Fifth degree: whenever they hear His speech, His command, and His permission, they fall down in prostration. At first they are unable to grasp it; rather, they are humbled and seized with fear, beating their wings, struck senseless, and bowing low. Then, when the panic is lifted from their hearts and the dread is removed,
“What has your Lord said?” they are asked. “He has spoken the truth, and He is the Most High, the All-Great,” they reply. (1)

Such (2) is their state (3) when He Himself speaks the revelation. As for the revelatory speech that He dispatches with His messengers, such as the Qur’an, and the command by which He decrees a matter—“Be!”—this occurs alike in the sphere of legislation and in the sphere of creation. Hence He, exalted is He, said: “Intercession is of no benefit with Him except for the one to whom He gives leave—until, when the dread is lifted from their hearts, they will say, ‘What has your Lord said?’ They will say, ‘The truth.’” (2)

The particle ḥattā (“until”) is a term of limit, so that what follows it is included in what precedes it; it is not like ilā (“to”), after which what follows may lie outside what precedes, as in His words: “Then complete the fast until the night” (4). Whether ḥattā functions as a conjunction or as a preposition, it (5) conveys this meaning. What comes after it marks the endpoint that calls attention to what comes before it. Thus one says: “The pilgrims arrived, (6) even the walkers,”—the arrival of the walkers highlighting the arrival of those on mounts. Likewise: “I ate the fish, even its head,”—eating the head draws attention to the rest, for people customarily leave (7) fish heads uneaten.

In this verse Allah—glorified be He—has informed us that no one possesses dominion, or shares in dominion, or gives Him aid, or offers intercession, except after His leave. He, exalted be He, said: “Say: Call upon those whom you claim besides Allah; they possess not even a speck’s weight in the heavens nor on earth, and they have no share in either of them, nor does He have any supporter among them. 22 And intercession avails nothing with Him except for the one…"