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Studies now in preparation, suggested by our readers. Each will set the verse beside the readings of the exegetes, as in the other studies. In the meantime, here is ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī’s reading in brief.

Sūrat al-Aʿrāf: the people of the Heights

Three verses from the scene of the Heights (al-aʿrāf), the place between paradise and the Fire. Who are the men on the Heights who recognise everyone by their marks, and who is the caller who announces God’s curse on the wrongdoers? The exegetes answer very differently: many take the people of the Heights to be those whose good and bad deeds balance, while ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī sees in them God’s most exalted servants.

Qur’an 7:44

وَنَادَىٰٓ أَصْحَـٰبُ ٱلْجَنَّةِ أَصْحَـٰبَ ٱلنَّارِ أَن قَدْ وَجَدْنَا مَا وَعَدَنَا رَبُّنَا حَقًّا فَهَلْ وَجَدتُّم مَّا وَعَدَ رَبُّكُمْ حَقًّا ۖ قَالُوا۟ نَعَمْ ۚ فَأَذَّنَ مُؤَذِّنٌۢ بَيْنَهُمْ أَن لَّعْنَةُ ٱللَّهِ عَلَى ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ

The inhabitants of paradise will call out to the inmates of the Fire, ‘We found what our Lord promised us to be true; did you find what your Lord promised you to be true?’ ‘Yes,’ they will say. Then a caller will announce in their midst, ‘May Allah’s curse be on the wrongdoers!’

ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī, in brief

The exchange is God taking the confession of the people of the Fire through the people of paradise: a rebuke that is justified, not idle mockery. The “caller” who then announces the curse on the wrongdoers is not specified, but the ʿAllāmah argues from the Qur’an that he is a human being, not an angel or a jinn, since on the plain of Judgement the Qur’an gives such roles (speaking, testifying, interceding) only to humans. Narrations from Imams ʿAlī, al-Bāqir and al-Riḍā, and reports in al-Ḥākim from ʿAlī and Ibn ʿAbbās, name the caller as Imam ʿAlī, which he explains as an unsurpassed merit: the link through whom God’s final judgement on the wrongdoers is declared and made real. Read his commentary on almizan.org ↗

Qur’an 7:46

وَبَيْنَهُمَا حِجَابٌ ۚ وَعَلَى ٱلْأَعْرَافِ رِجَالٌ يَعْرِفُونَ كُلًّۢا بِسِيمَىٰهُمْ ۚ وَنَادَوْا۟ أَصْحَـٰبَ ٱلْجَنَّةِ أَن سَلَـٰمٌ عَلَيْكُمْ ۚ لَمْ يَدْخُلُوهَا وَهُمْ يَطْمَعُونَ

There will be a veil between them. And on the Elevations will be certain men who recognize each of them by their mark. They will call out to the inhabitants of paradise, ‘Peace be to you!’ (They will not have entered it, though they would be eager to do so.

ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī, in brief

The “veil” (ḥijāb) is the barrier between paradise and the Fire, and al-aʿrāf its heights, from which both sides can be seen. The “men” on the Heights are neither angels nor people whose good and bad deeds balance (the view most exegetes adopt from narrations), but a group of God’s chosen servants of the highest rank: the indefinite “men” conveys their greatness; they recognise every person by his particular marks; they speak freely on a day when only those permitted may speak; they greet the people of paradise and, in , command them to enter it; and nothing suggests they share the terror of that day. The closing words, “they will not have entered it, though they are eager to”, describe the people of paradise, not the men on the Heights. Narrations from Imam ʿAlī and Imam al-Ṣādiq say: “We are the people of the Heights.” Read his commentary on almizan.org ↗

Qur’an 7:48

وَنَادَىٰٓ أَصْحَـٰبُ ٱلْأَعْرَافِ رِجَالًا يَعْرِفُونَهُم بِسِيمَىٰهُمْ قَالُوا۟ مَآ أَغْنَىٰ عَنكُمْ جَمْعُكُمْ وَمَا كُنتُمْ تَسْتَكْبِرُونَ

The occupants of the Elevations will call out to certain men whom they recognize by their marks, ‘Your rallying did not avail you, nor what you used to disdain.

ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī, in brief

The people of the Heights address particular men in the Fire whom they recognise by personal marks, not merely as believers or unbelievers, and rebuke them: their numbers and wealth, and their arrogance towards the truth, have not helped them. In the next verse they point to the believers these men had sworn would receive no mercy, and tell them: “Enter paradise.” For the ʿAllāmah, al-aʿrāf is therefore a lofty human station made manifest on the Day of Resurrection: those on it stand above both the saved and the damned and, by God’s leave, carry out His judgement on each. Read his commentary on almizan.org ↗

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