(29–32) “And recall when We directed a group of jinn toward you to listen to the Quran. When they attended its recitation, they said, ‘Listen attentively!’ Then, when it was concluded, they returned to their people as warners. They said, ‘Our people, we have heard a Book sent down after Moses, confirming what came before it. It guides to the truth and to a straight path. Our people, respond to Allah’s caller and believe in him. Allah will forgive you some of your sins and protect you from a painful punishment. Whoever does not respond to Allah’s caller will not thwart Allah on earth, nor will he have any protectors besides Him. Such people are in manifest error.’”
Allah Most High had sent His Messenger Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—to all creation, humans and jinn alike. The call of prophethood and the message therefore had to be conveyed to them all.
The Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—could call and warn the humans himself. As for the jinn, Allah directed them toward him by His power and sent to him “a group of jinn to listen to the Quran. When they attended its recitation, they said, ‘Listen attentively!’” That is, they instructed one another to do so. “Then, when it was concluded,” and they had understood it and been affected by it, “they returned to their people as warners,” sincerely advising them and establishing Allah’s proof against them. Allah appointed them to assist His Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—in spreading his call among the jinn.
“They said, ‘Our people, we have heard a Book sent down after Moses,’” because the Book of Moses is the foundation for the Gospel and the mainstay of the Children of Israel in the rulings of the Sacred Law. The Gospel merely completed and supplemented it, while modifying some of its rulings.
“Confirming what came before it. It guides”—this Book that we have heard—“to the truth,” which is what is correct in every matter sought and every report given, “and to a straight path” leading to Allah and His Paradise through knowledge of Allah, His religious rulings, and the rulings governing recompense.
After praising the Quran and explaining its standing and rank, they called their people to believe in it, saying, “Our people, respond to Allah’s caller”—that is, the one who calls only to his Lord. He does not call you to serve any personal interest or desire of his own; rather, he calls you to your Lord so that He may reward you and remove every evil and harm from you. Hence they said, “Allah will forgive you some of your sins and protect you from a painful punishment.” Once He protects them from the painful punishment, nothing remains thereafter but bliss. This is the reward of those who respond to Allah’s caller.
“Whoever does not respond to Allah’s caller will not thwart Allah on earth,” for Allah has power over all things: no fugitive can escape Him and no contender can overcome Him. “Nor will he have any protectors besides Him. Such people are in manifest error.” What error could be greater than that of one whom the messengers have called, to whom warnings have come through clear signs and successive proofs, yet who turns away in arrogance?