties of the angels as follows: 1- The angels are some wise and intellectual beings of the honourable servants of Allah.
2. They obey Allah (s.w.t.) and never commit sin.
3. They have been given many important and various duties from the side of Allah:
Some of them bear the ‘Arsh (throne):
A group of them manage the affair:
A group of them are the angels of taking souls:
A group of them are the recorders of the deeds of men:
A group of them are the protectors of man from dangers and evil events:
A group of them are ordered to punish the disobedient people:
A group of them are Divine helpers to the believers in battles:
And, finally, a group of them are the bringers of revelation and heavenly Books from Allah for Divine prophets:
4- They are always busy glorifying Allah, as Surah Ash-Shura, No. 42, verse 5 says:
Yes, because of talent and potentials of development that man has, he is higher than and superior to the angels so much so that all angels, with no exception, once for the sake of the creation of Adam fell in prostration and Adam became their teacher.12 6- Some angels appear for prophets and even other than the prophets in the form of human beings, as we recite in Surah Maryam that the great angel of Allah came to Mary as a handsome man:
In other occurrences of the Qur’an we recite that angels appeared in the form of some men before Abraham and Lot13. It is understood from the verses of this Surah that the people of Lot, too, saw them in the form of some handsome me.14 Is the appearance in the form of man a concrete fact? Or is it in the form of presentation and interfering in the perceptive faculty? The outward of the verses of the Qur’an implies to the first meaning, though some great commentators have chosen the second meaning.
7- It is understood from Islamic narrations that the number of angels is so large that they can never be compared with all human beings. Once Imam Sadiq (as) was asked whether the number of the angels is larger or that of the human beings, he said:
“By Allah in whose hand is my soul! the angels in heavens are more than the (number of) whole atoms of the dust of the earth, and there is no place in heaven but an angel is busy glorifying and praising Him therein.” 15
8- They neither eat nor drink nor marry. Imam Sadiq (as) in a tradition said:
“Verily the angels neither eat, nor drink, nor marry, and they do live only by the breeze of the (Divine) ’Arsh!)” 16
9- They have neither sleep nor negligence, nor laziness. Ali (as) in a tradition said:
“There is no cessation between them, nor there is negligence with them, nor there is sin among them… sleep does not overtake them, their wisdom never involves in mistake and forgetfulness, their bodies do not tend to laziness, and they do not lie in the loins of fathers and in the wombs of mothers.” 17
10- They have different proper positions and ranks. Some of them are always in the state of ‘bowing’ while some others are in the state of prostration. The Qur’an, from the tongue of the angels, says:
Imam Sadiq (as) says:
“Verily Allah has some angels who are (in the state of) bowing until the Day of Hereafter, and verily Allah has some angels who are (always in the state of) prostration until the Day of Hereafter.” 19
For more information about the specialties of the angels and their classes, you may refer to the books entitled: As-Sama’-i-wal-‘Alam, Bihar-ul-’Anwar, Abwab-ul-Mala’ikah, Vol. 59, P. 144-326. Also, Nahj-ul-Balaqah, sermons number one and ninety one, Sermon ’Ishbah, sermons 109, and 171. Having these attributes mentioned for the angels in mind, are they abstract or material? Certainly, with these specialties, they cannot be formed from the dirty elemental matter, but it does not matter that they have been created from some tender matters, some things beyond this ordinary matter which we are acquainted with.
Of course, we know the angels as those who are introduced by the Qur’an and by the certain Islamic narrations, and we know them as a great part of the high and outstanding beings of Allah, without considering any rank for them save the rank of servitude, and we do not know them as the partner of Allah in creation or worship, because this is absolutely polytheism and infidelity. By the way, in many phrases of the Torah the angels are introduced as gods, which is blasphemous and this is one of the signs of the distortion in the present Torah.
But the Qur’an is pure and far from these meanings, since it has not considered any rank for them except servitude and worship, and executing the commands of Allah; and, as we said before, it is understood from the different verses of the Qur’an that the rank of a complete man is higher than and superior to the angels.
Footnotes