Al-Farrāʾ (1) said: When the Qur’an is recited to them they do not remain in their former state, as though they had never heard it; that alteration is what is meant by “falling.” I have heard Arabs say, “He sat insulting me,” just as they say, “He stood insulting me,” or, “He came insulting me.” The point, as already indicated, is that they do not become toward it deaf and blind.

Al-Zajjāj (2) said: The meaning is that when it is recited to them they fall in prostration and in tears, hearing and seeing what they have been commanded.

Ibn Qutaybah (3) said: In other words, they do not feign heedlessness of it, as though they were deaf who could not hear it or blind who could not see it.

I say: Two issues arise here: the mention of “falling,” and the application of negation to it. Is this the falling of the heart, or the falling of the body in prostration? Does the verse mean that their falling is not prompted by deafness and blindness—so that they do experience a falling, either of the heart in humility or of the body in prostration—or is there in fact no falling at all, the term being employed figuratively for simply sitting?

• The roots of all sins, whether grave or minor, are three: the heart’s attachment to anything besides Allah, obedience to the irascible faculty, and obedience to the concupiscent faculty. These correspond to polytheism, injustice, and indecency. The utmost form of attachment to other than Allah is shirk, the calling upon another deity alongside Him; the utmost form of obedience to the irascible faculty is killing; and the utmost form of obedience to the concupiscent faculty is fornication.