خَلۡقِ

3:191; 10:7; 30:23; 45:6.

Important Words:

اختلاف (alternation) is derived from خلف. They say خلفه i.e. he or it was or became his or its successor. خلف الرجل means, he came after or remained after the man and stood in his place. اختلفه means, he followed him as his successor. اختلفوا means (1) they came one after another by turn; (2) they differed or disagreed (Aqrab).

الفلك (ships) is derived from the verb فلك meaning, it became round or circular. الفلك (al-fulk) means a ship, or a boat, probably because it looks round and shapeless when seen at sea from a distance. The word is both singular and plural. الفلك (al-falak) means, the vault of heaven or the firmament in which the stars move. This is also probably owing to the apparently round shape of the sky (Aqrab, Mufradat & Lane).

دابة (beast) is the active participle from دب which means, he or it crept or crawled or walked slowly like an ant or a reptile or a child or a weak or sickly person. دابة means, all such animals or insects as creep or crawl or walk slowly (Aqrab). The word is used about all moving animals, whether big or small, whether walking on two legs or on four legs or creeping on the belly, etc. (24:46). It is also used about beasts used for riding or for carrying burden, like the horse, the mule, the donkey, etc. (Lane).

المسخر (pressed into service) is the passive participle from سخر sakhkhara. They say سخره (sakhkhara-hu or سخره sakhara-hu, not سخر sakhira which gives a different meaning), i.e. (1) he employed him or imposed on him a task without compensation; (2) he subjugated him and made him subservient to himself. Thus مسخر is that who or which has been made subservient to another, being unable to free himself or itself from constraint (Aqrab).

Commentary:

This verse gives a twofold meaning, one literal and the other metaphorical. In the former sense, it supplies an argument in support of the existence of God referred to in the preceding verse. A careful study of the universe unfailingly points to a Creator on the one hand and to man being created with a definite object on the other. It also proves that, having created the world, God did not leave it alone but continues to watch over and control its affairs and is the First Cause of all change and every working in the universe. Heaven and earth, night and day (with alternating light and darkness), the supply of provisions, rainfall with its power of quickening and devastating, the means of communications, the blowing of winds, and shade and sunshine, all point to one controlling agency, God, the Maker of heavens and earth. And if God has done so much for the material requirements of man, He cannot be imagined to have neglected his spiritual needs which are much more important. Let all thinking men think and ponder and again think and ponder.

The Quran takes the universe as a whole to prove its theme. The objects of nature taken individually do not furnish such conclusive evidence of the existence of God as the whole universe taken together. The earth may be said to owe its existence to a fortuitous concourse of atoms, or a similar reason may be given for the origin of the sun and the moon and so on. But when the universe as one united whole and the deep order that permeates it are taken into consideration, it becomes impossible to escape the conclusion that this universe has not come into existence accidentally. Indeed, the consummate harmony that prevails throughout the universe, forcefully points to the fact that the whole system has been created and is being directed by one Intelligent Being Who is All-Powerful and All-Knowing.

Taken in the metaphorical sense, the ship mentioned in the verse will be taken to stand for Prophets who help men to cross the gulfs of carnal desires and materialistic concepts of things which separate men from God, rain being likened to God’s revelation which comes down like rain and gives life to the world after it has become dead. The clouds send down no new water. Water already exists in the vast oceans of the earth but, as it is impure, men cannot make use of it. God purifies it and changes it into clouds and then sends it back to earth in the form of pure rainwater. Similarly, by sending a new revelation God purifies beliefs, which, with the passage of time, get mixed up with false notions and superstitious ideas. It is inconceivable that God Who supplies man with fresh rainwater for the maintenance of his physical life should have omitted to supply him with heavenly water which is so necessary for the preservation of his spiritual life. Similarly, night and day stand for the alternating periods of light and darkness, it being hinted that the coming of the Holy Prophet heralds the dawn of a new day.

Moreover, by laying special emphasis on the study of the phenomena of nature in the verse under comment, the attention of disbelievers is also drawn to the fact that they could not possibly hope to succeed in their designs against the Holy Prophet, because the whole universe is controlled by God and is working in favour of His Prophet and in furthering his cause.

2:165; 3:28; 45:6.

Commentary:

The lesson implied in the creation of the heavens and the earth and in the alternation of night and day is that man has been created both for spiritual and temporal progress, and that if he acts righteously, his period of darkness and affliction must be followed by one of sunshine and happiness. For further explanation of this verse see next verse.

4:104; 10:13; 39:10; 62:11.

38:28.

Important Words:

باطلا (in vain) is derived from بطل meaning, it was or became false or vain, or void or futile or devoid of virtue or of no account. They say ذھب دمه باطلا meaning his blood went for nothing, i.e. went unretaliated. بطل فی حدیثه means, he jested or was not serious in his discourse. باطل therefore, means: false, spurious, vain, useless, void and of no account (Lane).

Commentary:

Such a grand system to which an allusion has been made in the previous verse could certainly not have been brought into being without a definite purpose. The phenomenon of day and night referred to in the preceding verse affords an illustration of how this purpose is served. With the rising of the sun the whole world is illuminated, and men begin to work. Then night falls and the light of the sun is hidden from our view and men go to sleep, but even then some heavenly bodies are busy doing their allotted task. Thus both during day and night heavenly bodies perform their appointed functions and loyally serve man. The whole universe having been created to serve man, the creation of man must also have a great purpose. Of men, some are bright in themselves like the sun, and there are others who possess no intrinsic light of their own but borrow it from others. Such men as place themselves in right relation to the Sun of the spiritual realm become enlightened, while those that keep away from it are left in the dark.

When man ponders over the spiritual implication of the physical phenomenon of the creation of heavens and earth, the alteration of day, and night and the consummate order that pervades the universe, he is deeply impressed by the great wisdom of the Creator, and from the inmost depths of his being rises the cry: Our Lord, Thou hast not created this in vain. Then apprehension takes hold of him lest he should become deprived of the light of the spiritual Sun and he cries out: Save us from the punishment of Fire, which is nothing but being overtaken by spiritual darkness and moral degradation.

7:64; 10:3; 38:5; 50:3.

6:166; 7:75, 130; 10:15.

Important Words:

خلفاء (inheritors of God’s favours) is the plural of خلیفة which is verbal adjective from خلف meaning, he came after, followed, succeeded another, or remained after another. خلفه also means, he was or became his successor, vicegerent or substitute. خلف الرجل means, he lived after the man and took his place. خلیفة means, a successor; vicegerent; lieutenant; substitute; deputy; one who has been appointed to take the place of him who has been before him; the supreme ruler or sovereign who supplies the place of him who has been before him; the Successor of a Prophet (Lane and Aqrab). In the text the word خلفاء has been rendered as "inheritors of His favours", signifying that just as Noah and his people inherited God’s favours in their time, Hud and his people, who came after them, were also inheritors of God’s favours. See also 2:31.

بصطة (abundantly) is the same as بسطة which is the noun-infinitive from بسط. They say بسطه i.e. he spread it or spread it out; he expanded it; he extended it; he made it wide or ample. بسطة or بصطة means, width or ampleness; length or height; increase or excess; excellence or perfection in body; knowledge or mental powers (Lane and Aqrab).

Commentary:

See note on 7:64 above.

The ‘Adites were a ruling nation. They were a mighty and powerful people. Their rule extended over vast territories. They were the first Arab nation to wield temporal power in Arabia.

23:87.

25:4.

11:25; 35:20.

Commentary:

The words, who have no power for good or harm even for themselves, spoken about false deities point to a strange coincidence. Generally, the lives of all those persons who later came to be worshipped as deities were full of hardship and privation. Jesus, Imam Husain, Rama, etc., all led very hard lives. This fact seems to entail a strong warning to their misguided worshippers that they could expect no benefit or help from those who could not even protect themselves from harm or danger.

In the words, Can the blind and the seeing be equal?, disbelievers are told that they, being spiritually and morally blind, should not be deceived by their power and their numbers against the Holy Prophet, as even an army of blind men is powerless against one person who has eyes. The Prophet and his followers possess sight, while disbelievers are blind.

The powerlessness of the disbelievers is further brought home to them in the simile of light and darkness referred to in the words, can darkness be equal to light? Disbelievers are told that as darkness possesses no independent existence, being only the negation of light, it must flee before light. So disbelievers cannot stand against the Holy Prophet. In the last part of the verse disbelievers are challenged to produce anything which they think has been created by their false deities.

The Quran has used two different words to express the Unity of God, viz. (1) احد and (2) واحد. Whereas the former denotes the absolute Unity of God without relation to any other being, the latter means only "the first" or "the starting point" and requires a second and a third to follow it. The Divine attribute of واحد (One) is thus intended to show that God is the real "source" from which all creation springs. Although none of His creatures is similar to Him in perfection and He is Independent of all, yet everything does point to Him, just as a second or a third thing necessarily points to the first. The attribute واحد (One) has therefore been used here as an evidence of the truth of the previous statement, viz. Allah alone is the Creator of all things. As against this, where the Quran seeks to refute the doctrine of the son-ship of those who have been falsely given that status, it uses the word احد i.e. He Who has ever been One and alone and has begotten no child (112:2).

The addition of the attribute of "Most Supreme" to "One" signifies that God does not need the help or assistance of any being for the control and governance of the universe He has brought into existence, because He is not only the source of all things but is also Supreme and Powerful over them. Hence it is useless and absurd for disbelievers to worship their false deities.

78:13.

Important Words:

طرائق (stages of heaven) is the plural of طریقة which means, a way, course, rule, mode or manner of acting or conduct; the way or course of an event; a line; streak or stripe in a thing; stage of heaven; a web; or a tall palm-tree. طرائق means, stages of heaven, so called because they lie one above another. طرائق الدھر means, the vicissitudes of times or fortune. According to Raghib اطباق السماء (stages of heaven) are called طرائق (Lane & Aqrab). See also 20:64.

Commentary:

The six stages of spiritual progress described in the first twelve verses of this Surah become seven if "Paradise" (v. 12) be counted as the last stage of spiritual development when man attains the object of his creation. Similarly, if the preparatory stage previous to the formation of the sperm (referred to in v. 13) be added to the six stages of the embryonic development, this number also becomes seven. Thus the seven stages to which reference has been made in this verse correspond to the seven stages of the physical development of man mentioned in vv. 13-15. It is through these seven stages that man has to pass in order to achieve the highest point of spiritual development. These seven spiritual stages are as follows:

1. The first stage may be called the stage of lack of spiritual perception or that of spiritual feelinglessness. At this stage, like inanimate things, a person is completely devoid of all capacity to distinguish between right or wrong or good or evil. He is devoid of any high aims and his whole life seems to consist in providing for and meeting his physical needs. This stage of spiritual lifelessness is described by the Quran in the words "Then your hearts became hardened after that till they were like stones or harder still" (2:75).

2. The second stage may be likened to vegetable life when, like vegetables, man comes to develop some capacity and power to grow and make spiritual progress, but spiritually he is yet too weak adequately to defend himself against the onslaughts of evil beings and spirits. This stage is described in the Quranic words:

"And if you invite them to guidance, they hear not. And thou seest them looking towards thee, but they see not" (7:199).

3. The third stage may be called the animal stage when spiritually a person is no better than animals, when on being called he hears the voice of the caller but does not understand the significance or meaning of the call. The Quran beautifully describes the spiritual condition of such people in the words: "They have hearts but they comprehend not therewith, and they have eyes but they see not therewith, and they have ears but they hear not therewith. They are like cattle; nay, they are even more astray" (7:180).

4. The fourth stage is reached when the believer happens to develop greater love for God and greater righteousness and comes to realize the significance of his actions and to distinguish between good and evil. At this stage he acquires the power to resist satanic promptings in large measure but occasionally he falters and falls but then speedily comes to his own. This stage is described in the Quranic words: "And those who are righteous, when a suggestion from Satan assails them, they remember God: and behold! They begin to see things rightly" (7:202).

5. The fifth is a still higher stage of spiritual progress when the God-fearing man attains such degree of Divine realization that submission to God’s commandments and resignation to His decrees becomes, as it were, a part of his being and like angels he carries out fully and completely all Divine commandments. This stage is portrayed in the words: "And they do what they are commanded" (16:51).

6. The sixth stage is a much higher stage. At this stage the spiritual way-farer drinks so deep at the fountain of God’s love that he entrusts all his affairs fully into God’s safe keeping and becomes, as it were, a lifeless instrument in God’s hands which He uses as He chooses, and all his actions and movements are in perfect unison with God’s will. The Quran gives a graphic description of the believers who have attained this high stage of spiritual progress in the words: "Nay, whoever submits himself completely to Allah, and he is the doer of good, shall have his reward with his Lord. No fear shall come upon such, neither shall they grieve" (2:113).

7. The final and most developed stage of spiritual perfection is described in the Quranic words: "Then we perfect it into another creation. So blessed is Allah, the Best of creators" (23:15). At this stage the God-intoxicated believer is a totally changed being, a quite new creation. In the sixth stage he had completely subordinated his will to the will of God so much so that God’s will had become his will; at this stage, however, his will becomes, as it were, the will of his Creator and Lord and he attains to such high degree of spiritual perfection that Divine attributes become increasingly reflected in the mirror of his heart and he becomes a manifestation of God’s beauty and majesty. His hands and feet become, so to say, God’s own hands and feet and he speaks with God’s own tongue. "He does not speak out of his own desire. It is nothing but pure revelation that has been revealed by God," says the Quran (53:4).

The words "We are not neglectful of the creation" signify that God has not neglected to make full provision for man’s both physical and spiritual developments. From the next verse the Surah proceeds to mention some of those things on which man’s physical as well as his spiritual life depends.

10:106; 30:44.

12:41; 98:6.

Commentary:

This verse continues the theme of v. 29 above, the theme, briefly, of the Almightiness and Unity of God, and, by implication, of the oneness of all humanity. The fact, that God is One and all humanity, too, is one, has been called فطرة اللّٰه(nature given by God) or دین الفطرة i.e. the religion which is rooted in the pure and unsullied nature of man. This in other words is Islam and to it has the Holy Prophet referred in his well-known saying… کل مولود یولد علی فطرة الاسلام i.e. every child is born with an unsullied and pure nature, which is دین الفطرة i.e. the religion to which pure human nature conforms and instinctively reacts. It is in this religion that a child is born, but it is his environments, the ideas and beliefs of his parents and the training he receives from them that subsequently make him a Jew, a Magian or a Christian (Bukhari).

The words, "There is no altering the creation of Allah," mean that true religion is rooted in the very nature of man. False beliefs are the result of the influences of environment. Once those vicious extraneous influences are removed, he at once reacts to it and hastens to accept it.

6:15; 12:102; 14:11; 42:12.

Important Words:

اجنحة (wings) is the plural of جناح which is derived from جنح which means, he or it inclined, leaned or propended. They say جنح الطائر i.e. the bird contracted its wings to descend and approached like one falling and repairing to a place of refuge. جناحmeans, wing; hand; upper arm; edge; side; wing of an army; protection; refuge; power; inclination; assistant; a part or power of a thing. The Arabs say نحن علی جناح السفر i.e. we are on the wings of journey, i.e. we are about to start on journey (Lane & Aqrab). See also 17:25.

Commentary:

The reference in this verse may be to the creation of two universes; the physical and the spiritual. God, it says, is the Creator of the heavens and the earth and of all that is between them. He has created the angels to execute His will in the material universe. These angels are المدبرات أمرا i.e. regulators of the affairs of the world (79:6). To them is entrusted the control, management and supervision of affairs of the physical world. This is one duty and responsibility placed upon them. Their other and heavier duty is to carry God’s commandments and will to His Messengers who are the bearers of the Divine revelation.

The verse may also indicate that a new spiritual Dispensation is being created through the revelation that is being sent down to the Holy Prophet. The angels bearing this revelation manifest two, three, four, attributes of God at the same time, and there may be others manifesting an even larger number of Divine attributes.

The word فاطر (Originator) has been used in the verse to draw attention to the fact that the Great Maker Who has made full provision for the physical needs of man could not have omitted to provide for his spiritual sustenance and development, and just as He has entrusted the control and management of the physical universe to the care of the angels, so has He entrusted the regulation of the affairs of the spiritual world to them. They are the instruments to carry out God’s will in both the universes.

As shown under "Important Words" above, the word اجنحة is a symbol of power and ability. In view of this significance of the word the expression أولی أجنحة الخ shows that angels possess powers and qualities in varying degrees and in accordance with the importance of the work entrusted to each one of them. Some of the angels are endowed with powers and qualities greater than the others. The Archangel Gabriel is the chief of all the angels and, therefore, the most important work of carrying Divine revelation to God’s Messengers is entrusted to him and is done under his care and supervision.

16:71.

Important Words:

ننکسه (We revert him) is derived from نکس. They say نکسه i.e. he turned it upside down; نکس الرجل (nukisa) means, the man became weak and powerless. نکسه (nakkasa) means, he reversed or reverted it (Aqrab). See also 20:66.

Commentary:

The verse points to a very important law of nature, viz. that everything that has life is subject to decay and deterioration. The law applies as well to nations as to individuals. Like individuals, nations also develop, grow and find their full stature, and then fall a victim to decay, decrepitude and death. The verse means to say that peoples who had received new life through Divine revelation have now fallen a prey to spiritual decay and decadence. God has, therefore, decreed that another nation, the Arabs, should rise and grow on the ruins of their grandeur and glory. For that purpose He has raised a Messenger among them.

Commentary:

The verse drives home the supreme lesson that false pride has led many a people to their moral undoing. What is man, it purports to say, as compared to the vast universe, that he should refuse to accept the Word of God Who is its sole Creator. The implication of the verse may also be that when God could create heaven and earth, He could also bring man to life after death.

The verse possesses yet another significance. According to learned scholars and commentators, such as Baghvi, Ibn Hajr and others, the word الناس (mankind) in the verse signifies the Dajjal. This interpretation finds its confirmation in a well-known saying of the Holy Prophet, viz.:

ما بین خلق آدم الی قیام الساعة خلق أکبر من الدجال

i.e. from the creation of Adam to the Day of Resurrection there has not been a greater creation than that of the Dajjal (Bukhari). This hadith points to the mightiness and all-powerfulness of the Dajjal; and as he is a great deceiver and beguiler, the Faithful are warned to be on their guard against being deceived or intimidated by his apparent glamour and material glory. In view of this hadith the implication of the verse seems to be that the forces of darkness, of which the Dajjal is the greatest representative, however mighty and powerful they may be, will fail to retard the progress of Islam, and that such forces will eventually be vanquished by the new Faith.