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Chapter 72

The Jinnal-Jinn ( الجن )

28 verses • revealed at Meccan

»The surah that opens with the revelation that a group of The Jinn listened to the Prophet reciting the Quran, believed in it, and so admonished their own race. It is names after the jinn-kind, whose account is given in its first part. The surah begins with the account of what a group of jinn said when they overheard a recitation of the Quran and realized its truth (verse 1 ff.). This is a lesson to the Meccan Arabs, who are also told that the Prophet can help them only by delivering the Message—God is the All Powerful One (verse 16 ff.). The disbelievers are threatened with what they will meet on the Day of Judgement (verse 23 ff).«

The surah is also known as Jinn-kind, Sprites, The Jinn's, The Spirits

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ

Ali Unal: IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE ALL-MERCIFUL, THE ALL-COMPASSIONATE

1
قُل أوحِيَ إِلَيَّ أَنَّهُ استَمَعَ نَفَرٌ مِنَ الجِنِّ فَقالوا إِنّا سَمِعنا قُرآنًا عَجَبًا

Ali Unal

This sūrah of 28 verses was revealed in Makkah. It takes its name from the word al-jinn (the jinn) in the first verse and recounts how some of the jinn heard God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, reciting the Qur’ān and came to believe. The sūrah also emphasizes God’s absolute Oneness and the Messengership of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, and those jinn’s acceptance of both.
Say (O Messenger): “It has been revealed to me that a company of the jinn gave ear (to my recitation of the Qur’ān);1 then (when they returned to their people) they said: ‘We have indeed heard a wonderful Qur’ān,
  • While God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, was returning from Tā’if to Makkah in great sorrow, God caused some jinn to hear his recitation of the Qur’ān; and they believed and returned to their people as bearers of its message. This is narrated in Sūrat al-Ahqāf, 46: 29–32. Another time, when the Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, was going to the fair at ‘Uqaz with a few Companions, another company of jinn heard his recitation during the Early Morning Prayer. This latter incident is the one being related here. The other group of jinn (who listened to the Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, during his return from Tā’if) belonged to the nation of Moses, upon him be peace. As can be understood from the following verses, the jinn who heard the Messenger’s recitation during the Morning Prayer were polytheists who attributed to God a wife and children. They, too, became believers and, like the other jinn, returned to their people and conveyed the Qur’ān’s message.
    For the nature of jinn, see sūrah 46, note 10.