S35. SURAH FATIR (THE CREATOR)
NAME : In the very first ayah the word ‘Fatir’ (Creator) occurs which gives the Surah its name.
TIME OF REVELATION : It is Makkcan and from the topics it can be surmised that it was revealed in the middle Makkan period.
CENTRAL THEME: Making Allah’s creativity as the basis of His being the one and only God, the prophethood and the Hereafter have been presented as the manifestation of His creativity.
ORDER OF THE VERSES: Ayah Nos. 1 to 8 are the preliminary ayah, in which Allah’s creativity and over lordship have been clearly stated and the attention of the people is invited to accept the message of monotheism, prophethood and the Hereafter, as if in these verses the summary of the whole Surah has been presented. In Ayah Nos. 9 to 18 there is detailed instruction about Tawheed and the Hereafter and the negation of polytheism. Ayah Nos. 19 to 26 deal with the prophethood and the adverse consequence of those who do not believe in the prophethood of the divine messenger has been described. In Ayah Nos. 27 to 38 it is clarified that the recognition of Allah which is gained through His signs and the knowledge which is received through the divine Book are such that open the path of right guidance, which ensures eternal success, and the result of indifference to this recognition and knowledge is kufr, denial, disbelief, which brings in eternal destruction. Ayah Nos. 39 to 45 give a warning to those who indulge in polytheism:
35. Surah Fatir (The Creator) Ayah : 45
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
1. Praise be to Allah, Creator 1 of the heavens and the earth, who makes angels messengers 2 having wings two, three and four.3 He multiplies 4 in creation what He will. Verily, Allah is able to do all things.
2. The (gate of) mercy which Allah opens for mankind, none can withhold it, and that which He withholds, none can release thereafter.5 He is the Mighty, the Wise.
3. O People! Remember Allah’s favours on you. Is there any creator other than Allah who provides for you from the heaven and the earth? There is no god except Him.6 Where then are you turned? 7
4. If they deny you (O Prophet!), messengers before you were also denied. To Allah all things shall return.8
5. O People! Verily, the promise of Allah is true.9 So let not the life of the world deceive you10, and let not that big deceiver 11 deceive you with regard to Allah.
6. Satan is your enemy, so treat him, as an enemy.12 He only summons his faction so that it may become people of the Fire. 13
1. Allah’s being the Creator of the heavens and the earth is an incontrovertible reality, and when He is the Creator, then He alone is worthy of being praised and thanked. ‘Therefore, only His praises be sung and only He may be thanked. And this is the origin and reality of Tawheed, and it cuts at the root of polytheism.
It is also included in the sense of the ayah that Allah can only be praised for creating this universe, because it is beautiful and attractive and it is a manifestation of the fact that its Creator is the Possessor of great excellence. The present day atheists say that there is no creator of the universe, but this statement of theirs is without any proof and quite senseless. If it were to come into existence without a creator, then there would have been no changes in it, nor there have been any creatures in it, but we observe that changes take place in the matter and we also believe that the present development of the universe has gone through various stages of evolution, and we also know that the existence of man on the earth manifested much later. The question is: how did man, who is a very high kind of creature and who rules over the land and the sea, come to exist on the earth suddenly? Does this universe have in itself the attributes of intellect, knowledge, will and method? These questions have their answers in the negative, because it does not conform to our observation, nor is there any reasonable argument in its favour. Therefore the denial of the existence of the Creator is the denial of the most open, clear and bright reality.
2. Angels are sent as messengers to the prophets (peace be upon them), who convey to them Allah’s revelation. Apart from this in what way the work of sending messages is taken from them and to which creatures they are sent is known to Allah only.
3. Wings are the symbols of power of flight. The more wings an angel has, the more powerful it is in its flight. In a hadith the Prophet has said that the Archangel Jibril has six hundred wings. By stating that the angels have more than one wings, the Quran has added to our knowledge, otherwise we had no other source to know it.
4. It is not so that once what He had created, His work is over and he has nothing to create. He goes on adding to His creation, as can be seen from the continuous increase in the human population, and its noble example will be the next world which will appear after this world is wound up.
5. This reality has been expressed by the Prophet in the language of prayer thus:
“O Allah! whatever You give, there is none to stop it, and whatever you withhold, there is none to give it, and no riches of a wealthy man can benefit him against Allah’s will. -(Muslim-Kitabus Salat).
6. That is: Whoever is the Provider, he is worthy of being worshipped. Those who are not providers, how can they be gods?
7. That is: Where you are being misled turning away from Allah? It means that Satan is enticing you and turning you away from Allah, so act intelligently and do not be misled by Satan.
8. Therefore, this dispute of yours will also be decided on the Day of Judgment in the court of Allah, and at that time you will realise what a big crime you had committed by denying the messenger of Allah.
9. Means the promise of the Day of Resurrection and the Hereafter.
10. The apparent attraction of the world is such that it turns away man’s attention from the Hereafter and makes him a worshipper of the material pleasures. This is a great deception and the people have been warned to be wary of that. Even today when man’s intellect has passed many stages of progress, man is regularly being deceived by the charms and attractions of the material world. Accordingly, a majority of people of the world are not prepared to care for the next world in preference to this world.
11. By big deceiver is meant Satan, who is continually deceiving men by his promptings concerning Allah.
12. To consider Satan as a friend is the greatest idiocy. It is necessary to consider him an enemy and to be wary of his tricks.
Quran has alerted man that mischievous elements are present to influence him from outside, who although are not discernible, they are doing their nefarious work. These are satans, from whose evils man should always be wary.
13. Those who make friends with Satan, they enter his group, and he lead his group to the path of Hell. His purpose is only to mislead men, so that they may be sent to Hell.
7. Those who disbelieve, theirs will be a severe punishment, and those who believe and perform good acts, theirs will be forgiveness and great reward.
8. Is he the evil of whose deeds is made fairseeming to him and he sees it good, ( like the person who is rightly guided? 14) Verily Allah leaves in error whom He will and guides Whom He pleases. So (O Prophet!) let not your soul dissolve in sighs in grief for them15. Allah is aware of what they do.
9. And it is Allah who sends the winds and they raise the clouds; then We lead them to a dead land and revive there with the earth after its death. Such is the Resurrection.16
10. Whoever seeks power and honour, (let him know that) all power and honour belong to Allah.17 To Him ascend good words and He exalts pious deeds.18 And those who plot evil, for them is severe punishment, and their plotting will come to nothing.19
11. Allah created you from dust 20, then from spermdrop.21 Then He made you pairs (male and female). No female conceives and is delivered without His knowledge. And no one grows old who grows old 22, nor has his life cut short, but it is recorded in a Book. Verily, this is easy for Allah.23
12. The two seas are not alike. The one is fresh, sweet and pleasant to drink from, while the other is salt and bitter. And from both you eat fresh meat 24 and derive the ornaments that you wears.25 And you see the ships plough their course through them so that you may seek His bounty 26 and give thank.
14. It is a psychological fact that when a man performs an evil act thinking it to be good, it is not possible for him to give up its practice until he realizes that it is evil. And Allah’s rule of misguidance is this that a person to whom his evil acts appear to be fair, for him the path of right guidance is closed, and he is abandoned to wander in misguidance.
15. When they persist in their evil acts and do not want to come out of the darkness of their misguidance, then how long will you grieve for them. Leave them to their condition.
For further explanation, please see Surah Kahf, Note No.7.
16. As after the rains vegetables grow out of the earth, and seeing the greenery it is felt that the dead earth has been revived, similarly on the Day of Resurrection when the second bugle will be sounded then all the dead people will come out of earth.
17. That is: To give power and honour is in the hands of Allah.
18. By good words is meant the sacred kalimah : LA ILAHA ILLALLAH, which is the kalimah of monotheism. By its ascending to Allah is meant that it is the means of closeness to Allah, and by exalting the pious deeds means that Allah bestows the blessing of His acceptance on such acts. Here the idea is to show that power and honour are not with the other beings, nor can they be achieved by worshipping them, but that they belong to Allah and they can be achieved by faith and righteous deeds.
19. Those who are striving utmost to oppose the truth and for that purpose are plotting various conspiracies will ultimately face defeat. When the time for results will come, all their plans will turn to dust.
20. The creation of mankind had begun with dust. Adam was created from dust.
21. Then Adam’s descendants were born from the lowly fluid, man’s seed of life-germ or sperm.
22. To increase or reduce anyone’s age is within the power of Allah alone, and in this connection His decisions are recorded in a Book. It means that the increasing or reducing of anyone’s age nobody other than Allah has any power.
23. To fix the ages of countless persons and to get them recorded in a Book is not at all difficult for Allah.
24. That is: You obtain fish from the sweet water rivers as also from the salt water seas.
25. Like pearls and other precious stones, and from some rivers diamonds, and gold are also obtained from the river basins. Particles of gold are found in the sands obtained from some rivers. The Encyclopedia clarifies that-
“Alluvial deposits of native gold found in or along streams were the principal sources of the metal for ancient civilization of the middle East.
“The alluvial deposit mined by placer methods are the gold-bearing sands and the gravel that have been deposited by rapidly moving streams and other rivers at places where they widen or for some other reason lose speed.”
-(The New Encyclopedia Britannica Vol. 8 page 237).
And about diamonds this clarification is found in the Encyclopedia of Science and Technology:
“But a significant amount (of diamonds) comes from individual operations from stream-bed deposits in Sierra Leone, Ghana and the Union of South Africa.”
-(McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, New York Vol. 4, page 164.)
For further explanation, please see Surah Nahl, Note No. 24.
26. That is: Seek Allah’s bounty by undertaking commercial voyages, as facilities for the sea travel is Allah’s bounty.
13. He causes the night to pass into the day 27 and the day into the night. He has subdued the sun and the moon into service, each running to an appointed term. 28 Such is Allah, your Lord. His is the sovereignty, 29 and those whom you invoke beside Him do not own so much as the thin membrane on a date-stone.30
14. If you pray to them, they cannot hear you, and even if they hear you, they cannot answer you. On the Day of Resurrection they will reject your associating others with Allah.31 None can inform you like Him who is Aware.32
15. O mankind! You are needy in relation to Allah. Allah is Free of All wants, Worthy of Praise.
16. If He will, He can finish you, and bring some new creation 33 (in your place).
17. That is not hard thing for Allah.
18. No burdened (soul) shall bear another’s burden. 34 And if a burdened soul cries for help, nothing of its burden will be carried even by a relative. (O Prophet ! ) You can warn only those who fear their Lord even without seeing Him, and establish salat ; 35 and he that purifies himself, does so for the good of his own soul.36 And to Allah all things will return.
19. The blind and the seeing are not alike37,
20. Nor are the darkness and the light38,
27. For explanation, please see Surah Al-e- Imran Note No.39.
28. For explanation, please see Surah Ra’d Note No.8.
29. That is: His rule covers the whole of the universe, including man, and only His commands are enforced in the universe.
30. The word used is ‘Qitmir’ which means the thin membrane found on the date-stone, i.e. they do not have even the lightest power.
31. On the Day of Resurrection those who will reject the contention of the polytheists will be those angels and pious persons who used to be invoked by them for help and relief. About them it is stated that in the first place they do not hear the invocation of their followers, and even if they hear it, they are unable to answer them. The spirits of the pious people are lying in the world of Barzakh and they are unable to hear anything from this world, and any view to the contrary is false. It is not necessary that the meaning of this ayah be restricted to the refutation of idolatry only, for in its wider sense it means that it also refutes saint-worship and grave-worship, therefore, those Muslims who shout the slogans of ‘O Ali, help!’ and ‘O Ghaus! (Abdul Qadir Jilani) help! ‘are guilty of committing polytheism openly. The question of these pious persons coming to their help is a remote thing, they do not even hear their slogans and call for help. And it is worth contemplating that when these holy men did not hear the invocation of every caller during their lifetime, nor was it in their power to relieve their callers for help, then from where this power has been gained by them after their death?
32. That is: The information about the next world which is Unseen can be given only by a being who is Aware of everything, and such an Aware being is Allah alone, and there is none other than Him who can give you this information. Therefore, the information about the Unseen which Allah is supplying you through His Book and His messenger should be believed unhesitatingly, ignoring those talks which are given as more guesses and conjectures.
33. Do not think that to keep you going on the earth there is some interest of Allah’s. He is free of want, and anybody may praise Him or not, He is worthy of Praises. If He pleases, He can destroy the entire mankind and can bring into existence a new kind of creatures.
34. That is: Carrier of burden of sins on the Day of Resurrection. For explanation, please see Surah Bani Israil, Note No.18, and Surah Ankaboot Note No.18.
35. Only those people take benefit of your informing them who are afraid of Allah and establish salat, which is a manifestation of fear of Allah.
36. That is: The benefit of adopting the purity of belief and practice can be achieved only by those who will have these attributes in them. And Quran demands of his addressees that first of all they should adopt the purity of belief and practice. From the ayah it has also become clear that fear of Allah and establishment of salat put a man on the path of achieving purity ,and then it becomes easy for such a man to lead a clean and pure life.
37. When the blind and the seeing person are not alike, then how can the person with insight and knowledge be like a person who has no insight or the ability to recognise the truth? And when these two kinds of people cannot be alike in their acts, then how can their fate be the same or alike?
38. When the darkness and the light are not alike or equal, then how can the darkness of ignorance be alike or equal to the light of knowledge?
21. Nor are the shade and heat (alike).39
22. And the living and the dead are not alike. 40 Verily, Allah makes whom He will to hear.41 You cannot make those who are in the graves to hear you.42
23. You are but a warner.
24. Verily We have sent you with the truth, a bearer of glad tidings and a warner. And there is no community but a warner has passed among them. 43
25. If they deny you, those before them also denied (their messengers). Their messengers had come to them with clear proofs, and with the Scriptures and the light-giving Book.44
26. Then I seized those who disbelieved. And how terrible was My rejection (punishment).
27. Do you not see that Allah causes water to fall from the sky, 45 and We produce there with fruits of different colours; and in the mountains there are streaks46 of various shades of red and white, and jet black.
28. And in like manner men, beasts and cattle are of different colours 47. In fact only those of His slaves who have knowledge fear Allah48. Verily, Allah is Mighty, Forgiving49.
29. Verily, those who recite the Book of Allah 50, and establish salat 51, and spend, (in charity) of what We have bestowed on them, secretly and openly52, they look forward to a trade in which there cannot be any loss 53,
39. When the shade and the heat of the sun cannot be alike, then how can the shade of virtue and the heat of sin be alike? From the standpoint of effect there is essentially a difference between the two.
40. When a living person is not like a dead person, then how can a person who gets fresh life from the divine revelation can be like a person who kills his conscience by depriving himself of the benefit of the divine revelation? And when they are not alike, then their fate and their end should also be different. Such a situation demands that the Lord of mankind should establish a court of justice to decide whom to reward and whom to punish.
41. That is: Only those people listen to and accept the truth who are rightly guided by Allah, and He does not guide those whose hearts (conscience) become dead.
42. That is: O Prophet! When you cannot make the dead persons hear, in the same way you cannot make those persons hear whose hearts have become dead. It means that people with dead conscience cannot be impressed by your advice. For acceptance of advice it is necessary that the conscience should be alive and the consciousness should be awake.
Although here the mention of the dead per sons not being able to hear anything in their graves has been made as an example, but it is a fact, which is a clear proof of the point that no one can make the buried persons hear anything, even a prophet cannot make them hear. Therefore, in view of the fact that they are unable to hear, it is foolish to try to invoke them. This ayah cuts at the root of the grave-worship.
For further explanation please see Surah Naml, Note No.118.
43. Allah has made such an arrangement for the guidance of mankind that He has not left any nation to wander in darkness, but has sent a messenger for every nation for guidance. This messenger has warned his nation about the consequence of Allah’s disobedience and coming of the Doomsday. Quran has mentioned the names of a few nations with the names of the messengers sent to those nations. But about those nations whose mention is not made in the Quran, we have no means to know who were the messengers that were sent among them, therefore, we cannot say with certainty that certain persons of those nations were the divine messengers. Quran has mentioned the fire-worshipping nation of Iran, but not the name of the messenger sent to that nation, therefore, we have no right to say that zorthostra was a divine messenger. Similarly we cannot say with certainly that certain persons belonging to the Hindu nation were the divine messengers. Some one can be declared a prophet or a divine messenger on the basis of definite knowledge only, and not on the basis of conjecture or guess work, for this matter belongs to the realm of belief, and beliefs basis should be clear proof. Besides, it is also necessary to enter into this discussion, because Prophet Muhammad, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, has been sent as a divine messenger and warner to all the nations of the world, and the divine Book revealed to him is present for guidance. Moreover, his ummah (followers) have been created with the specific responsibility of spreading his message to the every nook and cranny of the world, so that the people be invited to the religion of truth.
44. They had brought such arguments that were clear proofs of their prophethood. Among them were some who were given scriptures, like Prophet Ibrahim, and some who were given Books like prophets Moosa and Eesa. Scriptures are brief and Books are in detail.
45. Water from the sky means water from above.
46. There are streaks of white as of marble, and of red stone as hills of red stones are found in Rajasthan. Jama Masjid and Lal Quila of Delhi are built from red stones.
47. This difference in colours shows Allah’s extreme power that whatever He has created, He has presented various samples so that seeing them man’s mind may turn towards Allah. If this universe were Godless, then there would not have been such variations and beauty in it, and if His power were limited, then there would not have been such diversities in creation.
48. Learned or people with knowledge means those who have recognition of Allah. They realise how great He is, and from that very concept they shiver. When they look around themselves, they see His signs spread out all over the globe, and having the right knowledge of His attributes, they fear Him. This is the right knowledge. The more a man progresses in this knowledge, the more he fears Allah. It is this fear of Allah which breathes the spirit of faith and righteous practice. As against this a person who has no recognition of Allah, he is an absolute ignoramus, though he may be an expert in worldly knowledge and academics.
49. Hints at the fact that those slaves who would adopt the life with fear of Allah, He will forgive their guilt’s even of severe nature.
50. For the explanation of reciting please see Surah Ankaboot, Note No.83.
51. Establishing salat does not merely mean making external arrangement for offering prayers but that it is to be offered with regularity and in a correct way. This Surah is Makkan and in Makkah the emphasis was on the establishment of the internal aspect of the salat, because there were less opportunities for establishing prayer externally. However, when these opportunities were there in Madina, mosques were built there and arrangements for Azan (Call) and jamaat (congregation) were made.
In the dictionary establishment of salat (Iqamah) is shown to mean permanence and safeguarding.
In the Lisan-ul- Arab it is stated:
“To establish a thing means to arrange it permanently and to safeguard it.” (Vol. 12, page 498).
And in the Mufarridat-i-Raghib it is stated:
“Establish salat means that they do this act permanently and they safeguard it.” (page 428).
It has become clear that in establishing prayer the basic importance is of performing it permanently and in correct way.
52. It is better to spend secretly for the sake of Allah, but wherever necessary one can spend openly also.
53. That is: They hope to get gains in the next world by spending in the way of Allah.
Then We gave the Book as inheritance to those of Our slaves whom We have chosen. Some of them wrong their souls, some follow a middle course, and some, by Allah’s leave, vie with each other in virtuous acts. That is the great favour ! (AL-Quran)
30. That He may pay them their full recompense and increase it by His grace. Verily, He is Forgiving and Appreciative 54.
31. And (O Prophet !) the Book that We have revealed to you is the Truth 55, confirming those which were revealed before 56. Indeed, Allah is Aware and Observer of His slaves 57.
32. Then We gave the Book as inheritance to those of Our slaves whom We have chosen. Some of them wrong their souls, some follow a middle course, and some, by Allah’s leave, vie with each other in virtuous acts 58. That is the great favour ! 59
33. Gardens of Eden! They will enter them, 60 where they will be decked with bracelets of gold and pearls and arrayed in silk 61.
34. They will say: “Praise be to Allah, who has removed all sorrow from us 62. Verily, our Lord is Forgiving, Appreciative,63
35. Who, by His grace, has admitted us in the mansion of eternity, where toil does not touch us, nor can weariness affect us 64.”
36. And those who disbelieve 65, for them is fire of Hell; it will not completely affect them so that they can die 66, nor will its torments be lightened for them. Thus every thankless person will be repaid.67
54. Allah is appreciative, therefore, whatever is spent with sincerity for His sake will be appreciated by Him, and whatever sacrifices will be offered in His way will also be appreciated by Him.
55. That is: This Book is nothing but Truth. There is no mixture of falsehood with it, therefore, following it is following the truth.
56. Means the Torah and Injeel. Quran confirms them in the sense that Quran confirms that initially they were revealed by God, and that their teaching is the same as that of the Quran. And it also confirms that the prophecies that have been made in these two divine Books about the coming Prophet pertain to the Arabian Prophet, Muhammad, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam. In other words by his prophethood the prophecies of the Torah and Injeel are confirmed, and this is the proof of the genuineness of these Books.
It may be noted that Quran confirms the original Torah and Injeel, and not of the modifications and alterations made therein by the Jews and the Christians.
57. Therefore, He will now see what His slaves do with this Book of Truth.
58. By revealing this Book to the Prophet his ummah has been made the inheritors of this Book. By the Book is meant the Quran, and by inheritors is meant its holders or followers. Chosen from His slaves means the Muslim Ummah, who has been chosen to give witness to the truth of the Religion of Truth:
“And thus We have made you ‘Ummat-e- Vasat’ (a balanced community) so that you may be witness to all the communities of the world...”- (Surah Bagarah - 143)
“He has chosen you “-(Surah AL-Hajj - 78).
This choosing or selection is as a group, and this group has been chosen so that the Book may be given to it, and that it is its holder. Although this honour has been bestowed on this group, but the condition of the individual members of this group is quite different. There are some in this group who are treading the wrong path and are doing wrong to their own souls. They have neither appreciated this Book, nor did they recognise the honour bestowed on them as members of the Muslim Ummah. Such persons are called by Quran as ‘Zalim’ wrongdoers. Therefore, in reality they are not worthy of this honour that has been bestowed on the Muslim Ummah. In this community there are other kinds of persons also who are following the middle course. It means those people who have faith and perform virtuous acts. In Surah Maidah, Ayah No. 66, the people following the middle course are shown to be those who are not evil persons or doing evil acts. And in the Muslim Ummah the third kind of people are those who vie with one another in performing virtuous acts and they are very active in serving their religion. These are of higher rank than the common righteous people and are people of top rank.
59. That is: To be the holder or follower of the Divine Book is a thing of very good fortune, and those who are lucky enough to be so endowed, on them a great favour of Allah has been bestowed.
60. The eternal gardens of Paradise: this reward, as is clear from the tenor of the speech and from other explanations of Quran is for the latter two groups- righteous and the first rankers. As for the first group, it deserves to be punished on the basis of its belief and acts, which has been clarified by Quran at other places e.g. To kill a Muslim willfully attracts punishment of Hell, as stated in “Surah Nisa, ayah No.92. Similarly, the punishment for disobeying Allah and His messenger makes one liable to be punished in Hell.
“And whoever who disobeys Allah and His messenger, and transgresses His limits, He will cast him in the Fire, wherein he will abide and shall have a humiliating punishment.” (Surah An-Nisa 14)
Besides among those who do wrong to their souls can also be those who are evil doers and hypocrites. Therefore, the glad tidings about the Paradise which Quran is giving here cannot be said to pertain to them, but various commentators have wrongfully included these wrong-doing (zalim) People among those who will be benefited by this glad tidings. The reward of Paradise mentioned here, almost in the same words it is stated in Surah Hajj, and with this clarification that this is the reward for those who believed and did good acts:
“Verily, Allah will cause those who believe and do good acts to enter Gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will be adorned with bracelets of gold and pearls and their raiment’s will be of silk.” -(Al-Hajj: 23).
And those hadith, which are presented in support of this contention that the wrong-doing group is also included in the groups of people for Whom the glad tidings of Paradise has been given, are not authentic, e.g. Tirmizi’s hadith of Abu Khudri two of its narrators are most unreliable, i.e. their names are not even mentioned as the source of this hadith. It has been considered sufficient to state that it was heard from the person from Thaqif and that it was narrated by a man from Kananah.
-(Tirmizi Abwabut Tafseer. Tafseer Surah Malaikah).(Fatir)
It is obvious that when the narrator is not known, how can the narrative be considered authentic? Similarly the hadith narrated by Ahmed bin Hanbal from Abu Durda, one of the narrators of this hadith is Ishaq bin Eesa and the second narrator is Ali bin Abdullah Al-Azdi, and about both these Two Hafiz Ibn Hajr has testified that they are truthful, but commit errors in narrating hadith. -(Taqreebut Tahzeeb, pages 37, 373).
It may be noted that at present there is a majority of people in the ummah who are evildoers and inactive, and also there is no dearth of hypocrites. To declare them or to consider them worthy of Paradise merely on the basis of their being a part of the Muslim Ummah is to leave them to their present condition that they may continue to live in their life of sinning. We do not know whom out of them Allah will forgive and when He will do it, therefore, we should not talk in such a way as to give a chance to the wrong doing people to feel satisfied and contented.
61. for explanation, please see Surah Hajj Note No.35.
62. Sorrow means sorrow of every kind. The life in Paradise will be completely free from sorrow, and will be a life of perfect happiness. Man’s nature demands such a life, but this demand will not be met in this world, but in Paradise. If man realizes this reality then all his sorrows will be over.
63. Hints at the fact that all our guilt’s have been forgiven by our Lord and He has appreciated and rewarded us for our good acts.
64. That is: Our Lord has arranged our stay in such mansions which are eternal abode, and we will stay there for ever. Then the characteristic of this house (Paradise) is that here it would not be necessary to work or put in any labour, nor any tiredness or fatigue will be felt.
When a man does any work, he feels tired. But the ambience of Paradise will be much superior and excellent than that of the world, and it would not be necessary for the residents to do any work for getting anything in Paradise. Therefore, there will be no weariness there.
65. Means particularly those people who refused to accept Quran to be a revealed Book from Allah.
66. That is: Death is not going to finish their troubles. They will always be in trouble and pain.
67. Such a severe punishment will be in accordance with Allah’s Law of Justice, in which grateful people are rewarded with the Garden of Eden, Eternal Paradise, and the ungrateful people are punished by being thrown into eternal Hell.
A person, who inflicts injuries to his own eyes, does not get his eyes again. Similarly a person who spurns Allah’s blessings, his being deprived of eternal bliss and bounties, is a logical fate.
It is He who has made you (Khalifa) authoritative in the earth. So he who disbelieves, his disbelief will be on his own head. Their disbelief increases for the disbelievers in their Lord’s sight nothing but abhorrence. Their disbelief increases for the disbelievers nothing but loss. (Al-Quran)
37. There they will cry out: “Our Lord! Take us out from here. We will do then good, and not as we have done 68. “ (He will answer): “Did We not grant you a life long enough for him having a desire to reflect, to reflect therein 69? And the warner did come to you70; taste then the torment. The wrong-doers have no helpers.”
38. Verily Allah is the knower of the Unseen of the heavens and the earth. Verily, He is Aware of the secrets of men’s breasts.
39. It is He who has made you (Khalifa)71 authoritative in the earth. So he who disbelieves, his disbelief will be on his own head72. Their disbelief increases for the disbelievers in their Lord’s sight nothing but abhorrence. Their disbelief increases for the disbelievers nothing but loss.
40. Say: “Have you seen your god-partners whom you invoke beside Allah? Show me what thing they have created of the earth, or have they a share in the heavens? Or have We given them a book from which they derive a clear proof? Nay, the evildoers promise” one another only to deceive73.”
41. It is Allah who keeps the heavens and the earth from deviating74, and if they were to deviate there is none that would keep them in position after Him75. Verily, He is Forbearing, Forgiving 76.
42. They solemnly swore by Allah that if a warner came to them, they would accept the guidance more readily than any other community77. Yet when a warner came to them, it aroused in them nothing but repugnance.
68. How heart rending is this scene of the Hell which has been presented here, in which the disbelievers are crying, shouting and feeling helpless. It has been shown so that those who deny Quran should see their painful fate. It is not unlikely that this glimpse may prompt them to reform themselves.
69. Means that age in which a man becomes able to distinguish between truth and falsehood and to learn lessons from the events taking place around him. At another place Quran has termed the age of youth as the age of understanding and thinking.
(Hatta Yablugha Ashud-dahu. Bani Israil - 34). Whoever reaches the age of understanding and thinking on him this responsibility falls that he should act carefully while deciding the stance he should take in connection with his future life and he should take a lesson from whatever points of divine reminders come to his knowledge.
70. That is: In addition there came to you from Allah a messenger who conveyed to you Allah’s message convincingly.
71. Khalifa means man with power, with authority. Its explanation is given in Note No.95, Surah Noor. It may be noted that in Quran no where man has been termed as Allah’s Khalifa or deputy, but what is stated, is that Allah has made him Khalifa, which means that he is a creature with power, strength, authority, and this power, authority, etc., are created by Allah, they are a trust from Allah. No part of Divine authority is available to him, nor is he a substitute for Allah. A misunderstanding can be created by saying that man is Allah’s deputy or Allah’s khalifa. Therefore, the translation of Khalifa as powerful or with authority is more appropriate and correct, that Allah has made man a creature with power on earth.
72. That is: Whoever will refuse to accept this reality that Allah has made him a creature of authority, and will consider himself independent against this reality, then his position will be that of a rebel and a major guilty person and the responsibility for all this will be on his own head.
73. That is : Have you any documentary proof or logical argument In support of treating those whom you Invoke as partners of God? If yes, then tell us what thing have they created in this earth, or what share have they in the creation of the heavens. If they have no share in the creation of the earth and the heavens, then how can they be gods? If in support of more than one god there is no intellectual or logical argument with you, then have you any divine scripture, in which this has been mentioned? If it is not so, (and it is a fact that there is no intellectual proof or documentary evidence in support of various gods)then their belief is baseless and nothing else. And for remaining attached to this baseless and false belief, you give false hopes to one another, and that it is going to make them finally prosperous is nothing but deceiving one another.
The polytheists of Arabia had no divine book with them, about which they could claim that they had a divine book But the polytheists of India have an ancient religious book, Ved, in which a concept of various deities is found: But Ved do not themselves claim to be divine scripture, nor is there any evidence available of them being a revelation from God, so much so that it is also not known as to who is the author of these books, or who first presented them.
About the Vedas C. Kunhan Raja writes: “In most of the religions, the person who had the revelation, had that revelation imparted by a God, and there may be religions where he received that revelation through personal effort without a God. Even within the scheme of the rituals of the vedas, there is no such original Teacher of the religion and there are no dogmas for belief.” (The Quintessence of the Rigveda P.6). Therefore, the concept of various deities and gods found in the Vedas cannot be presented as a proof.
74. That is. They should remain in the same position in which they were first established or created, the earth should not roll over or the skies should not fall down.
75. If Allah loosens His grip or grasp of the heavens and the earth, there is no one who can keep them in their present position. It means that the earth and the skies are as they are because Allah has kept them so. If He does not want to keep them as such, there is none who can keep them in their position.
76. Hints at the point that the talk of the disbelievers is such that it is likely to attract Allah’s wrath and the equilibrium of the earth and the heavens may go helter skelter. But Allah is tolerant, that is why His wrath does not take its toll immediately, and He grants reprieve and He also forgives Therefore, He grants reprieve even to the disbelievers that they should seek His forgiveness and mend their ways.
77. Before the advent of the Prophet, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam the polytheists of Makkah used to see the Jews and the Christians and say that if any prophet came to them, they would show them that they would be better guided and more virtuous than them.
Have they not traveled in the land and seen the fate of those who went before them, (nations) far mightier than they. There is nothing in the heaven and the earth beyond the power of Allah. He is All-Knowing and Mighty. (Al-Quran)
43. Behaving arrogantly and plotting evil. But evil recoils on those that plot evil.78 Do they expect to be treated except like the ancient people79? No change will you find in Allah’s tradition, nor will you find Allah’s tradition prone to be averted 80.
44. Have they not traveled in the land and seen the fate of those who went before them, (nations) far mightier than they. There is nothing in the heaven and the earth beyond the power of Allah. He is All-Knowing and Mighty.
45. If Allah were to punish men for what they did, then He could not leave a living creature on the surface of the earth. But He reprieves them to an appointed term, and when their turn comes, then Allah will see His slaves (for final reckoning)81.
78. The conspiracies hatched against the true religion and the messenger of Allah will recoil on the plotters themselves, and the world has seen how the plots and schemes against the Arabian Prophet, Muhammad, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, failed miserably. This was their fate in this world. In the next world they will get the most horrifying treatment.
79. Do they want that the adverse consequence of the ancient nations which lived before them should also be theirs on account of their refusing to accept their messengers?
80. The tradition, the rule of Allah, is that He destroys the people who deny His messengers, in this world, and it is an inevitable tradition. No concession is given to any nation in the matter of enforcing this tradition. Every denying nation had met this fate. Therefore, the fate of the nation who will deny the Prophet of the Quran will be the same. There cannot be any change in this tradition of Allah, nor can the punishment that follows the enforcement of this tradition be averted.
For further explanation, please see Surah Bani Israil, Note No. 107
81. This is the answer to the doubt of the deniers that if they were misguided then why they are not being punished. It is said that if Allah were to punish people immediately on their sins, then the human race would have been destroyed, for there is no man who has not committed any sin during his life time But Allah gives a chance to every one to reform, so much so that He gives reprieve even to the misguided nations, so that they may reform themselves. When this time of reprieve would be over, then the time of decision for judgment will come, then Allah will see what His slaves have done, and what treatment should be given to them. There is a great warning for the misguided and the evil doing people that they should not think that Allah will not ever seize them.