Quran Universe
15:27

وَٱلۡجَآنَّ خَلَقۡنَٰهُ مِن قَبۡلُ مِن نَّارِ ٱلسَّمُومِ

Waaljanna khalaqnahu min qablu min nari alssamoomi

And the jinn We created before from scorching fire.

Word by word
  1. وَٱلۡجَآنَّAnd the jinn
  2. خَلَقۡنَٰهُWe created it
  3. مِنbefore
  4. قَبۡلُbefore
  5. مِنfrom
  6. نَّارِfire
  7. ٱلسَّمُومِscorching
Al-Hijr · 15:27Makkah

Fire came first, but first is not better.

The jinn and their scorching origin

Two creations
the jinncreated earlier
from
scorching firesmokeless flame
the humancreated later, from clay
Does earlier mean higher
older is superiorI was here first
Allah decides honornot order or material

Ibn Kathir says earlier means before the humans. He cites the hadith in the Sahih: angels from light, jinn from a smokeless flame, Adam from what was described. The next verses show one of the jinn will use this very origin to boast.

You have been at the company ten years. The new hire is younger, from a smaller town, and gets the project. I was here first rises in your chest. Seniority is a fact, not a rank before Allah.

I came first, so I deserve more.

Being made earlier or from something brighter gives no one a claim over others.

Try this

Congratulate one newer or younger person on something they did well, and mean it.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 15:26)

And indeed, We created man from dried (sounding) clay of altered mud (26)And the Jinn, We created earlier from the smokeless flame of fire (27)

The Substances from which Mankind and Jinns were created

Ibn 'Abbas, Mujahid and Qatadah said that Salsal means dry mud. The apparent meaning is similar to the Ayah:

خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِن صَلْصَالٍ كَالْفَخَّارِ - وَخَلَقَ الْجَانَّ مِن مَّارِجٍ مِّن نَّارٍ

(He created man (Adam) from sounding clay like the potter's clay, And He created the Jinns from a smokeless flame of fire.)(55:14-15) It was also reported from Mujahid that,

صَلْصَالٍ

(dried (sounding) clay) means "putrid", but it is more appropriate to interpret an Ayah with another Ayah.

مِّنْ حَمَإٍ مَّسْنُونٍ

(of altered mud) means the dried clay that comes from mud, which is soil. "Altered" here means smooth.

وَالْجَانَّ خَلَقْنَاهُ مِن قَبْلُ

(And the Jinn, We created earlier) means before creating humans.

مِن نَّارِ السَّمُومِ

(from the smokeless flame of fire.) Ibn 'Abbas said, "It is the smokeless flame that kills." Abu Dawud At-Tayalisi said that Shu'bah narrated to them from Abu Ishaq, who said: "I visited 'Umar Al-Asamm when he was sick, and he said: 'Shall I not tell you a Hadith that I heard from 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud? He said: 'This smokeless flame is one of the seventy parts of the smokeless fire from which the Jinn where created. Then he recited,

وَالْجَانَّ خَلَقْنَاهُ مِن قَبْلُ مِن نَّارِ السَّمُومِ

(And the Jinn, We created earlier from the smokeless flame of fire).'" The following is found in the Sahih,

خُلِقَتِ الْمَلَائِكَةُ مِنْ نُورٍ، وَخُلِقَتِ الْجَانُّ مِنْ مَارِجٍ مِنْ نَارٍ، وَخُلِقَ آدَمُ مِمَّا وُصِفَ لَكُم

(The angels were created from light, the Jinn were created from a smokeless flame of fire, and Adam was created from that which has been described to you.) The Ayah is intended to point out the noble nature, good essence and pure origin of Adam.