Surah Al-Kahf 18:50 — Meaning, Translation & Reflection

وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ ٱسْجُدُوا۟ لِءَادَمَ فَسَجَدُوٓا۟ إِلَّآ إِبْلِيسَ كَانَ مِنَ ٱلْجِنِّ فَفَسَقَ عَنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِۦٓ ۗ أَفَتَتَّخِذُونَهُۥ وَذُرِّيَّتَهُۥٓ أَوْلِيَآءَ مِن دُونِى وَهُمْ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّۢ ۚ بِئْسَ لِلظَّٰلِمِينَ بَدَلًۭا

English: We said to the angels, ‘Bow down before Adam,’ and they all bowed down, but not Iblis: he was one of the jinn and he disobeyed his Lord’s command. Are you [people] going to take him and his offspring as your masters instead of Me, even though they are your enemies? What a bad bargain for the evildoers!

Bengali: যখন আমি ফেরেশতাদেরকে বললামঃ আদমকে সেজদা কর, তখন সবাই সেজদা করল ইবলীস ব্যতীত। সে ছিল জিনদের একজন। সে তার পালনকর্তার আদেশ অমান্য করল। অতএব তোমরা কি আমার পরিবর্তে তাকে এবং তার বংশধরকে বন্ধুরূপে গ্রহণ করছ? অথচ তারা তোমাদের শত্রু। এটা জালেমদের জন্যে খুবই নিকৃষ্ট বদল।

Meaning & Reflection

'And when We said to the angels, Prostrate to Adam, they prostrated, except Iblis. He was of the jinn, and he defied his Lord's command. Will you then take him and his offspring as protectors besides Me, when they are your enemy? Wretched is the exchange for the wrongdoers.' al-Saadi and Ibn Kathir note the astonishing bargain exposed — trusting one's *declared enemy* over one's Maker. Ask yourself: the verse names the strangest thing a person can do — take the one who openly seeks his ruin as a guide and ally, while turning from the One who made and sustains him. Yet I do a version of this whenever I follow the whisper toward what I know is wrong — I am taking the enemy as 'protector'. It is a 'wretched exchange': trading the friendship of the Creator for the counsel of the destroyer. Whose suggestions am I actually following through my day — and have I forgotten that the source of some of them is a sworn enemy, not a friend?

Grounded in classical tafsir: al-Saadi, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Ashur.

Reflect with the Five Lenses

Maani's framework for Tadabbur (heart-centred reflection) on Surah Al-Kahf 18:50:

• Wording. Look closely at the specific words and structure. Which word stands out, and why might Allah have chosen it here?
• Quranic Worlds. Place the verse in its context — what is happening around it, and what world does it open up?
• Personal Experience. Ask not just what this means, but what it means TO me and FOR me, right now in my life.
• Connections. How does this verse connect to other verses, to the Sunnah, or to themes across the Quran?
• General Lessons. What timeless lesson or action point can I carry away and live by?