its questions and expressed its surprise, the listener’s mind awaits the Most High’s reply. And He says: “I know what you know not.” That is, everything is not limited to what you know, and your not knowing does not infer a thing doesn’t exist. I am All-Wise, I have good reason for [their creation], and I shall forgive their corruption and bloodshed on account of the wisdom in it.
Now the positioning of the parts of the phrases:
As shown above, by reason of the necessary relationship between two sentences joined by a conjunction, the [conjunction] “And” [at the beginning of] “Behold (lit. And then), your Lord and Sustainer said to the angels: ‘I will create a vicegerent on earth (wa idh qāla rabbuka li’l-malā’ika innī jā‘ilun fī’l-arḍ khalīfatan)” implies an unstated sentence. An implied sentence is similarly required before the verse “Behold! Your Lord said to the angels: I am about to create man from sounding clay... (Wa idh qāla Rabbuka...)”(15:28)
Also, since [by its very nature] Revelation summons attention and calls to mind, the conjuction “And” implies “And recall to them that when your Lord...”
The [particle] “then (idh)” denotes past time, and so sends the minds [of listeners] down the rungs of the past, there raises [the veil] and attracts to the present its events so they may behold them and gather them up.
The [words] “Your Lord and Sustainer (Rabbuka)” is a proof for the angels; that is, the One who has raised and perfected you [Muhammad], and made you the guide of humankind that you might put a stop to their corruption. That is, you are the supreme good deed [of mankind] that preponderates over all its iniquities and covers its faults.
“To the angels (li’l-malā’ika):” through their conversation in the form of consultation this indicates that the dwellers of the heavens, that is, the angels, have very many relations and connections with the dwellers of the earth, that is, humankind. For some of them are charged with overseeing [human beings] (muwakkal), some are guardian angels, some are recording angels, so they have to concern themselves with their affairs.
Since it is the nature of the [intensifying particle] “inna” to repulse doubts, here expressed [by the angels’ question] “will You place...? (a taj‘alu),” it indicates the immense importance of the question.
The use of the first person pronominal suffix “-ī of innī,” although the first person plural is used in “We said (qulnā)” in the following verses, indicates that there are no intermediaries in His creation and giving of exis-