The Quran

Preface

وَإِذ صَرَفنا إِلَيكَ نَفَرًا مِنَ الجِنِّ يَستَمِعونَ القُرآنَ فَلَمّا حَضَروهُ قالوا أَنصِتوا ۖ فَلَمّا قُضِيَ وَلَّوا إِلىٰ قَومِهِم مُنذِرينَ

Yusuf Ali

Behold, We turned towards thee a company¹ of Jinns (quietly) listening to the Qur-ān: when they stood in the presence thereof, they said, “Listen in silence!” When the (reading) was finished, they returned to their people, to warn (them of their sins).

A company Jinns. Nafar (company) may mean a group of from three to ten persons. For Jinns, see n. 929 to 6:100. They listened to the reading of the Qur-ān with great respect. The next verse shows that they had heard of the Jewish religion, but they were impressed with the Message of Islam, and they seem to have gone back to their people to share the Good News with them (see also n. 5727). (R).