أَمْ لَهُمْ سُلَّمٌ يَسْتَمِعُونَ فِيهِ ۖ فَلْيَأْتِ مُسْتَمِعُهُم بِسُلْطَـٰنٍ مُّبِينٍ 38
Translations
Or have they a stairway [into the heaven] upon which they listen? Then let their listener produce a clear authority [i.e., proof].
Transliteration
Am lahum sullam yastami'un fih fa-lya'ti mustami'uhum bi-sultanin mubin
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah addresses the polytheists' claim of receiving divine revelation through angels or other means, challenging them sarcastically: 'Do they have a ladder by which they listen (to the heavens)? Then let their listener bring clear authority (proof).' According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, this is a rhetorical refutation of the disbelievers' unfounded assertions about their sources of knowledge, demanding they produce tangible evidence for their claims. The 'ladder' (sullam) metaphorically represents any claimed pathway to divine knowledge, while 'clear authority' (sultan mubin) refers to decisive proof that would validate such extraordinary claims.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears in the Meccan surah At-Tur, which deals with the certainty of the Resurrection and the consequences of rejection. It comes amid Allah's challenge to the deniers of the Qur'an and the Message, specifically addressing their baseless objections and fabricated excuses for rejecting Muhammad's prophethood.
Related Hadiths
The concept relates to the hadith in Sahih Bukhari where the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: 'Whoever claims to have seen a dream that he has not seen, will be commanded to tie a knot between two grains of barley on the Day of Resurrection,' emphasizing the severity of false claims about receiving divine communication.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches believers to demand logical evidence and clear proof when confronted with extraordinary religious claims, and reminds us that baseless assertions without substantiation have no standing in matters of faith. It encourages intellectual rigor and critical thinking within the Islamic framework—we should not accept claims about divine knowledge without proper evidence and authentic sources.