016- AL-NAHL

THE BEE

IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE COMPASSIONATE, THE MERCIFUL

# The Command of God is coming; so seek not to hasten it. Glory be to Him and exalted is He above the partners they ascribe. # He sends down angels with the Spirit from His Command to whomsoever He will among His servants, “Give warning that there is no god but I, so reverence Me!” # He created the heavens and the earth in truth. Exalted is He above the partners they ascribe. # He created man from a drop, and behold, he is a manifest adversary. # And cattle has He created for you, in which there is warmth and [other] uses, and whereof you eat. # And in them there is beauty for you, when you bring them home, and when you take them out to pasture. # And they bear your burdens to a land you would never reach, save with great hardship to yourselves. Truly your Lord is Kind, Merciful. # And [He has created] horses, mules, and asses, that you may ride them, and as adornment, and He creates that which you know not. # And it is for God to show the way, for some of them lead astray. Had He willed, He would have guided you all together. # He it is Who sends down water from the sky, from which you have drink, and from which comes forth vegetation wherewith you pasture your cattle. # Therewith He causes the crops to grow for you, and olives, and date palms, and grapevines, and every kind of fruit. Truly in that is a sign for a people who reflect. # He has made the night and the day subservient unto you, and the sun, and the moon, and the stars are subservient by His Command. Truly in that are signs for a people who understand. # And whatsoever He created for you on the earth of diverse hues—truly in this is a sign for a people who reflect. # He it is Who made the sea subservient, that you may eat fresh meat therefrom, and extract from it ornaments that you wear. You see the ships plowing through it, and [this is so] that you may seek His Bounty, and that haply you may give thanks. # And He cast firm mountains in the earth, lest it shake beneath you, and streams, and ways, that haply you may be guided, # and landmarks, and by the stars they are guided. # Is He Who creates like one who creates not? Will you not, then, reflect? # And were you to count the blessings of God, you could not number them. Truly God is Forgiving, Merciful. # And God knows what you hide and what you disclose. # And those whom they call upon apart from God create naught, and are themselves created. # [They are] dead, not living, and they are not aware of when they will be resurrected. # Your God is one God. And those who believe not in the Hereafter, their hearts deny and they wax arrogant. # There is no doubt that God knows what they hide and what they disclose. Truly He loves not the arrogant. # When it is said unto them, “What has your Lord sent down?” they say, “Fables of those of old!” # [This is so], that on the Day of Resurrection they may bear their burdens completely, along with some of the burdens of those whom they lead astray without knowledge. Behold! Evil is that which they bear. # Those before them also plotted. Then God came upon their building from the foundations, and the roof fell down upon them from above, and the punishment came upon them whence they were not aware. # Then on the Day of Resurrection He will disgrace them and say, “Where are My partners on whose account you were defiant?” Those who were given knowledge will say, “Surely, this day, disgrace and evil are upon the disbelievers”— # those whom the angels took while they were wronging themselves. Then they will offer submission, “We were not doing any evil.” Nay, but God knows best that which you were doing. # So enter the gates of Hell, to abide therein. Evil indeed is the abode of the arrogant! # And it will be said unto those who are reverent, “What has your Lord sent down?” They will say, “Goodness.” For those who are virtuous in this world, there shall be good, and the Abode of the Hereafter is better. Excellent indeed is the abode of the reverent! # They shall enter the Gardens of Eden with rivers running below. Therein shall they have whatsoever they will. Thus does God recompense the reverent, # those whom the angels take while they are in a state of goodness. They will say, “Peace be upon you! Enter the Garden for that which you used to do.” # Do they await aught but that the angels should come upon them, or that the Command of thy Lord should come? Those before them did likewise. And God wronged them not, but they wronged themselves. # Thus they were stricken by the evil deeds they had done, and were beset by that which they used to mock. # Those who ascribe partners unto God say, “Had God willed, we would not have worshipped aught apart from Him—neither us nor our fathers—nor would we have considered sacred aught apart from Him.” Those before them did likewise. Is aught incumbent upon the Messenger save the clear proclamation? # We indeed sent a messenger unto every community, “Worship God, and shun false deities!” Then among them were those whom God guided; and among them were those who were deserving of error. So journey upon the earth and behold how the deniers fared in the end! # Though thou eagerly desire that they be guided, verily God guides not those who lead astray, and they shall have no helpers. # And they swear by God their most solemn oaths [that] God will not resurrect those who die. Nay, but it is a promise binding upon Him, though most of mankind know not. # [This is so] that He might make clear unto them that wherein they differed, and that those who disbelieved might know that truly they were liars. # And Our Word unto a thing, when We desire it, is only to say to it, “Be!” and it is. # And those who emigrate for the sake of God, after having been wronged, We shall surely settle them in a good place in this world—and the reward of the Hereafter is greater, if they but knew— # those who are patient and trust in their Lord. C We sent no messengers before thee, save men unto whom We revealed—ask the people of the Reminder, if you know not— # clear proofs and scriptures. And We have sent down the Reminder unto thee that thou mightest clarify for mankind that which has been sent down unto them, that haply they may reflect. # Do those who have plotted evil deeds feel secure that God will not cause the earth to engulf them, or that the punishment will not come upon them whence they are not aware? # Or that He will not seize them in the midst of their going to and fro, and they will be powerless to thwart [it]? # Or that He will not seize them with a gradual diminishing? And truly your Lord is Kind, Merciful. # Have they not considered that whatsoever God has created casts its shadow to the right and to the left, prostrating to God while in a state of abject humility? # And unto God prostrates whatever crawling creatures or angels are in the heavens or on the earth, and they do not wax arrogant. # They fear their Lord above them, and they do whatsoever they are commanded. # And God says, “Do not take up two gods. Truly He is only one God. So be in awe of Me.” # Unto Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth, and religion belongs to Him forever. Will you then revere something other than God? # Whatever blessing you have, it is from God. Then, when affliction befalls you, it is unto Him that you cry for help. # Then, when He removes the affliction from you, behold, a group among you ascribes partners unto their Lord. # So let them be ungrateful for that which We have given them: “Enjoy yourselves! For soon you will know.” # And they dedicate a share of that which We have provided them unto that which they know not. By God, you shall surely be questioned about that which you used to fabricate. # And they assign unto God daughters—glory be to Him!—while they have that which they desire. # And when one of them receives tidings of a female [child], his face darkens, and he is choked with anguish. # He hides from the people on account of the evil of the tidings he has been given. Shall he keep it in humiliation, or bury it in the dust? Behold! Evil indeed is the judgment they make! # Those who believe not in the Hereafter have an evil description, while unto God belongs the loftiest description. And He is the Mighty, the Wise. # And were God to take mankind to task for their wrongdoing, He would not leave a single creature upon [the earth]. But He grants them reprieve till a term appointed. And when their term comes, they shall not delay it a single hour, nor shall they advance it. # They assign unto God that to which they are averse. And their tongues utter the lie that the best shall be theirs. There is no doubt that theirs shall be the Fire, and they shall be hastened [toward it]. # By God, We have indeed sent messengers unto communities before thee. But Satan made their deeds seem fair unto them. So he is their protector on this day, and theirs shall be a painful punishment. # And We did not send down unto thee the Book, save that thou mightest make clear to them that wherein they differed, and as a guidance and a mercy for a people who believe. # And God sends down water from the sky, and thereby revives the earth after its death. Surely in this is a sign for a people who hear. # And surely in the cattle there is a lesson for you: We give you to drink from that which is in their bellies, between refuse and blood, as pure milk, palatable to those who drink [thereof]. # And from the fruits of the date palm and the vine, from which you derive strong drink and a goodly provision. Surely in this is a sign for a people who understand. # And thy Lord revealed unto the bee, “Take up dwellings among the mountains and the trees and among that which they build. # Then eat of every kind of fruit, and follow the ways of your Lord made easy.” A drink of diverse hues comes forth from their bellies wherein there is healing for mankind. Truly in that is a sign for a people who reflect. # God created you; then He takes you [unto Himself]. And among you are those who are brought back to the weakest of ages, such that they know nothing after having had knowledge. Truly God is Knowing, Powerful. # And God has favored some of you above others in provision. Those who have been favored do not hand over their provision to those whom their right hands possess, such that they would be equal in this regard. Would they thus reject the blessings of God? # And God has ordained mates for you from among yourselves, and from your mates He has ordained for you children and grandchildren. And He provided you with good things. Will they then believe in that which is false, and show ingratitude for the blessings of God? # And they worship, apart from God, that which has no power over any provision that may come to them from the heavens and the earth; nor are they capable [of such]. # So set forth no parables for God. Truly God knows and you know not. # God sets forth a parable: a servant enslaved, with power over naught, and he unto whom We have provided a goodly provision from Us, who then spends of it secretly and openly. Are they equal? Praise be to God! Nay, but most of them know not. # God sets forth a parable: two men, one of whom is dumb, with power over naught, who is a burden unto his master; wheresoever he dispatches him, he brings no good. Is he equal to one who enjoins justice, and who is on a straight path? # Unto God belongs the Unseen of the heavens and the earth. The matter of the Hour is as the blinking of an eye, or nearer still. Truly God is Powerful over all things. # And God brought you forth from the bellies of your mothers, knowing naught. And He endowed you with hearing, sight, and hearts, that haply you may give thanks. # Have they not considered the birds, made subservient, in midair? None holds them save God. Truly in that are signs for a people who believe. # And God has ordained for you a place of rest in your dwellings, and He has made dwellings for you from the skins of cattle, which you bear with ease on the day you travel and the day you pitch camp. And from their wool, and their fur, and their hair, furnishings and enjoyment for a while. # And God has made shade for you from among that which He created, and He has made places of refuge for you in the mountains. He has made coats for you that protect you from the heat and coats that protect you from your own might. Thus does God complete His Blessing unto you, that haply you may submit. # Then if they turn away—only the clear proclamation is incumbent upon thee. # They recognize the Blessing of God, and then deny it, and most of them are disbelievers. # And on that Day We shall raise up a witness from every community; then those who disbelieved will not be permitted [to speak], nor can they make amends. # And when those who did wrong see the punishment, it shall not be lightened for them, nor shall they be granted respite. # When those who ascribed partners unto God see the partners they ascribed, they will say, “Our Lord! These are our partners whom we called upon apart from Thee.” But they will retort, “Verily you are liars!” # And they will offer submission unto God on that Day, and that which they used to fabricate will forsake them. # Those who disbelieve and who have turned from the way of God, for them We shall add punishment on top of punishment, for their having worked corruption. # And on that Day We shall raise up in every community a witness against them from among themselves, and We shall bring thee as a witness against these. And We sent down unto thee the Book as a clarification of all things, and as a guidance and a mercy and glad tidings for those who submit. # Truly God commands justice, virtue, and giving to kinsfolk, and He forbids indecency, wrong, and rebelliousness. And He admonishes you, that haply you may remember. # Fulfill the pact of God when you have pledged it, and break not your oaths after solemnly affirming them, and having made God a Witness over you. Surely God knows whatsoever you do. # Be not like she who unravels her yarn, breaking it after it had been strong [by] taking your oaths to practice deception among yourselves, so that one community might be larger and wealthier than another. God only tries you thereby. And on the Day of Resurrection, He will surely clarify for you that wherein you differed. # Had God willed, He would have made you one community. But He leads astray whomsoever He will and guides whomsoever He will. And you shall surely be questioned about that which you used to do. # Take not your oaths to practice deception among yourselves, lest a foot slip after it had been firmly planted, and you taste evil for your having turned from the way of God, and yours should be a great punishment. # Sell not the pact of God for a paltry price. Surely that which is with God is better for you, if you but knew. # That which is with you comes to an end, but that which is with God subsists. And surely We shall render unto those who are patient their reward for the best of that which they used to do. # Whosoever works righteousness, whether male or female, and is a believer, We shall give them new life, a good life, and We shall surely render unto them their reward in accordance with the best of that which they used to do. # So when you recite the Quran, seek refuge in God from the outcast Satan. # Truly he has no authority over those who believe and trust in their Lord. # His authority is only over those who take him as a protector, and those who take him as a partner. # And when We replace one sign with another—and God knows best that which He sends down—they say, “You are only a fabricator!” Nay, but most of them know not. # Say, “The Holy Spirit has brought it down from thy Lord in truth, to make firm those who believe, and as guidance and glad tidings for those who submit.” # Indeed, We know that they say, “He has merely been taught by a human being.” The tongue of the one whom they falsely implicate is foreign, while this is [in] a clear, Arabic tongue. # Truly those who believe not in the signs of God, God guides them not, and theirs shall be a painful punishment. # Only those who believe not in the signs of God fabricate lies. It is they who are liars. # Whosoever disbelieves in God after having believed—save one who is coerced, while his heart is at peace in faith —but whosoever opens his breast unto disbelief, upon them shall be the Wrath of God, and theirs shall be a great punishment. # That is for their having preferred the life of this world to the Hereafter. And surely God guides not disbelieving people. # It is they on whose hearts God has placed a seal, and on their hearing and their seeing. It is they who are heedless. # There is no doubt that in the Hereafter they are the losers. # Then indeed thy Lord, for those who emigrated after being oppressed, then strove and were patient, surely thy Lord thereafter is Forgiving, Merciful. # That Day every soul will come disputing on behalf of itself, and every soul will be paid in full for that which it has done. They shall not be wronged. # God sets forth a parable: a town secure and at peace, its provision coming unto it abundantly from every side. Yet, it was ungrateful for the blessings of God; so God let it taste the garment of hunger and fear for that which they had wrought. # A messenger from among themselves had surely come unto them, but they denied him. And so the punishment seized them while they were wrongdoers. Ĕ So eat of the lawful and good things God has provided you, and give thanks for the Blessing of God, if it is He Whom you worship. # He has only forbidden you carrion, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that which has been offered to other than God. But whosoever is compelled by necessity, without willfully disobeying or transgressing, truly God is Forgiving, Merciful. # And utter not lies in what your tongues assert, [saying], “This is lawful and this is forbidden,” such that you fabricate a lie against God. Surely those who fabricate lies against God will not prosper. # A little enjoyment, while theirs shall be a painful punishment. # And unto those who are Jews, We forbade that which We recounted unto thee beforehand. We wronged them not, but they wronged themselves. # Then truly thy Lord—for those who commit evil in ignorance, then later repent and make amends—truly thy Lord thereafter is Forgiving, Merciful. # Truly Abraham was a community, devoutly obedient to God, a ḥanīf, and he was not among the idolaters. # [And he was] thankful for His Blessings. He chose him and guided him unto a straight path. # And We granted him good in this world, and surely in the Hereafter he shall be among the righteous. # Then We revealed unto thee, “Follow the creed of Abraham, a ḥanīf, and he was not among the idolaters.” # And the Sabbath was only ordained for those who differed concerning it, and surely thy Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection, concerning that wherein they used to differ. # Call unto the way of thy Lord with wisdom and goodly exhortation. And dispute with them in the most virtuous manner. Surely thy Lord is He Who knows best those who stray from His way, and He knows best the rightly guided. # And if you would punish, then punish with the like of that wherewith you were punished. But if you are patient, then that is better for the patient. # So be patient, and thy patience is only with God. And grieve not on their account, nor be distressed by what they plot. # Truly God is with those who are reverent, and those who are virtuous.

Commentary

# The Command of God is coming; so seek not to hasten it. Glory be to Him and exalted is He above the partners they ascribe.

1 When the Prophet received a revelation saying the Hour has drawn nigh (54:1), the Makkan idolaters temporarily stopped what they were doing in order to await the events that were about to unfold. When the Hour did not come, they mocked the warning that the Prophet had delivered (Z). This verse was revealed, affirming that the Command of God is indeed coming; see also 4:47; 33:37; 65:3, where it is said that the Command of God will be fulfilled. The Command of God refers to the coming of either earthly punishment or the Last Day (see, e.g., 11:40; 23:27; 40:78; 57:14; 82:18). The warning seek not to hasten it suggests that God’s Judgment or Punishment may be hastened by either disbelief or wrongdoing (see, e.g., 6:57–58; 7:150; 10:51). See also 21:37: Man was created of haste.

Soon shall I show you My signs; so seek not to hasten Me; as well as 22:47; 26:203–4; 27:72; 29:53–54; 37:176; 42:18; 46:24; 51:13–14. That God is exalted above the partners people ascribe to Him is also mentioned in 6:100; 7:190; 10:18; 16:3; 23:92; 27:63; 28:68; 30:40; 39:67.

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# He sends down angels with the Spirit from His Command to whomsoever He will among His servants, “Give warning that there is no god but I, so reverence Me!”

2. The Spirit with which God sends down angels is understood here as a reference to the Quran or to revelation more generally (Q, Ṭs); revelation may be referred to as the Spirit since it conveys Divine Guidance and gives life to the soul (Q, Ṭs), reviving hearts just as spirits revive bodies (Q). The angels with whom the Spirit descends refers most specifically to the Archangel Gabriel (JJ), the agent of revelation. Other verses mention a connection between the Spirit and God’s Command, for example, 17:85: They ask thee about the Spirit. Say, “The Spirit is from the Command of my Lord, and you have not been given knowledge, save a little” (cf. 40:15; 42:52; 97:4). In Islamic metaphysics, the “world of the Command” (ʿālam al-amr) is identified with the world of the Spirit (al-Rūḥ). God sends the Spirit to whomsoever He will among His servants, that is, to whomever He chooses as messengers (JJ, Ṭ). The Divine command Reverence Me! is also found in 2:41, 197; 23:52; 39:16.

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# He created the heavens and the earth in truth. Exalted is He above the partners they ascribe.

3. God created the world in truth, that is, with purpose and goodness and not in vain, an idea that is repeated in many other verses; see 6:73c; 10:5; 30:8c; 44:39; 45:22; 46:3; 64:3.

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# He created man from a drop, and behold, he is a manifest adversary.

4 That human beings were created from a drop of fluid (cf. 18:37; 22:5; 23:12–14; 35:11; 40:67; 53:45–46; 75:37; 76:2; 80:19) evokes their essential weakness (IK) and helplessness. Human beings are a manifest adversary of the Lord (IK, Z) insofar as they deny His Power and the blessings He has bestowed upon them and refuse to believe in His ability to resurrect the dead (R), although they were created to be servants (51:56), not opponents (IK). This verse was reportedly revealed in reference to Ubayy ibn Khalaf, a Makkan who expressed skepticism about God’s ability to resurrect the dead (W). See also commentary on 36:77: Has not man seen that We created him from a drop and, behold, he is a manifest adversary.

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# And cattle has He created for you, in which there is warmth and [other] uses, and whereof you eat.

# And in them there is beauty for you, when you bring them home, and when you take them out to pasture.

# And they bear your burdens to a land you would never reach, save with great hardship to yourselves. Truly your Lord is Kind, Merciful.

5–7 In the Quran cattle is used to designate four types of grazing animals: sheep, goats, camels, and oxen; see 6:142–44. The manifold benefits of cattle for human beings (also mentioned in vv. 66, 80; 23:21–22; 36:71–72; 40:79–80; 43:12–13) include their service as riding animals and beasts of burden, their provision of milk and meat, and the use of their skin and wool for making dwellings and furnishings. It is only in this passage, however, that their beauty (jamāl) is invoked (v. 6) as one of their benefits for humanity, indicating that the natural world should be seen as a source of beauty and wonder, not just of material benefits. In his commentary on these verses, al-Rāzī suggests a hierarchy of animals in which human beings are at the pinnacle, followed by those animals of most use to them in matters of material survival, then by those that provide beauty and adornment, then by those that provide no benefit, and finally by those about whom human beings have no knowledge at all (see v. 8, which states that God creates that which you know not).

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# And [He has created] horses, mules, and asses, that you may ride them, and as adornment, and He creates that which you know not.

8. The grazing animals mentioned in this verse, horses, mules, and asses, unlike the cattle mentioned in vv. 5–7, are of use primarily for riding and adornment rather than for food. Most schools of law agree that the meat of mules and asses is not permissible to eat; the latter was explicitly banned by the Prophet during the Battle of Khaybar (7/629; Q). Some consider the eating of horse meat to be permissible, but nonetheless discouraged (Q), primarily because it is seen as a waste of a creature that has greater usefulness as a premier riding animal. Such animals are a source of adornment insofar as riding them not only provides a means of transportation, but also confers a measure of dignity or nobility, and hence a kind of worldly adornment, upon the rider. That God creates that which you know not is meant to indicate His great Power (Z), which surpasses human understanding (Z).

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# And it is for God to show the way, for some of them lead astray. Had He willed, He would have guided you all together.

9. It is for God to guide people to the straight path that leads to salvation (Bḍ), because some of them—that is, some paths—lead astray. Some commentators understood this to mean that it is God’s self-imposed obligation to guide His servants (Z); others described God’s guiding people as an act of bounty and generosity on His part, not an obligation (Bḍ, R). This verse can also be understood to mean that only God can guide people in this way, as in 92:12: Truly Ours it is to give guidance. That God could have guided all people to the straight path, had He willed, is also mentioned in 5:48; 6:35, 149; 16:93. For Ashʿarite thinkers, this and similar verses indicate that God does not necessarily will that all people should be guided aright (R). Muʿtazilite thinkers, however, understood this verse to mean that, although God is capable of compelling all people to follow His Guidance, He prefers to allow them to exercise the free will that He has given them to choose for themselves; or they understood it to mean that God could guide all people to Paradise (regardless of their deeds), but that He wishes that only those who have earned Paradise through their actions should go there (R).

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# He it is Who sends down water from the sky, from which you have drink, and from which comes forth vegetation wherewith you pasture your cattle.

# Therewith He causes the crops to grow for you, and olives, and date palms, and grapevines, and every kind of fruit. Truly in that is a sign for a people who reflect.

10–11 God’s sending down water is mentioned throughout the Quran as one of His fundamental gifts to humanity (see, e.g., 15:22; 22:63; 29:63; 30:24; 41:39), since in addition to its direct use by human beings, it also sustains plants and animals that are of use to people as well; see 6:99c; 7:57; 14:32; 20:53–54; 22:5; 23:18–19; 27:60; 31:10; 35:27; 39:21; 78:14–16; 80:25–32. That this and other natural phenomena serve as a sign for a people who reflect is an idea also found in 10:24; 13:3; 16:13, 69; 30:21; 39:42; 45:13.

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# He has made the night and the day subservient unto you, and the sun, and the moon, and the stars are subservient by His Command. Truly in that are signs for a people who understand.

12. Various natural phenomena are described in the Quran as being made subservient by God’s Command (7:54; 13:2; 29:61; 31:29; 35:13; 39:5). Subservience is also mentioned in relation to the sea (v. 14) and the birds (v. 79). In the present verse and elsewhere, however, it is said that God has made certain phenomena subservient unto you, that is, unto human beings (14:32–33; 22:36– 37; 22:65; 31:20; 43:13; 45:12). The subservience of natural phenomena to human beings can be understood cosmologically as a consequence of the fact that the human being is God’s vicegerent (khalīfat Allāh) on earth (see 2:30 and commentary). In some cases, even humanly constructed phenomena, particularly ships that sail upon seas and rivers, are included among those things that God has made subservient to human beings (14:32–33c; 43:13; 45:12).

That such majestic phenomena have been made subservient to human beings means that these phenomena have been designed or constrained by God to serve human needs (R). For example, night and day provide human beings the opportunity to rest at night (10:67) and to seek God’s Bounty by day (Z), while the stars provide them with a means of navigation or guidance on both land and sea (v. 16). To describe something as subservient implies the existence of a conscious will that is constrained to obey and serve another. Because the sun, the moon, and other phenomena that are described as subservient are understood to be inanimate objects, some consider their “subservience” merely a metaphor for God’s creating them in a particular way to serve their designated function. However, others suggest that the Divine Command by which they are made subservient is actually a “prescriptive command,” which these phenomena obey as a matter of religious responsibility (R). This latter understanding is consistent with the literal reading of other verses indicating that there are stones that crash down for the fear of God (2:74), stars and trees that prostrate to God (55:6), and thunder that hymns His praise (13:13). That such natural phenomena are signs of God’s Power and Benevolence for people who understand is also mentioned in 2:164; 13:4; 16:67; 30:24; 45:5.

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# And whatsoever He created for you on the earth of diverse hues —truly in this is a sign for a people who reflect.

13. Cf. 35:27–28, where God’s creating the earth, human beings, and cattle of diverse hues is a reason to be in awe of Him. The present verse marks a shift from the sūrah’s discussion of the wonders of the celestial world to those of the terrestrial realm (IK). Diverse hues refers not only to variations of color, but also to differences in shape and appearance (Bḍ, IK, Q).

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# He it is Who made the sea subservient, that you may eat fresh meat therefrom, and extract from it ornaments that you wear. You see the ships plowing through it, and [this is so] that you may seek His Bounty, and that haply you may give thanks.

14. For a discussion of the “subservience” of natural phenomena, see 16:12c. Regarding the sea as a source of fresh meat—that is, fish (Ṭ)—and ornaments, alluding to pearls and coral (55:22; Ṭ), see 35:12c. The fresh meat of the sea differs from the meat derived from land animals in Islamic Law in that fish do not need to be ritually slaughtered and can be caught and eaten even in a state of iḥrām (a state of purity for pilgrimage, which is nullified by the slaughtering of an animal); see 5:1, 95–96. Ships that sail upon the sea are mentioned elsewhere as a benefit for which people should be grateful to God (see, e.g., 2:164; 14:32; 23:22; 31:31). Plowing through it refers to the ships’ cutting through the water or through the wind (Ṭ). The ships allow human beings to seek His Bounty (17:66; 30:46; 35:12; 45:12), a reference to the goods that one may acquire through distant trade and the profit one may make thereby (see 28:73; 30:23).

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# And He cast firm mountains in the earth, lest it shake beneath you, and streams, and ways, that haply you may be guided,

15. A nearly identical verse is 21:31; see 21:30–31c. God’s casting or placing firm mountains into the earth for humanity suggests their functioning as a source of stability for the earth, lest it shake beneath them (cf. 13:3; 15:9; 41:10; 50:7; 77:27; 79:32); see also 21:31; 31:10; and 78:7, where the mountains are described as stakes like those that hold up a tent. Al-Rāzī suggests that mountains and streams are mentioned together (cf. 13:3; 27:61), because most streams have their origin in mountain springs. The stability provided by the mountains will be overturned on the Last Day, however, which is described as a day on which the earth and the mountains shake, and the mountains will be like heaps of shifting sand (73:14; cf. 56:4–6; 101:5).

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# and landmarks, and by the stars they are guided.

16. Just as the streams serve as a source of guidance for human beings, so too do other landmarks, visible along the roads by day (Q, Ṭ, Z), and the stars, which are visible by night or when at sea (R)—thus providing humanity with sources of guidance night and day, on land or at sea. Landmarks translates ʿalāmāt and may include mountains (Q, Ṭ), springs along the road (Z), and winds (Q), all of which can provide directional guidance. The nomadic pre-Islamic Arabs had developed complex knowledge of winds, which is reflected in the rich vocabulary in Arabic for different kinds of winds, and the Quran makes reference to some of them; cf. 2:266; 17:69; 41:16; 51:41; 52:27. Stars translates najm, which is “star” in the singular. It may be singular in the Arabic because it is referring to stars as a single category (Q, Z), although others have suggested that it refers to a particular star or constellation, such as the Pleiades, Ursa Major or Minor, or the North Star (Q, Z). Since the Quraysh were dependent on the stars for navigation during their travels in the desert, they should have been particularly grateful for this blessing (Z); for Muslims, these natural sources of guidance are also useful for finding the direction of prayer (qiblah) in unfamiliar territory (Q, R).

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# Is He Who creates like one who creates not? Will you not, then, reflect?

17. Following the mention in the preceding verses of natural phenomena, which God has created for the benefit of human beings, the present verse asks whether one would still worship lifeless idols rather than God, Who created all of these blessings (R). The one who creates not is a reference to the idols worshipped by the Makkan idolaters (R, Z), and the verse serves as a rebuke to those who would make their idols equal to the Creator by referring to them as “gods” and worshipping them (R).

Ashʿarite theologians adduced this verse to indicate that the title “Creator,” and thus the act of creation, can only be rightfully attributed to God. Thus human beings cannot be said to be the “creators” of their own acts; rather, all acts, like all things, are created by God (R). Some Muʿtazilites responded by saying that the verse does not deny that the act of “creating,” in a limited sense, can also be attributed to human beings; rather, the point of the verse is that human beings, who possess intelligence and agency and thus have at least some capability for “creating,” should not worship idols that do not possess even these limited faculties or capabilities and thus can create nothing at all (R).

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# And were you to count the blessings of God, you could not number them. Truly God is Forgiving, Merciful.

18. For the impossibility of counting the blessings of God, see 14:34c. To say that human beings cannot count the blessings of God in their entirety is also to say that human beings can never be sufficiently grateful to God or worship Him “enough,” since they cannot mentally encompass the greatness and extent of the gifts that He has given them (R, Z). For this reason, God is described as Forgiving and Merciful with regard to the incapacity of human beings to offer sufficient praise to Him (R, Ṭs, Z). Al-Rāzī asserts that if one were to contemplate all that God had created for the benefit of human beings, the human intellect would be exhausted and extinguished merely by seeking to comprehend the wisdom with which God created humanity, let alone trying to take into account all of the other bounty and goodness He has provided.

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# And God knows what you hide and what you disclose.

19. This verse and many others like it refer to God’s knowledge of what human beings hide—that is, their inward thoughts and intentions—as well as of what they disclose through outward actions; see also 2:33, 77; 3:29; 5:99; 14:38; 21:110; 24:29; 27:25, 74; 28:69; 33:54; 36:76; 64:4. The reference to God’s allencompassing Knowledge is meant as a warning to those who conceal evil intentions (Z). In the context of this sūrah, it may also mean that in addition to their outward polytheism and idolatry, the idolaters also conceal other forms of disbelief and wrongdoing, such as their plots to undermine the Prophet and his mission (R). The statement here may also be intended to provide a contrast between God, who knows human beings both outwardly and inwardly, and the inanimate idols, which have no knowledge at all (R).

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# And those whom they call upon apart from God create naught, and are themselves created.

20. Cf. 25:3. That the idols are “created” presents an additional contrast with God, Who is “uncreated” and therefore not “created” by another. See 37:95–96: He said, “Do you worship that which you carve, while God created you and that which you make?”

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# [They are] dead, not living, and they are not aware of when they will be resurrected.

21. This verse offers the final contrast between God and the idols: the latter are dead, not living, whereas God is the Living (2:255; 3:2; 20:111; 40:65) and never dies (R). See 25:58: And trust in the Living, Who dies not, and hymn His praise. Some commentators suggest that they in they are not aware refers to the idols, and they in when they will be resurrected refers to the idolaters, meaning that the idols have no knowledge of when those who worship them will be resurrected (R); nor do they know when the Hour will come (IK). It is reported from Ibn ʿAbbās, however, that God will indeed quicken the idols at the time of the Resurrection, bring them together with the satans, and command them all into the Fire (R).

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# Your God is one God. And those who believe not in the Hereafter, their hearts deny and they wax arrogant.

# There is no doubt that God knows what they hide and what they disclose. Truly He loves not the arrogant.

22–23 Your God is one God is also found in 2:163; 22:34; 41:6; see also v. 51: Truly He is only one God. The hearts of the idolaters deny, that is, refuse to accept admonition (Q). To wax arrogant is an attitude associated with Satan (2:34; 7:13; 38:74–75) and the disbelievers (6:93; 14:21; 25:21; 28:39; 35:43;

37:35; 40:60; 46:20; 71:7; 74:23), whose pride prevents them from following the Prophet and leads them to deny anything that they do not already know (Bḍ). This attitude contrasts with that of believers, who contemplate the indications and signs of God and the guidance they are given, from which they benefit (Bḍ).

God loves not the arrogant, as He loves not the vainglorious boaster (4:36;

31:18; 57:23) or the exultant (28:76); He also does not love transgressors (2:190; 5:87; 7:55), disbelievers (3:32; 30:45), wrongdoers (3:57, 140; 42:40), those who practice treachery (4:107; 8:58; 22:38), workers of corruption (5:64, 28:77), or the prodigal (6:141; 7:31). The arrogant here may mean those who are too arrogant to believe in the Oneness of God, that is, the idolaters in particular, or it may be a general reference to all who are arrogant (Z). In relation to God’s knowledge of what people hide and disclose, mentioned in v. 19 and restated here, al-Qurṭubī observes that arrogance is the only sin that cannot be hidden, since it is an attitude visible by nature, and that it is the root of all disobedience. 

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# When it is said unto them, “What has your Lord sent down?” they say, “Fables of those of old!”

24. Regarding the common accusation that the Prophet was bringing mere fables of those of old, see 6:25; 8:31; 23:83; 25:5; 27:68; 68:15; 83:13.

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# [This is so], that on the Day of Resurrection they may bear their burdens completely, along with some of the burdens of those whom they lead astray without knowledge. Behold! Evil is that which they bear.

25. Those who lead others astray will carry an extra burden of punishment, as they will be punished for their own sins as well as for the sins of those whom they led astray; see 11:19–20. At the same time, the Quran asserts that none shall bear the burden of another (6:164; 17:15; 35:18; 39:7; 53:38). Thus even if those who lead others astray bear an extra or double burden of punishment, this in no way lessens the burden that those whom they led astray bear for their own sins (IK, Q). See 29:12–13: Those who disbelieve say to those who believe, “Follow our path and we shall bear your sins.” But they bear not aught of their sins. Truly they are liars. Surely they will bear their own burdens, and others’ burdens along with their own, and on the Day of Resurrection they will surely be questioned concerning that which they used to fabricate; and also 7:38. According to a ḥadīth, “Whoever calls to error and is followed, upon him are the burdens of those who followed him, without lessening their burdens at all; and whoever calls to guidance and is followed, he shall have the reward [of those who followed him] without lessening their reward” (IK, Q). Without knowledge pertains to those who are led astray; that is, they are in a state of ignorance. Despite their ignorance, however, they remain culpable for being led astray, because it is incumbent upon all people to exercise their judgment and intellect to distinguish between what is true and what is false (Z). They bear their burdens completely, meaning that the punishment will not be lessened for them in any way; for example, any misfortune that befell them in the world as a result of their disbelief will not absolve them of punishment in the Hereafter (Q).

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# Those before them also plotted. Then God came upon their building from the foundations, and the roof fell down upon them from above, and the punishment came upon them whence they were not aware.

26. This verse is meant both as a consolation for the Prophet and as a warning to his people, the Quraysh (Ṭs). It is one of several verses that warn of the futility of “plotting” against God, His prophets, or the believers; see, for example, 3:54: And they plotted, and God plotted. And God is the best of plotters (see also 6:123; 8:30; 10:21; 13:42; 14:46; 27:50c).

Those before them also plotted is reportedly a reference to an ancient tyrannical king among the Nabateans (Ṭ) or the people of southern Syria and Mesopotamia, and commentators commonly consider the tyrant here to be the one encountered by Abraham in 2:258, which legendary reports identify as Nimrod. The present verse is said to refer to this king’s desire to erect a building to Heaven to make war upon its inhabitants (JJ, Ṭ, Th, Ṭs) and God’s subsequent destruction of the building. This account is reminiscent of the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 and is explicitly connected with this story by several commentators (Ṭ, Th, Z). The identification of the tyrant as Nimrod is perhaps related to the Biblical mention of Nimrod as a mighty and dominant figure in Genesis 10. Others consider the verse to be a reference to Nebuchadnezzar (IK, Ṭ).

God came upon their building; that is, God’s Command (Ṭs) came upon the building and it was utterly uprooted and destroyed (Ṭ)—God’s Command is an expression used elsewhere to refer to the descent of destructive punishment (see,

e.g., 7:150c; 10:24). Their building may be a metaphor for all the various ways in which the disbelievers and idolaters try to lead others astray (IK). The verse may thus mean that God came upon their plot, undoing all their efforts (IK) or making its intended harm devolve upon the plotters themselves (Ṭs). That the roof fell down upon them may refer metaphorically to the uncovering of a plot that they had sought to keep hidden (IK) or to the descent of Divine Punishment from the sky (Ṭ).

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# Then on the Day of Resurrection He will disgrace them and say, “Where are My partners on whose account you were defiant?” Those who were given knowledge will say, “Surely, this day, disgrace and evil are upon the disbelievers”—

27 The destruction of their building was their punishment in this life, and disgrace will be their punishment in the Hereafter (Z). Where are My partners? is meant to rebuke (IK, Ṭs) or mock those who were defiant on account of the false partners they ascribed to God (Z); see also 6:22; 28:62–65; 28:74–75; 40:73–74; 41:47–48. Their ascribing partners to God made them defiant toward the believers (Ṭs, Z) as well as toward God (Z). Those who were given knowledge refers to the prophets and the learned people (ʿulamāʾ) who, in earthly life, have called others to faith and have admonished them (Z); or it refers to the believers (Ṭs), the angels (Ṭs), or all who are noble and truthful in this world and the next (IK).

***

# those whom the angels took while they were wronging themselves. Then they will offer submission, “We were not doing any evil.” Nay, but God knows best that which you were doing.

# So enter the gates of Hell, to abide therein. Evil indeed is the abode of the arrogant!

28–29 Wronging themselves refers to the disbelievers persisting in their disbelief. Offer submission translates alqaw al-salam, which may also be translated “offer peace”: they will offer peace and behave humbly—in contrast to their arrogance and dissension in life (Z). Although they offer submission, they do so only when death has come upon them, and thus at a time when their submission can no longer avail them (Ṭs). In this verse, the wrongdoers blatantly deny their wrongdoing in a vain attempt to escape punishment (cf. 6:22–24c), although in other verses, they acknowledge their wrongdoing in the face of Divine Punishment (21:46, 23:106; 68:29–31). Nay, but God knows best that which you were doing. So enter the gates of Hell is said by some commentators to have been uttered by those who were given knowledge (v. 27; Ṭs, Z); others claim these words are spoken by the angels (Ṭs) or by God Himself (IK, Ṭs).

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# And it will be said unto those who are reverent, “What has your Lord sent down?” They will say, “Goodness.” For those who are virtuous in this world, there shall be good, and the Abode of the Hereafter is better. Excellent indeed is the abode of the reverent!

30. The response of the reverent to the question What has your Lord sent down? is offered without hesitation and serves as a contrast to the response of the arrogant to that same question in v. 24 (Bḍ, Z): the arrogant considered what has been sent down to be mere fables, but the reverent describe what God has sent down as goodness. For other descriptions of contrasting responses to revelation, see 2:26; 9:124–25. For those who are virtuous in this world, there shall be good—that is, in this world (Q)—although some say good here may be a reference to Paradise (Q). If the good they receive in this world is merely commensurate with good deeds they have done, their reward in the Hereafter will well exceed the good they have earned through their deeds (Bḍ, Z); cf. 6:160. The Abode of the Hereafter is better in every respect, but also because, in contrast to this world, it is lasting (Q; see 20:127; 28:60; 42:36; 87:17). Since with God is the reward of this world and the Hereafter (4:134), people are enjoined to pray to God for the good things of both worlds; see 2:200–2. But just as goodness can be rewarded in this world as well as the Hereafter (see v. 41; 10:63–64), so too are disbelievers and wrongdoers recompensed with disgrace in this world and punishment in the Hereafter (2:114; 3:56; 5:33, 41; 9:74; 13:34, 24:19, 23; 33:57; 39:26).

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# They shall enter the Gardens of Eden with rivers running below. Therein shall they have whatsoever they will. Thus does God recompense the reverent,

31. Throughout the Quran, Gardens of Eden refers to the paradisal Gardens of the Hereafter; see also 9:72; 13:23; 19:61; 18:31; 20:76; 35:33; 38:50; 40:8; 98:8. Regarding the description of with rivers running below, which is repeated dozens of times throughout the Quran, see 2:25c. That those in the paradisal Garden shall have whatsoever they will (see also 36:55–57; 37:41–49; 38:50–54; 41:31; 44:51–57; 52:22–24; 55:46–76; 56:12–38; 77:41–44) is understood by some to indicate that human beings can only have all of their desires fulfilled in the Garden (Bḍ).

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# those whom the angels take while they are in a state of goodness. They will say, “Peace be upon you! Enter the Garden for that which you used to do.”

32. Regarding the angels taking souls of the deceased, see 4:97c; 6:61–62c; 7:37; 8:50; 32:11c. Peace be upon you is the greeting the angels give to the righteous, conveying greetings from God Himself and giving them glad tidings of Paradise (Z). Peace be upon you is also the greeting heard among those in the Garden (7:46; 10:10; 13:24; 14:24; 19:62; 33:44; 39:73) and is the proper greeting between Muslims in this world generally. In 36:58, “Peace!” is a “word” given to them by a Lord most Merciful. Those taken in a state of goodness refers to those who die innocent of all polytheism and pure in speech and action (Bḍ, Z), or to those who were taken in an easy manner without hardship or pain, in contrast to the way the souls of the disbelievers are taken (Bḍ; see, e.g., 8:50).

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# Do they await aught but that the angels should come upon them, or that the Command of thy Lord should come? Those before them did likewise. And God wronged them not, but they wronged themselves.

33. See 6:158c; 2:210. The coming of the angels or the Command of thy Lord can refer to either individual death or the coming of the Last Day and thus universal Resurrection and Judgment (Bḍ, Z). The rhetorical question in this verse is meant to indicate the foolishness of waiting until the Final Judgment comes to heed the warnings that have been given or of seeking such proof of impending punishment before believing. Those before them did likewise is a reference to previous peoples destroyed for disbelieving in their prophets and is thus meant as a warning for the Quraysh. God wronged them not, but they wronged themselves by committing deeds that necessitated their destruction (Z); see also 3:117; 9:70; 10:44; 11:101; 16:118; 29:40; 30:9; 43:76. The repeated Quranic assertion that human beings wrong themselves through their actions indicates that human beings are responsible for their actions and thus confirms human free will in moral matters.

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# Thus they were stricken by the evil deeds they had done, and were beset by that which they used to mock.

34. People suffer punishment for the deeds they have committed (Z), and the terrible consequences of their deeds fall ultimately upon themselves, since evil plotting besets none but its authors (35:43). Those who do wrong are thus solely responsible for the evil that befalls them; see 4:79: Whatever good befalls thee, it is from God, and whatever evil befalls thee, it is from thyself; and 6:164: No soul does evil, save against itself. That disbelievers will ultimately be beset by that which they used to mock is repeated in several places; see 11:8; 21:41; 39:48; 40:83; 45:33; 46:26.

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# Those who ascribe partners unto God say, “Had God willed, we would not have worshipped aught apart from Him—neither us nor our fathers—nor would we have considered sacred aught apart from Him.” Those before them did likewise. Is aught incumbent upon the Messenger save the clear proclamation?

35. Cf. 6:148 and 43:19–20, where the idolaters make similar claims. The idolaters’ claim that, if not for God’s Will, they would not have considered sacred, or forbidden, aught apart from Him likely refers to the various kinds of camels that the idolatrous Arabs considered sacred and therefore forbidden to be eaten (see 5:103c; IK, Z) or to the arbitrary prohibitions the Arabs placed on the meat of certain animals (6:136–39). The idolaters’ assertion is offered disingenuously as an excuse, but from the Quranic perspective their statement is not necessarily untrue, for in 6:137, after recounting the evil practices of the idolaters, the Quran itself states: Had God willed, they would not have done so. The latter verse can be understood to mean that at some level God wills all things; but it can also be interpreted to mean that although God is capable of forcibly preventing the idolaters from engaging in such practices, He instead gave them the free will to choose their own religious beliefs and practices, thus making the idolaters fully accountable for their religious choices. Cf. 36:47, where the disbelievers similarly invoke God’s Will in order to reject calls to spend their wealth in charity, saying, Are we to feed those whom, if God willed, He would feed? All such references to God’s Will are based upon the false, if implicit, argument that, since all that exists comes about as a matter of God’s Will, everything in existence is as it should be and therefore human beings as moral agents have no responsibility to rectify the errors and injustices or ameliorate the suffering they see in the world.

The verse’s final rhetorical question (cf. 3:20; 13:40; 5:99; 16:82; 24:54; 29:18; 36:17) makes it clear that, having delivered the message with which he has been charged, the Prophet is innocent of whatever his people do thereafter of their own free will (Z). For Ashʿarites, this does not necessarily mean that the responsibility for belief or disbelief lies with each individual as a matter of free will, but only that the Messenger himself is not responsible for it (R), leaving open the possibility that God could cause individuals to believe or disbelieve in His message. This Ashʿarite view, however, is rejected by most Muʿtazilite and Shiite thinkers.

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# We indeed sent a messenger unto every community, “Worship God, and shun false deities!” Then among them were those whom God guided; and among them were those who were deserving of error. So journey upon the earth and behold how the deniers fared in the end!

36. Regarding the idea that every community of human beings has been sent a messenger, see also 10:47: For every community there is a messenger, and when their messenger comes, judgment shall be rendered between them with justice, and they will not be wronged; as well as 35:23; 67:9c. Elsewhere in the Quran it is said that for every community there will be a witness (4:41; 16:84; 28:75) and that every community is called to its book (45:28). The command to worship God is understood to be the heart of every revealed message and is uttered directly by several prophets, including Jesus (5:72, 117); Noah (7:59; 23:23); Abraham (29:16); Hūd (7:65; 11:50); Ṣāliḥ (7:73; 11:61; 27:45); and Shuʿayb (7:85; 11:84; 29:36). See also 21:25: And We sent no messenger before thee, save that We

revealed unto him, “Verily, there is no god but I, so worship Me!”

Ashʿarite theologians suggest that among them were those whom God guided; and among them were those who were deserving of error (see also 7:30c) means that, after revealing the message to all, God guides some toward believing in it and causes others to disbelieve (R). Muʿtazilite commentators, however, adduce the phrase deserving of error as evidence of the opposite—namely, that guidance or misguidance is not compelled by God, but rather is something that is deserved or earned through an individual’s own moral choices (Bḍ). For example, the Quran indicates that God leads astray wrongdoers in particular (14:27; R) or those who have led others astray (see v. 37). The recommendation that one should journey upon the earth in order to learn the fate of earlier disbelieving people refers in particular to the Arabs, who reportedly would pass by the ruins of destroyed peoples as they traveled through the desert (cf. 3:137; 6:11; 27:69; 30:42), although this command is not limited to the Arabs. Regarding the spiritual value of journeying in general, see 30:9c.

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# Though thou eagerly desire that they be guided, verily God guides not those who lead astray, and they shall have no helpers.

37. This verse informs the Prophet that even though he ardently desired for his people to accept the Quranic message, the matter of guidance lay with God. See 10:99–100: And had thy Lord willed, all those who are on the earth would have believed all together. Wouldst thou compel men till they become believers? It is not for a soul to believe, save by God’s Leave. God does not guide those who lead astray, just as He does not guide wrongdoers (2:258; 3:86; 5:51; 6:144; 9:19, 109; 28:50; 46:10; 61:7; 62:5), disbelievers (2:264; 5:67; 9:37; 16:107), or the iniquitous (5:108; 9:24, 80; 61:5; 63:6). God guides not those who lead astray could also be translated to mean, “God guides not those whom He leads astray” (IK), as in 13:33: And whomsoever God leads astray, no guide has he (also 7:186). That such people have no helpers means that no one can protect them from God’s Punishment on the Day of Judgment (see, e.g., 2:270; 3:22; 5:72; 30:29).

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# And they swear by God their most solemn oaths [that] God will not resurrect those who die. Nay, but it is a promise binding upon Him, though most of mankind know not.

38. The idolaters’ denial of the Resurrection is a recurrent Quranic theme (see, e.g., 17:49; 23:35–37; 37:16–17). That the idolaters swear . . . solemn oaths when denying the possibility of the Resurrection indicates for some that their hearts and intellects had completely rejected the idea as irrational (R). Other commentators observe that for the idolaters to swear in this way is paradoxical, for, on the one hand, they invoke God in their solemn oaths, indicating the great esteem they have for God’s Power, while, on the other hand, they do so in the context of denying His ability to resurrect (Q). Al-Rāzī states that the idolaters’ disbelief in the Resurrection and Judgment was, in effect, a rejection of the prophethood of Muhammad, whose mission consisted largely of delivering the message of their moral accountability in the Hereafter.

That the Resurrection is a promise binding upon Him means that it is something God has promised to fulfill (Ṭs). According to al-Ṭabrisī, it is a promise that could not but be fulfilled, since without Resurrection and Judgment there would be no purpose or meaning to moral accountability in this world. God can thus be said to have made the Resurrection of human beings and all morally accountable creatures incumbent upon Himself, as when it is said of God in 6:12:

He has prescribed Mercy for Himself (see also 6:54). What most of mankind know not is the certainty of the Resurrection or the wisdom behind it (Ṭs)

—namely, to give purpose and meaning to human moral responsibility and earthly life itself.

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# [This is so] that He might make clear unto them that wherein they differed, and that those who disbelieved might know that truly they were liars.

39. God also resurrects human beings that He might make clear unto them that wherein they differed during their earthly lives (Ṭs); see also 2:113; 5:48; 6:164; 10:93; 16:92. This verse may also be read as a continuation of the statement in v. 36, We indeed sent a messenger unto every community, meaning that God sent messengers to every community so that He might make clear unto them that wherein they differed. For the idea that the prophets and scriptures were sent for the purpose of resolving differences among people, see 2:213; 16:64.

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# And Our Word unto a thing, when We desire it, is only to say to it, “Be!” and it is.

40. This description of the Divine creative Fiat is repeated throughout the Quran (see 2:117c; 3:47, 59; 6:73; 19:35; 36:82; 40:68) and indicates the manner in which God brings all things into existence through His Word, or more specifically through His command Be!

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# And those who emigrate for the sake of God, after having beenwronged, We shall surely settle them in a good place in this world —and the reward of the Hereafter is greater, if they but knew—

41. Cf. 16:110. According to al-Rāzī, after the Makkan disbelievers swore solemn oaths that there would be no Resurrection (v. 38), it was clear that they were intent on persisting in their ignorance and disbelief, and the Muslims were thus told to emigrate from Makkah. This verse then addresses the rewards of emigration for the sake of God, that is, in the way of God and seeking to please Him (IK, R).

After having been wronged may refer to the various forms of persecution that the Prophet and his Makkan Companions endured before leaving for Madinah (Z) and to the persecution of those who had migrated earlier to Abyssinia (Z)—the latter group numbered about eighty and included ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (later the third Caliph, d. 36/656); his wife, Ruqayyah, the daughter of the Prophet; and the Prophet’s cousin Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib (IK). Some understand the verse as a reference specifically to those Companions who were tortured in Makkah before migrating to Madinah: Bilāl, ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir, Abū Jandal ibn Suhayl, Ṣuhayb ibn Sinān, and Khabbāb ibn al-Arat (Ṭs, W, Z).

The verse indicates that emigration for the sake of God brings also worldly benefit, for God will settle them in a good place in this world (see also 4:100, where it is said that emigrants will find upon the earth many a refuge and abundance). That they will be settled in a good place may refer to their settling in Madinah specifically (IK, JJ, R, Ṭ, Ṭs, Z) or more generally to the provision God would make for them in this world (IK, Ṭ) and the ultimate victory He would grant them in Makkah and other lands (R, Ṭs). Emigration also brings the reward of the Hereafter, especially for those who suffer and die as a result of it (3:195; 4:100; 22:58). See also 9:20, where those who emigrate are said to be greater in rank in the Eyes of God. If they but knew may refer to the disbelievers (JJ, Ṭs) who, if they had known the benefits the emigrants would obtain in this world and the next, would have accepted the religion (R, Z). It could also mean that if the emigrants themselves knew the rewards that awaited them, it would have increased their joy, striving, and patience (R, Ṭs, Z). Although the verse is widely understood as a reference to the historical Emigrants of the first Muslim community, some indicate that it applies to all who set out on the path of God, that is, in search of knowledge of God (Aj).

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# those who are patient and trust in their Lord.

42. This verse refers to the Emigrants, who endured suffering and separation from their homeland in Makkah (Z). Regarding the importance of patience, see, for example, 2:45; 2:153c; 8:46; 11:11; 12:18c; 16:97, 126–27. Regarding the spiritual quality of trust in God (tawakkul), see 3:122; 4:81; 5:23; 8:61; 11:123c; 12:67; 25:28. According to al-Rāzī, patience represents the effort to subdue the ego, and trust in God comes when one has severed attachment to all worldly things and devoted oneself wholly to the Truth (God); patience is thus the beginning of the spiritual path and trust in God is its end.

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# We sent no messengers before thee, save men unto whom We revealed—ask the people of the Reminder, if you know not—

43. See also 12:109; 21:7. In response to the idolaters’ assertion that God is too great to have a mere human being as His messenger, v. 43 asserts that all messengers sent by God were indeed men—that is, human beings like themselves (IK, Q, Ṭs)—rather than angels (Ṭ). In several verses, the disbelievers wonder why an angel has not been sent to deliver God’s message (6:8; 11:12; 25:7; see also 6:8–9c) or express skepticism that a mere human being has been sent to them (6:91; 7:63, 69; 10:2; 11:27; 14:10; 17:94–95; 21:13; 23:24, 33–34; 26:154, 186; 38:4; 50:1; 54:24; 64:6). Although men here translates rijāl, which is often understood to be gender specific, most commentators indicate that it refers in this context to the prophets’ human rather than angelic character, not to their gender. Al-Rāzī, however, notes that it may also mean that God sends men, and not women, as prophets. For further discussion of the possibility of female prophets, see the introduction to Sūrah 19. God sends as messengers men unto whom He revealed—that is, through the medium of angels (Z)—clear proofs and scriptures (v. 44). Some commentators suggest that the verse could also mean that when God sends angels (specifically the Archangel Gabriel) to convey revelation or Divine messages, the angels appear in human form (R); see 19:17, where Gabriel appears to Mary in the form of a perfect man, and commentary.

The people of the Reminder (see also 21:7c) may refer to those Arabs of the Prophet’s time (including both believers and disbelievers) who were knowledgeable about earlier peoples and generations (R, Ṭs). Others consider it to be a reference to the People of the Book, specifically Jews and Christians (Q, Ṭ, Ṭs, Z)—since even among the Makkan idolaters some reportedly considered the books of the Jews and Christians to contain true knowledge of past events (Ṭs) —or to the people of the Torah specifically, since the Torah is referred to as the Reminder (al-Dhikr) in 21:105 (R). Others assert that it refers to former Jews and

Christians who had embraced Islam (Ṭ) or to the Jews and Christians of the past (IK). Still others say that the people of the Reminder refers to those who are knowledgeable about the Quran, since the Quran is also referred to as the Reminder in other verses (see, e.g., v. 44; 7:2; Q, Ṭ, Ṭs), or to all people of knowledge (Q, Qu, R).

According to Shiites, the people of the Reminder are the Shiite Imams, since the Reminder is a name also given to the Prophet (88:21), and the Imams are the people of the Reminder in that they are the family of the Prophet (Ṭs). Both the fifth and sixth Shiite Imams, Muḥammad al-Bāqir and Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, are reported to have said, “We are the people of the Reminder (ahl al-dhikr)” (IK, Ṭ). Although this is a predominantly Shiite view, the Sunni commentator Ibn Kathīr agrees with the identification of the people of the Reminder as the family of the Prophet (ahl al-bayt), arguing that many of the greatest scholars from the Muslim community were descendants and relatives of the Prophet.

Some legal scholars who opposed the use of qiyās, or “analogical reasoning,” as a source of Islamic Law adduced this verse to indicate that when jurists are confronted with a new matter for which they have insufficient knowledge, they should seek out a scholar, or mujtahid (a jurist capable of deriving Islamic Law from its revealed sources), more knowledgeable than themselves and follow the latter’s opinion, rather than relying on their own powers of analogical reasoning. Al-Rāzī reports but also dismisses this interpretation, observing that qiyās was a well-established method of deriving legal rulings within the early Muslim community.

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# clear proofs and scriptures. And We have sent down the Reminderunto thee that thou mightest clarify for mankind that which has been sent down unto them, that haply they may reflect.

44 Clear proofs (bayyināt), a term used throughout the Quran, may refer to the miracles performed by the prophets (R; see, e.g., 2:87, 92, where the term refers to the miracles performed by Jesus and Moses, respectively) or to anything the prophets bring as a clear demonstration of the truth of the guidance they convey (see, e.g., 2:185, where the Quran is said to manifest clear proofs of guidance). Scriptures translates zubur, a term used to denote scripture generally (see, e.g., 23:52) and also mentioned in conjunction with clear proofs in 3:184 and 35:25. Zubur is related to zabūr, which the Quran uses as a specific reference to the Psalms of David (al-Zabūr; see 4:163; 17:55; 21:105) and which al-Rāghib alIṣfahānī describes as a scripture that contains spiritual wisdom, but not legal prescriptions. The Reminder in this verse refers to the Quran (Q, Ṭs), whose purpose is to clarify for mankind that which has been sent down unto them, that is, the laws, rulings, and indications or proofs of God’s Oneness (Ṭs). That haply they may reflect indicates that God wishes all human beings to ponder and consider carefully the scriptures and prophetic messages sent to them, so that they might come to know the truth, a view contrary to the one that argues that God does not necessarily wish for all to be guided (Ṭs, Z); see 16:9c.

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# Do those who have plotted evil deeds feel secure that God will notcause the earth to engulf them, or that the punishment will not come upon them whence they are not aware?

# Or that He will not seize them in the midst of their going to andfro, and they will be powerless to thwart [it]?

# Or that He will not seize them with a gradual diminishing? Andtruly your Lord is Kind, Merciful.

45–47 Cf. 7:97–99; 12:107; 17:68–69; 67:16–17 for similar sets of questions posed to idolaters, all of which are meant as a warning (R). Those who have plotted evil deeds refers most likely to the Makkan idolaters and their attempts to persecute and harass the Prophet and his followers by secret means (R) or otherwise to thwart the religion of Islam (Q). That God might cause the earth to engulf them may be understood literally, as this seems to have been the fate of the Israelite renegade Korah (21:81; Q, R), but it may also mean that God will cause them to vanish from the earth (Q). That punishment might come upon them whence they are not aware (cf. 16:26; 39:25) could be a reference to the destruction of the people of Lot (Q, R) or a foretelling of the disaster that would strike the Makkan idolaters at Badr (Q). God may also seize them in the midst of their going to and fro—that is, while traveling (Q, R)—or wherever they may be (Q), or by night or by day (Q). The threat that God might seize them with a gradual diminishing (see also 13:41; 21:44) is understood by some to mean “seize them with fear” (Q, R). Despite these threats, God is described as Kind and Merciful, because He is not quick to punish the disbelievers, but delays punishment (R), in order to give them an opportunity to repent.

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# Have they not considered that whatsoever God has created casts itsshadow to the right and to the left, prostrating to God while in a state of abject humility?

48 Casts its shadow to the right and to the left refers to the motion of a shadow from one side of an object to the other as a result of the daily movement of the sun from east to west. The “prostrate” position of the shadows on the ground is presented as a symbolic illustration of the idea that all creatures are ultimately submitted to the Will of God—if not voluntarily, then existentially—and that it is in the nature of all created beings to prostrate themselves before God (Bq), as in 13:15: And unto God prostrates whosoever is in the heavens and on the earth, willingly or unwillingly, as do their shadows in the morning and the evening. While in a state of abject humility describes the prostration of the shadows, but also describes the created bodies casting the shadows (Bḍ, Ṭs, Z). Just as the prostrate position of a creature’s shadow can be said to represent the creature’s inward prostration to God (IK), so too can the waves of the sea be said to be “prostrating” when they come crashing down (IK), and the palm tree “prostrating” when it bends over from the weight of its ripened fruit (Bḍ). All such references to the “prostration” of natural phenomena as reflected in their ordinary way of being are meant to serve as a contrast to human beings, who outwardly prostrate or refuse to do so as a matter of will. Thus according to Islamic thought, human beings (and jinn) are the only creatures capable of rebelling against God and their own nature, which is submission to God.

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# And unto God prostrates whatever crawling creatures or angels arein the heavens or on the earth, and they do not wax arrogant.

# They fear their Lord above them, and they do whatsoever they arecommanded.

49–50 Angels and other nonhuman creatures (except jinn) are not considered to have free will and thus live in utter submission to God’s Will. Those in the heavens refers to the angels, the sun, the moon (the latter two are described as subservient to God’s Command in 13:2; 31:29), and the stars (55:6); those on the earth may include all earthly creatures along with the terrestrial angels (Q), meaning those angels who carry out aspects of God’s Will on earth rather than residing exclusively in the celestial realm. Crawling creatures refers to creatures that have bodies and exercise bodily movements in contrast to the angels, who, as pure spirits, move without bodies (Bḍ). They do not wax arrogant; that is, they are not too arrogant to worship God (Q). They fear their Lord above them, meaning that they fear punishment may come down upon them from above (Q, Ṭs) or that they fear God, Who is above them in His very being—as in the Quranic statement He is Dominant over His servants (6:18; see also 7:127)—not that He can be said to be “above them” in a physical sense, since God cannot be defined by a physical relation to anything else (Ṭs). They fear their Lord above them can also be rendered, “They fear their Lord from above them,” meaning that the angels, despite their lofty position in the celestial realm above human beings, remain always in fear of and submissive to their Lord (Q, Ṭs).

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# And God says, “Do not take up two gods. Truly He is only one God. So be in awe of Me.”

51. This is the only place in the Quran where the idea of a duality, rather than a plurality, of gods is rejected; the likely meaning here, however, is simply that one should not take, in addition to God, any other as god (Ṭs)—two gods meaning anything more than the One. In the present context, the Divine command Be in awe of Me (cf. 2:40) means that one should fear God and no other (see also 7:154, 205; 13:13; 23:57), as in 2:150: Fear them not, but fear Me (see also 3:175; 5:3, 44). From a metaphysical perspective, one can fear nothing but God and long for nothing but God, even if one does not realize it, since all that one might fear or desire is dependent for its own existence upon Him (R).

This verse provides an example of the Quranic phenomenon of iltifāt, that is, a change of grammatical voice in the middle of a verse. The verse begins by speaking of God in the third person (God says, . . .“Truly He is only one God”), but finishes with a direct Divine command in the first person, Be in awe of Me! The shift is meant to inspire fear or awe (R, Z), suddenly revealing to readers or listeners, in a very direct way, the immanence of the Divine Voice and Presence in the Quranic words.

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# Unto Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth, andreligion belongs to Him forever. Will you then revere something other than God?

52. Unto Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and on the earth is repeated throughout the Quran (see, e.g., 2:116; 6:12; 10:68). Religion belongs to Him forever may also be rendered, “Judgment belongs to Him forever,” since religion translates dīn, which is also used to refer to judgment in the Quran, as in the Day of Judgment (yawm al-dīn; see 1:4c). Many early commentators, such as Ibn ʿAbbās, Mujāhid, and Qatādah, understood dīn here as a general reference to the obedience that is owed to God (R, Ṭs), in which case the verse might be rendered, “Obedience is ever due unto Him.” Since, in addition to “religion,” dīn can also mean both obedience to God and God’s Judgment, the verse can be understood to mean that obedience to God is always obligatory and that the reward or punishment given by God (i.e., His “Judgment”) is eternal (Z).

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# Whatever blessing you have, it is from God. Then, when afflictionbefalls you, it is unto Him that you cry for help.

# Then, when He removes the affliction from you, behold, a groupamong you ascribes partners unto their Lord.

# So let them be ungrateful for that which We have given them: “Enjoy yourselves! For soon you will know.”

53–55 Cf. 30:33–34. The Quran repeatedly mentions people who turn to the One God for help in times of affliction, fear, or uncertainty, but then return to forgetfulness, idolatry, and polytheism when their troubles have passed; see 7:189–90; 10:12; 11:10; 17:67, 83; 29:65; 30:33; 39:8; 39:49; 41:50; 70:21. For Quranic examples of the correct response to worldly affliction, see 2:155–56; 21:83.

Whatever blessing you have, it is from God (cf. 4:79) indicates that, just as all creatures owe their creation, continued existence, and obedience exclusively to Him (see 16:52c), so too do they owe Him all gratitude for the blessings they have been given (R). Some note that this includes the blessing of faith (īmān), for blessings can be both spiritual (such as knowledge of God) and material (R) and are manifold for all human beings, for were you to count the blessings of God, you could not number them (v. 18; see also 16:18c; 14:34). In the face of God’s Bounty and Mercy, the Quran presents ingratitude as a basic human flaw, declaring repeatedly, Man is ever ungrateful! (17:67; 22:66; 25:50; 42:48; 43:15; 80:17; 100:6). Ingratitude is, in fact, one of the basic meanings of the word kufr, usually translated as “disbelief.”

So let them be ungrateful could also be read to mean that God lifts their affliction “only to have them be ungrateful” (IK, R, Q, Z). The command Enjoy yourselves! (cf. 29:66; 30:34) is meant as a warning (Q, R) and takes the form of other Quranic warnings rendered as a statement of license: So wait! (9:52; 10:20; 10:102); So worship whatsoever you will apart from Him (39:15); and So do [as you will]; we shall do [as we will] (41:5). Soon you will know; that is, soon the disbelievers will know the consequences of their ingratitude in this life and their punishment (IK, Q, R).

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# And they dedicate a share of that which We have provided themunto that which they know not. By God, you shall surely be questioned about that which you used to fabricate.

56. This verse refers to the pagans’ practice of considering certain animals sacred and their meat forbidden for consumption as well as dedicating a certain portion of their wealth to their idols; see 5:103c; 6:136–39 (R). The Makkans dedicate their animals and their wealth to that which they know not, that is, to their idols, whom the idolaters “did not know” were incapable of bringing them harm or benefit or of interceding on their behalf, as they imagined (R, Z). This verse could also be read to mean that the idolaters dedicate a share “to those who know not,” meaning to the idols, who are inanimate and thus do not know even that a share has been dedicated to them (R, Z). You shall surely be questioned is meant as a threat (R, Z) and may refer to the questioning human beings are said to undergo in the grave after death but before Resurrection or to their questioning on the Day of Judgment after Resurrection (R); see 21:23; 55:39. That which you used to fabricate refers to these sacrificial practices, which the idolaters falsely claimed were commanded by God (Q).

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# And they assign unto God daughters—glory be to Him!—while they have that which they desire.

57. Regarding the attribution of daughters to God and the Quran’s rejection of it, see vv. 58–59; 6:100c; 37:149–53c; 43:16; 52:39, where the idolaters’ assigning daughters to God is contrasted with their own preference for sons, which is what is meant here by they have that which they desire (Q). The belief that the angels were daughters of God was reportedly particular to the Kinānah and Khuzaʿah tribes in Arabia (Q, R). Their beliefs are considered abominable primarily because they attributed offspring to God, but perhaps also because they considered the angels to be females (R).

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# And when one of them receives tidings of a female [child], hisface darkens, and he is choked with anguish.

# He hides from the people on account of the evil of the tidings hehas been given. Shall he keep it in humiliation, or bury it in the dust? Behold! Evil indeed is the judgment they make!

58–59 Receives tidings translates bushshira, from a root that commonly connotes the deliverance of good news (or “glad tidings”), although al-Rāzī argues that it can be used for any kind of news that alters the expression and demeanor of the hearer. However, the Quran elsewhere uses this term in a way that may seem ironic, for example, when it speaks of glad tidings of a painful punishment (e.g., 3:21). In the present verse, the use of this term may be meant to emphasize the contrast between what was in reality good news—the birth of a child—and the idolater’s distressed reaction to it as a result of the blindness caused by his false beliefs. His face darkens metaphorically describes an expression of extreme sadness and distress; that he is choked with anguish means that he is unable to speak due to his overwhelming sadness (IK). He contemplates burying his female child in the dust, a reference to the pre-Islamic practice of female infanticide through live burial.

In the warrior culture of pre-Islamic Arabia, daughters were seen as a liability, and burying them alive is alluded to in the Quran and in other Islamic accounts of the period as the common method for killing infant daughters. Sometimes this was done out of fear of poverty (cf. 6:151; 17:31) and sometimes to protect or defend the father’s “honor” (R). The Quran’s condemnation of this practice, however, makes it clear that killing one’s children for such reasons is among the most heinous and evil practices of the idolatrous Arabs. In fact, although embracing Islam was considered to absolve former idolaters or disbelievers of previous sins, many of the Prophet’s Companions continued to experience terrible remorse and sadness over what they had done to their infant daughters in pre-Islamic times, to the extent that the Prophet felt compelled to suggest additional forms of atonement for them to assuage their guilt (R).

Evil indeed is the judgment they make refers to the idolaters’ attitude toward their daughters, their sense of shame on account of them, and their practice of killing them as well as to their attributing daughters to God Himself (R). Ibn ʿAjībah says that this verse should serve as a chastisement and a warning to those who dislike daughters, an attitude that he describes as based on a Satanic impulse and carried over from the practices of idolatrous times. He argues that it is incumbent upon people to show great generosity and kindness to their daughters, even more so than to sons, and that supporting daughters receives greater reward than supporting sons. According to a ḥadīth, the Prophet said that whoever has daughters and treats them well will be shielded from the fire of Hell by those daughters (Q).

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# Those who believe not in the Hereafter have an evil description, while unto God belongs the loftiest description. And He is the Mighty, the Wise.

60 Evil description refers to the idolaters’ excessive desire for sons and aversion to daughters (R) or simply to their disbelief and ignorance and final end in Hellfire (Q). God possesses the loftiest description (see also 30:27); that is, He is exalted above the notion of Him having children at all (R) or He is beyond all need of creatures and any similarity to them (Z). God’s loftiest description is also said to include His being One, Creator, Provider, and Powerful (Q). Others say the loftiest description of God is found in the shahādah, the declaration of God’s Oneness, “There is no god but God.” (Ṭ).

There may seem to be a contradiction between God’s having the loftiest description in this verse and the command in v. 74, Set forth no parables for God (R), or the statement in 42:11 Naught is like unto Him (Q). Description in this verse translates mathal, which has several meanings, including the metaphysical “archetype,” but in the Quran mathal more generally denotes a purported description or likeness, or a “parable,” meaning an extended metaphor, as it is translated in v. 74. Al-Rāzī asserts that any description or metaphor that God may use for Himself in the Quran should be accepted as true, and al-Qurṭubī gives an example from 24:35, God is the Light of the heavens and the earth, which many understand as a metaphorical or symbolical description, although metaphysically this does not exclude its literal and outward meaning. However, human beings should not contrive their own descriptions or metaphors for God (R).

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# And were God to take mankind to task for their wrongdoing, Hewould not leave a single creature upon [the earth]. But He grants them reprieve till a term appointed. And when their term comes, they shall not delay it a single hour, nor shall they advance it.

61. See commentary on the similar verse in 35:45; cf. 18:58. Instead of taking people to task, God grants them reprieve till a term appointed. However, such reprieve is only given while people are alive, for God will not grant any soul reprieve when its term has come (63:11). God grants reprieve or respite to Iblīs/Satan (7:14–15; 15:36–37; 38:79–80) as well as to human beings in various states of wrongdoing (see, e.g., 14:42; 7:183; 13:32; 22:44; 71:4). Reprieve or respite is sometimes granted to allow people to repent of their sins (71:4), but in other cases it provides an opportunity for wrongdoers to increase in sin (3:178) or, in the case of Satan, to cause others to sin. Thus, one cannot assume that a respite from Divine Punishment means permanent security or that it is a sign of Divine approval of one’s actions. That people cannot delay or advance their term is also mentioned in 7:34; 10:49; 23:43; 34:30; 71:4.

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# They assign unto God that to which they are averse. And theirtongues utter the lie that the best shall be theirs. There is no doubt that theirs shall be the Fire, and they shall be hastened [toward it].

62. That to which they are averse are daughters, which the Makkan idolaters despise for themselves, but attribute to God (see commentary on 16:57–59). They claim that the best shall be theirs; that is, they will have sons (Ṭ); cf. 19:77; 19:77–78c. Hastened [toward it] translates mufraṭūn, which can also mean “to be abandoned” (Ṭ), so that the clause might be translated, “and they shall be abandoned [in it].” Both interpretations are plausible. It is also possible that mufraṭūn should be read mufriṭūn, meaning those who are excessive in sin and in the false things they attribute to God (R).

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# By God, We have indeed sent messengers unto communities before thee. But Satan made their deeds seem fair unto them. So he is their protector on this day, and theirs shall be a painful punishment.

63. The message that some previous communities to whom messengers were sent refused to change their false beliefs and practices because those things seemed “fair” or right to them is meant as a consolation to the Prophet, who was saddened by the ignorance and disbelief of many among his people and their persistence in idolatry (Q, R). The Quran frequently mentions that the deeds of disbelievers and wrongdoers were made to seem fair to them (6:122; 10:12; 13:33; 35:8; 47:14); in some cases, as here, it is Satan who makes their deeds seem fair (6:43; 8:48; 29:38), although in 6:108 it is God Who makes their deeds seem fair, perhaps as a test (see 6:108c). That Satan is their protector on this day may mean that he is the protector of such people on the Day of Resurrection (Q, R, Z), in which case this is meant to be ironic or satirical in tone, for to have Satan as a protector on this Day is to have no protector at all (R, Z); see, for example, 14:22, where Satan disowns his followers on the Day of Judgment and says that he can offer them no help. So he is their protector on this day also means that Satan is the (false) protector or friend of the disbelievers in earthly life, deceiving them and turning them away from the Prophet, just as he did with those who disbelieved in earlier prophets, by making their deeds seem fair unto them (R) and leading them into error (Ṭs, Z). For “satans” as the false friends of the disbelievers, see 6:121; 7:27, 30.

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# And We did not send down unto thee the Book, save that thoumightest make clear to them that wherein they differed, and as a guidance and a mercy for a people who believe.

64. The Book—that is, the Quran—is sent to clarify differences regarding religion (R), as are all prophets and revelations, and to make clear God’s Oneness, the principles of just relations between people, and what is permitted or forbidden by God (Ṭs); see also 16:89; 27:76; 43:63. God also clarifies the religious differences between people after their death and resurrection; see, for example, vv. 39, 92; 5:48. The Quran is sent as a guidance and a mercy from God; see also 6:157; 7:203; 10:57; 16:89; 27:77; in 6:154 the Torah is described in the same manner. The guidance and mercy in Divine Revelation are specifically for a people who believe; this is similar to 2:2, where the Quran is described as a guidance for the reverent. Al-Rāzī says that this should not be understood as contradicting the reality of the Quran as a source of universal guidance and mercy, but rather as indicating that only the believers and the reverent will accept its guidance and benefit from it.

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# And God sends down water from the sky, and thereby revives theearth after its death. Surely in this is a sign for a people who hear.

65. In vv. 65–69 the Quran mentions or alludes to four drinks that benefit human beings (cf. 23:81): water, milk, the strong drink of the vine, and honey. If we understand the strong drink in v. 67 to refer to wine, then these same four substances are mentioned in the same order as the contents of the four rivers in Paradise in 47:15, suggesting that the enjoyments of this world reflect those of the Hereafter as implied in 2:25: Whensoever they are given a fruit therefrom as provision, they say, “This is the provision we received aforetime,” and they were given a likeness of it.

God’s sending down water in the form of rain (Ṭs) to revive the earth is mentioned throughout the Quran as one of God’s most important blessings as well as a symbol of His power to resurrect the dead to new life; see, for example, 6:99; 7:57; 13:17; 14:32; 15:22; 16:10; 20:53; 22:5; 27:60. Based on the description of the Quran in v. 64 as a guidance and a mercy, Ibn Kathīr makes an analogy between the Quran, whose guidance revives hearts previously deadened by disbelief, and the “water sent down” in this verse, which revives the earth after its death. People who hear means those who heed and pay attention to the signs of God, consider them well, and take a lesson from them (Ṭs).

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# And surely in the cattle there is a lesson for you: We give you todrink from that which is in their bellies, between refuse and blood, as pure milk, palatable to those who drink [thereof].

66. The blessings that God provides to human beings through the cattle are also mentioned in vv. 5–7, 80 and include warmth, food, bearing burdens, and beauty; see 16:5–7c. This verse adds the milk that they provide to the list of blessings from which human beings should take a lesson and for which they should be thankful (see also 23:21; 36:73). In addition to being one of the four rivers of the Garden (see 47:15), milk was the drink the Prophet chose when offered either milk or wine during his Night Journey (see 17:1c). Having chosen milk, the Prophet was told that he had been guided to the drink of fiṭrah (Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah al-nabawiyyah [Beirut, 1999], 2:31), that is, the drink of primordial purity, which is thus symbolically contrasted to wine, a drink related to notions of maturity and age.

We give you to drink translates nusqīkum, which can mean to provide a perpetual source of drink (Ṭ), since cattle provide a continuously replenished source of milk throughout most of their lives. The milk comes forth between refuse and blood, meaning that it is not contaminated by either of these impure substances that exist in the animal and also issue from it (Ṭ). Commentators observe that there is a barrier between the different fluids, so that neither the color, nor the taste, nor the smell of blood or refuse enters the milk, and it remains pure (Z). The pure milk that comes forth from between refuse and blood is likened by Ibn ʿAjībah to the pure path of Sufism that emerges as a middle way between following the Sharīʿah only outwardly, on the one hand, and seeking to cling only to pure truth and ignoring the external requirements of the Sharīʿah, on the other. Similarly, he likens it to the path of true spiritual training (tarbiyah), which lies between the paths of (sober) wayfaring (sulūk) and ecstatic attraction (jadhb): if the people of wayfaring are veiled from God and those of pure attraction have left the path of God altogether, the people of spiritual training are a barzakh, or “isthmus,” between these “two seas” (25:53; 27:61; 55:19), for they are ecstatically attracted inwardly and sober wayfarers outwardly.

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# And from the fruits of the date palm and the vine, from which youderive strong drink and a goodly provision. Surely in this is a sign for a people who understand.

67. This verse can be read as a continuation of v. 66, meaning either, “We give you to drink from that which is in their bellies . . . and [We give you to drink] from the fruits of the date palm and the vine” (Q), or that in the fruits of the date palm and the vine, as in the cattle, there is a lesson for you (v. 66; Q). The vine and date palm are mentioned elsewhere as among God’s many blessings to human beings (13:4; 23:19; 36:34; 80:28–29); the two refer symbolically to rich and luxurious gardens (2:266; 17:90).

Strong drink translates sakar, which etymologically refers to something that is intoxicating and is thus a reference to the wine that can be made from either grapes (the fruit of the vine) or dates. This verse, which suggests that the strong drink of the date palm and the vine is among the many blessings God has bestowed on human beings, was revealed to the Prophet in Makkah and is earlier than Quranic verses revealed later in Madinah that discouraged the consumption of intoxicating beverages (2:219; 4:43) and eventually prohibited them altogether (5:90). Wine and, by extension, all intoxicating beverages are therefore considered to have been gradually limited and eventually prohibited by these successive revelations; see 5:90–91c. As Islamic Law explicitly forbids all intoxicating beverages and substances, most commentators and legal scholars consider the present verse to be abrogated (Q, Ṭ). Some, however, do not consider this to be a case of abrogation, technically speaking, since 5:90 explicitly prohibits khamr (wine made from grapes), but not more broadly sakar (Ṭ). Moreover, abrogation only applies to verses that set down a clear legal ruling, and the present verse simply points out the benefits of the strong drink derived from these fruits (Aj), even if it seems to contain an implicit ruling that the strong drink of these fruits is permissible (Q). Rather than considering the verse to be abrogated, therefore, some commentators interpreted sakar here as referring to the nonintoxicating juices derived from the fruit of these plants (Q, Ṭ), arguing that these licit beverages are only referred to as sakar, because they could become intoxicating if left to ferment (Q). Others suggested that the drink referred to in this verse is nabīdh, a juice made from dates and/or raisins that Ḥanafī law considered permissible to drink as long as it had not become intoxicating (Q).

Despite its legal prohibition, wine retains an important spiritual and symbolic significance in Islam. It is among the pleasures of the Garden, and in 47:15, it is one of the four rivers of Paradise, suggesting that wine in its essence, or at least in its purified paradisal form, is a sublime substance of which the inhabitants of the Garden will partake (see 83:25). The contrast between the Quran’s mention of wine as one of the enjoyments of the Hereafter and the explicit prohibition against drinking wine in this world served to make wine and intoxication a potent symbol in Sufi discourse for knowledge of God (maʿrifah), and for the encounter with and the realization of the reality of the Divine Presence, which ordinarily one cannot experience in this life, but which the pious will enjoy in the Hereafter and the spiritually realized might enjoy inwardly even in this life. Moreover, as wine can represent simultaneously both the forbidden and the sublime, it served as a powerful symbol of certain Sufi spiritual practices and experiences, particularly ecstatic ones, the intensity of which was sometimes the subject of criticism by exoteric authorities. Wine in fact became a central symbol in Sufi literature, as seen in the poetry of such great Sufi masters as ʿUmar ibn al-Fāriḍ (d. 632/1235) and Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī (d. 672/1273).

From the date palm and the vine, one also derives goodly provision, which is generally considered to refer to all of the lawful things that one might consume from these plants (Q, Ṭ), including their fruits and nonfermented forms of juice made from them. A people who understand refers to those who use their intellect to discern and contemplate the signs and proofs of God and take lessons from them (Aj, Ṭ).

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# And thy Lord revealed unto the bee, “Take up dwellings amongthe mountains and the trees and among that which they build.

# Then eat of every kind of fruit, and follow the ways of your Lordmade easy.” A drink of diverse hues comes forth from their bellies wherein there is healing for mankind. Truly in that is a sign for a people who reflect.

68–69 Thy Lord revealed unto the bee is understood by some to refer to God’s inspiring the bee or placing a certain kind of knowledge in its heart that is unique to this creature (Z). Revealed translates awḥā, which is derived from a root often used in the Quran for Divine Revelation in a formal, scriptural sense, but also for other modes of Divine communication or inspiration (Ṭs): for example, God’s communication to Moses’ mother (20:38; 28:7), God’s inspiring Jesus’ apostles (5:111), God’s “inspiring” the earth to relate its chronicles (99:5), and His “revealing” to each heaven its command (41:12). The “revelation” to the bee may simply be a metaphorical way of referring to the innate, instinctual behaviors that God has implanted in the bee (R, Ṭs), although al-Rāzī suggests that it is at least possible that bees can be said to possess intelligence, including the ability to know God’s commands and prohibitions. Al-Rāzī argues that there is evidence of the bees’ intelligence in their construction of their hives and the perfectly symmetrical, hexagonal structures characteristic of them—the secrets of which elude even human intelligence—as well as their apparent social organization, headed by a leader recognized and obeyed by the rest. The idea that bees knowingly and consciously obey the commands “revealed” to them by God would be consistent with literal readings of other verses that describe all creatures as constituting an ummah, that is, a religious community (6:38), as glorifying and praising God (17:44; 57:1; 59:1, 24; 60:1; 61:1; 62:1; 64:1), or as “prostrating” (see commentary on 16:48–50).

The content of God’s revelation to the bee is understood to refer to the bees’ construction of hives in the mountains and the trees as well as in that which they build, that is, in the structures and roofs of human buildings (R, Ṭū, Z). That which they build may also refer to the beehives constructed by human beings for keeping bees and obtaining their honey (Q). Follow the ways of your Lord made easy enjoins the bee to follow the process God has taught it for making honey (Z) or to follow the paths by which it may obtain the fruits that God has ordained for it to consume (R).

The drink of diverse hues that comes forth from their bellies is honey (Z), wherein there is healing for mankind. According to al-Qurṭubī, this verse legitimates and makes permissable in a general way seeking medicinal treatments for physical ailments, against the view of those who might argue that, since all that befalls one in life comes from God (4:78), one should simply endure illness until God decides to remove it. Regarding the healing properties of honey specifically, a man told the Prophet that his brother had a stomach ailment. The Prophet instructed the man to give his brother honey. When the man later returned to say that the honey had not helped him, the Prophet again instructed the man to feed his brother honey, saying, “God speaks the truth [regarding the healing power of honey] and your brother’s stomach lies.” The man again fed his brother honey, and he was cured (IK, R, Z). Some Sufi commentators say that a knower and seeker of God who follows the ways and commands of the Lord, as does the bee, will, like the bee, become a source of spiritual healing for others (Aj, Su).

The Quran is also described as a source of healing for humanity (10:57; 17:82), and in a ḥadīth the Prophet combines the mention of these two forms of “healing,” saying, “Honey is the cure for every ailment, and the Quran is the cure for that which lies within breasts [10:57], so I commend to you the two cures: the Quran and honey!” (Ṭs, Z)—both of which come about, according to the Quran, through waḥy, or “revelation,” at least symbolically in the case of the bee. It is reported from Ibn ʿAbbās that the Prophet forbade his followers to kill bees and other animals mentioned favorably in the Quran, such as ants (see 27:18–19; Q). According to the Mālikī school of law and some interpretations of al-Shāfiʿī’s view, honey is exempt from the mandatory alms (zakāh), meaning that one does not have to pay alms on stores of honey (Q).

According to some Shiite interpretations, the bee here is a reference to ʿAlī and the family of the Prophet, and the drink of diverse hues refers symbolically to the knowledge of the Quran and its wisdom that is found in the teachings of ʿAlī and his descendants, teachings that are spiritually healing (Kā, Qm). This interpretation is also noted by some Sunni commentators, such as al-Qurṭubī and al-Zamakhsharī, although its soundness is refuted by them. The Shiite commentator al-Ṭabrisī indicates that this interpretation derives from ʿAlī’s statement that he was the yaʿsūb of the believers (Ṭs); yaʿsūb means both a male bee and a leader or chieftain.

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# God created you; then He takes you [unto Himself]. And amongyou are those who are brought back to the weakest of ages, such that they know nothing after having had knowledge. Truly God is Knowing, Powerful.

70. Cf. 22:5–6c. Life is here described as a process of moving from the weakness of infancy, to the strength of adulthood, to the weakness of old age, as in 30:54: God is He Who created you from weakness, then ordained strength after weakness, then ordained weakness and old age after strength. Weakness and strength are here correlated with degrees of knowledge. In v. 78, it is said, God brought you forth from the bellies of your mothers, knowing naught, and the present verse describes old age, the weakest of ages, as one in which people come to know nothing after having had knowledge in their adult lives. God, by contrast then, is Knowing and Powerful, indicating that His Attributes of Knowledge and Power, unlike human knowledge and power, do not wax and wane (Ṭ). That God takes you [unto Himself] is a reference to every individual’s earthly death. Some consider the weakest of ages to be seventy-five or ninety (R, Ṭ, Ṭs), a time when, for many, weakness begins to appear in limb and mind. That some reach an age when they know nothing after having had knowledge refers to the state of forgetfulness and senility that afflicts some in advanced age (Ṭs). This description does not negate, however, the wisdom and maturity associated with old age in the Islamic tradition, as manifested in the term shaykh (or in Persian, pīr), which in its most basic meaning refers to a person of advanced age, but which is used to designate a Sufi master or any person of great learning and intellectual authority.

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# And God has favored some of you above others in provision. Those who have been favored do not hand over their provision to those whom their right hands possess, such that they would be equal in this regard. Would they thus reject the blessings of God?

71. That God gives greater earthly provision to some and not to others (see also 13:4) is meant as a test (see 6:165) and should not be the cause of envy, covetousness (4:32), or excessive pride (18:32–43), for in any case surely the Hereafter is greater in ranking and greater in favor (17:21). Commentators point out that those favored . . . in provision and those who are servants or slaves (those whom their right hands possess) are equal in their humanity; indeed, Muslims are enjoined to think of them as brothers and sisters, and many aḥādīth instruct Muslims to feed and clothe them with the same food and clothing they enjoy themselves (Z). The purpose of this verse is thus not to declare an existential inequality between masters and servants or slaves, but rather to make an analogy with regard to human behavior. The verse points to the fact that human masters would not be willing to give their slaves so much of their provision that the slaves would become equal in wealth to themselves; in fact, those masters would consider such a thing unacceptable. Yet those who ascribe partners unto God presume to do exactly this when they make God’s servants or slaves—that is, creatures of His own making—equal to God Himself (R, Z). This argument, also made in 30:28, is similar to the argument in vv. 57–59, where the Quran asks how the idolaters can ascribe daughters to God when they themselves loathe having daughters.

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# And God has ordained mates for you from among yourselves, and from your mates He has ordained for you children and grandchildren.

And He provided you with good things. Will they then believe in that which is false, and show ingratitude for the blessings of God?

72. Among the many Divine gifts to human beings are mates from among yourselves with whom one might find rest, affection, and mercy (30:21); see also 4:1; 7:189; 42:11. Here and in 26:33, children are described as a blessing granted by God, but along with wealth children are also emblematic of specifically worldly goods and status (see, e.g., 9:69; 18:39; 23:55), and they cannot avail one in the Hereafter (3:10). Like all worldly blessings, they can also be a trial (8:28; 64:15), a diversion (63:9), and even a spiritual enemy (64:14). Grandchildren translates ḥafadah, which can also refer to sons-in-law, male aides and servants, and even stepsons (Ṭ).

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# And they worship, apart from God, that which has no power overany provision that may come to them from the heavens and the earth; nor are they capable [of such].

73. That which has no power over any provision refers to the idols and false deities, who, in contrast to God, Whose manifold provision for humanity is recounted in this sūrah, give no provision at all (see also 29:17), since it is God Who outspreads and straitens provision for whomsoever He will (13:26; 17:30; 28:82; 30:37; 34:36, 39; 39:52; 42:12; see 34:39c).

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# So set forth no parables for God. Truly God knows and you knownot.

74. Set forth no parables for God is intended as a criticism of those who would attribute partners unto God or consider other beings to be comparable to Him in some way (Z), for naught is like unto Him (42:11; 112:4). The only acceptable “parables” or descriptions of God are those expressed in the Quran itself (see 16:60c). See also 36:78: And he has set forth for Us a parable and forgotten his own creation, saying, “Who revives these bones, decayed as they are?”

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# God sets forth a parable: a servant enslaved, with power over naught, and he unto whom We have provided a goodly provision from Us, who then spends of it secretly and openly. Are they equal? Praise be to God! Nay, but most of them know not.

# God sets forth a parable: two men, one of whom is dumb, withpower over naught, who is a burden unto his master; wheresoever he dispatches him, he brings no good. Is he equal to one who enjoins justice, and who is on a straight path?

75–76 Cf. 30:28 and commentary. In these two verses, the difference between God and the idols worshipped by the Arabs is likened to the difference between free persons with great wealth and the power to dispense it for the benefit of others and in the cause of goodness, and helpless slaves, who have power over nothing, not even over themselves, and no means to bring benefit to others (R, Z). The verse makes it clear that not only is it absurd to compare such helpless idols to God, but their power cannot even be compared to the capabilities of human beings. V. 75, like v. 71, should not be read to mean that slaves are somehow inferior to free persons spiritually or with regard to their humanity, but only in their physical and social capabilities or autonomy in external matters. It is this lack of self-determination in their physical and social circumstances that is presented as analogous to the abilities of the idols worshipped by the pre-Islamic Arabs: the idols have no capacity for provision or self-determination, and their physical condition is, ironically, determined by those who worship them, buy and sell them, and move them about at will, similar to the control that masters exert over slaves. In v. 76, the idols are similarly likened to a helpless and useless slave (dumb, with power over naught) who is nothing but a burden unto his master, for the idols are unable to speak or exercise power over anything. Their devotees have the burden of caring for them and maintaining them, while the idols can give them nothing in return for this “service.” One who enjoins justice, and who is on a straight path represents individuals who not only are rightly guided and morally upright, but also have control over their own actions and affairs and use that autonomy to accomplish good.

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# Unto God belongs the Unseen of the heavens and the earth. Thematter of the Hour is as the blinking of an eye, or nearer still. Truly God is Powerful over all things.

77 This is one of four verses that speak of the Unseen as “belonging” to

God (see also 10:20; 11:123; 18:26). The Quran more commonly mentions God’s Knowledge of the Unseen (see, e.g., 2:33; 5:109; 6:73; 9:78), so that His possession of the Unseen here likely refers to His Knowledge of it or to His encompassing the Unseen in His Knowledge. Possession and knowledge of the Unseen are also connected in 6:59, where it is said that God possesses the keys of the Unseen and none knows them but He. Although the Quran asserts that none knows when the Hour—that is, the Last Day—will come (7:187; 33:63), several verses warn of its imminence; see 54:1: The Hour has drawn nigh; and 70:6–7: Truly they see it as far off, but We see it as nigh. In a ḥadīth the Prophet states, “I and the Last Hour have been sent like this,” and then he drew two fingers close to one another. The present verse and others like it are meant to describe the immediacy with which God can bring about the Hour if He so wishes (Ṭ). That the nearness of the Hour is like the blinking of an eye is a metaphor invoking something that seems to be immediate to ordinary human perception. But even the blinking of an eye encompasses a small extension of time, whereas God’s Command of the Hour, like all His commands, is effected instantly; hence the additional qualification or nearer still (R). 

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# And God brought you forth from the bellies of your mothers, knowing naught. And He endowed you with hearing, sight, and hearts, that haply you may give thanks.

78 Just as God brings things forth from hidden places—milk from the bellies of cattle (v. 66), honey from the bellies of bees (v. 69), and the Hour from the realm of the Unseen (v. 77)—so does He bring forth human beings from the bellies of their mothers. See also 53:32: He knows you best, from when He brought you forth from the earth and when you were hidden in your mothers’ bellies. Human beings are born knowing naught; see v. 70 and 30:54, which together indicate that human beings’ strength and knowledge wax and wane throughout the course of their lives. Hearing, sight, and hearts are repeatedly mentioned all together or in various combinations as Divine gifts (10:31; 23:78; 32:9). These are the faculties through which guidance is received and through which religious knowledge and understanding are acquired (22:46); but the Quran states that these faculties are corrupted in some human beings, so that they become impervious to Divine Guidance (see, e.g., 2:7; 6:25, 110; 7:179; 18:57).

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# Have they not considered the birds, made subservient, in midair?None holds them save God. Truly in that are signs for a people who believe.

79. Birds are presented here and elsewhere as one of the marvels of Divine creation (24:41; 67:19), and this verse specifically mentions the wonder of seeing birds in the air with no apparent support (see also 67:19). Birds are also distinguished in the Quran by their offering praise to their Creator along with the prophet David (21:79; 34:10; 38:18–19), their rendering service to Solomon (27:17), and their role as agents of Divine Destruction (105:3). The birds are made subservient just as all natural phenomena have been made subservient—to God and to human beings—by God’s Command; see 22:65: Hast thou not considered that God has made whatsoever is on the earth subservient unto you —and the ship sails upon the sea—by His Command? (see also, e.g., 7:54; 13:2; 14:32).

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# And God has ordained for you a place of rest in your dwellings, and He has made dwellings for you from the skins of cattle, which you bear with ease on the day you travel and the day you pitch camp. And from their wool, and their fur, and their hair, furnishings and enjoyment for a while.

80. This verse continues the discussion of the manifold benefits that God has provided to human beings through cattle as mentioned in vv. 5–7, 66 (see commentary on these verses). That God provides the material for dwellings and furnishings from the skins and hair of cattle is similar to the mention of the use of their skin for warmth in v. 5. Their use for bearing burdens is also mentioned in v. 7 and 6:142.

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# And God has made shade for you from among that which He created, and He has made places of refuge for you in the mountains. He has made coats for you that protect you from the heat and coats that protect you from your own might. Thus does God complete His Blessing unto you, that haply you may submit.

81. Shade was experienced as an especially salient Divine gift in the desert environment of Arabia, where it would have been relatively scarce but very necessary during the hottest parts of the day (R). In 24:45–46, the Quran mentions the “spreading out” and “withdrawing” of the shade as a cause for wonder at Divine Power and Beneficence. Shade is also one of the many delights of the Garden (see 4:57; 13:35; 36:56; 56:30; 76:14; 77:41), where, unlike on earth, it is everlasting (13:35). Places of refuge refers to the caves and crevices in the mountains in which people can make dwellings (following the references to dwellings made from cattle skins in v. 80) and where they may hide and remain out of the sight (Ṭ) of possible enemies (Q).

The coats serve a similar pair of purposes. Some coats, like shade, protect you from the heat, while others, like places of refuge, protect you . . . from your own might, referring to coats of armor that protect one in war; see 21:80, where the art of making armored garments was bestowed on David as a Divine favor. Since all of the objects mentioned in this verse offer protection to human beings, some commentators read the final clause, that haply you may submit (tuslimūn) with slightly different voweling to mean, “that haply you may be safe (taslamūn)” (IK, Ṭ, Z), that is, from the natural elements, human violence, or idolatry and the punishment for it in the Hereafter (Z).

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# Then if they turn away—only the clear proclamation is incumbent upon thee.

82. For the repeated reminder to the Prophet that he need not concern himself with the way the message he was proclaiming would be received, since only the clear proclamation of the message was incumbent upon him, see also 3:20; 5:92, 99; 13:40; 16:35c; 24:54; 29:18; 36:17; 42:48; 64:12.

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# They recognize the Blessing of God, and then deny it, and most of them are disbelievers.

83. According to some commentators, the Makkan idolaters recognized the blessings mentioned throughout this sūrah as coming ultimately from God. They nonetheless denied it by refusing to be appropriately grateful to God for them (Q), or else they believed that these blessings, although created by God, only came to them personally through the intercession of their false idols and deities (Z) or as an inheritance from their forefathers (Q, Z). Some interpret the Blessing of God here as referring to the prophethood of Muhammad, which many of them recognized, but denied out of stubbornness (Z).

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# And on that Day We shall raise up a witness from every community; then those who disbelieved will not be permitted [to speak], nor can they make amends.

84. The witness from every community is likely a reference to the prophets who were sent to particular communities and who on the Day of Judgment will be a witness for or against those to whom they were sent (Z); see also 4:41 and commentary as well as v. 89; 28:85; 33:45; 57:19; and 4:159, where Jesus is said to be a witness against the People of the Book. On this Day, the disbelievers are not permitted [to speak] (30:57; 45:35), meaning that they will not be permitted to make excuses (IK, Q, R, Z); see also 77:35–36: That is the Day on which they speak not, nor is permission granted them, such that they might offer excuses. They are also not permitted to make amends, that is, to try to please or propitiate God, for the earthly world is the only arena of moral choice and the only place in which one might repent of error and evil deeds. After death, it is not possible to make amends (Q, Z), nor can human beings return to earthly life to make amends (Q; see, e.g., 6:27–28 and commentary; 23:99–100; 32:12).

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# And when those who did wrong see the punishment, it shall not be lightened for them, nor shall they be granted respite.

85. Once the judgment is made, the punishment shall not be lightened, for wrongdoers cannot repent at this point (Q, Ṭ; see v. 84), nor can they be released from punishment through their own death or annihilation (see 4:56; 20:74; 35:36) or through other means, for example, through the pity of those in the Garden (7:50). See also 2:86, 162; 3:8; 21:40; 43:75–77; and 5:37: They will wish to come forth from the Fire, but they shall not come forth from it. And theirs shall be a lasting punishment.

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# When those who ascribed partners unto God see the partners they ascribed, they will say, “Our Lord! These are our partners whom we called upon apart from Thee.” But they will retort, “Verily you are liars!”

86. The partners they ascribed may refer to the idols, the jinn, or other false objects of worship adopted by the polytheistic Arabs. Al-Rāzī suggests that these false objects of worship are identified, even by the idolaters themselves here, as their “partners,” both because, by granting them a share of the worship owed only to God, they considered them to be partners with Him and because the idolaters made them “partners” in their own wealth by granting them a share of their crops and cattle through ritual offerings. Some suggest that partners here refers specifically to the jinn or satans who led the idolaters into disbelief, since the partners themselves speak in this verse, and idols do not speak (see 16:75–76c). Al-Rāzī, however, notes that God is capable of endowing anything with life, intelligence, and speech, as when He grants the bodily limbs and organs of people the ability to testify against them on the Day of Judgment (24:24; 41:20–22).

The idolaters themselves admit and identify these false objects of worship as their partners, either in hopes of shifting some of the blame for their idolatry onto the very idols that they worshipped or out of amazement that, although they are facing punishment, the objects of their worship seem to have no sin attributed to them (R). But they—that is, the partners they ascribed—will call them liars, refuting the idolaters’ suggestion that the idols or jinn that they worshipped were somehow complicit in their idolatry and arguing that they—that is, the idols or jinn that the idolaters worshipped—neither commanded nor approved of such worship (IK, Ṭ, Z). Satan similarly disowns those who followed him and denies or rejects those who considered him a partner with God (14:22). Several verses speak of the mutual disavowal and dissociation between false objects of worship and their worshippers on the Day of Judgment; see 2:165–67; 19:81–82; 29:25; 35:14; 46:5–6. In his commentary on this verse, Ibn ʿAjībah expands the meaning beyond the context of crass idol worship, saying that indeed anything that individuals love apart from God—that is, in a way that is completely disconnected from the love of God—will dissociate from them on the Day of Resurrection.

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# And they will offer submission unto God on that Day, and that which they used to fabricate will forsake them.

87. They—that is, both the idolaters and the “partners” that they falsely worshipped—will submit themselves to God on the Day of Judgment, in recognition of His Lordship, and disavow any partners or equals they ascribed to Him (IK, R). That which they used to fabricate may refer either to the false rituals and corrupt practices that pleased the idolaters in their earthly lives (R) or to their false idols (IK, R) and the idolaters’ “fabricated” belief that these idols would intercede for them in the Hereafter (R). But all such idols, practices, and beliefs will forsake them, because all hope they may have had in such things will be replaced by an awareness of their utter futility.

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# Those who disbelieve and who have turned from the way of God, for them We shall add punishment on top of punishment, for their having worked corruption.

88. Punishment on top of punishment refers to the double punishment that awaits those who both disbelieve themselves and turn others away from belief in God and His message (see 7:38–39 and commentary; 11:19–20; 29:12–13; 38:61). Those disbelievers who lead other people into disbelief have effectively added “disbelief to disbelief” and thus deserve punishment on top of punishment (R). For discussion of the Quranic phrase “working corruption,” see 2:11–12c; 5:33c; 30:41c.

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# And on that Day We shall raise up in every community a witness against them from among themselves, and We shall bring thee as a witness against these. And We sent down unto thee the Book as a clarification of all things, and as a guidance and a mercy and glad tidings for those who submit.

89. On the Day of Judgment, each community will have a witness from among themselves, meaning that God calls the prophet of every community to bear witness to how well the people received the message he was charged with bringing and how well they followed it (Ṭ); see also v. 84. That God shall bring thee as a witness against these means that the Prophet Muhammad will be a witness against his people and his religious community (Ṭ), as the other prophets will be witnesses against theirs. The Book, understood to mean the Quran here, is a clarification of all things in that it contains all the religious knowledge that individuals need (Ṭ, Z); regarding the comprehensive nature of “the Book,” see 6:38: We have neglected nothing in the Book; and 12:111. For “the Book” as a clarification, see v. 64; 5:15, 19; 6:154; 7:145; see also 37:117, where similar statements are made about the Torah. The Quran is also described as a guidance and a mercy in 6:157; 7:203; 10:57; 27:77.

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# Truly God commands justice, virtue, and giving to kinsfolk, and He forbids indecency, wrong, and rebelliousness. And He admonishes you, that haply you may remember.

90. This verse and the following one together invoke the basic foundations of morality and righteousness as found throughout the Quran, including justice and charity. For more detailed descriptions of righteousness, see 2:83, 177; 4:36. Justice can be described as taking the middle or moderate course in all things (R), a quality central to the Quranic perspective, which warns against transgressing “the balance” (see 55:8–9c) and describes Muslim believers as constituting a middle community (2:143). Citing well-known aḥadīth, al-Rāzī describes virtue (iḥsān) as the quality of “worshipping God as if you saw Him,” or of “loving for one’s brother what one loves for oneself.” Others gloss justice as a reference to the fulfillment of obligatory duties and virtue as the performance of supererogatory or recommended deeds (Z). Giving to kinsfolk (cf. 2:177) includes offering charity even before one is asked for it and maintaining good relations with one’s family in general (R); cf. 4:36; 8:41; 24:22.

Indecency here translates faḥshāʾ, which can refer to any act that transgresses the limits set by God (Z), and the related term fāḥishah, also translated “indecency,” is often associated in the Quran, implicitly or explicitly, with sexual transgression (see 4:15, 19, 25; 7:80; 17:32). Al-Rāzī therefore says indecency here refers to various sins associated with the concupiscent aspect of the soul. God forbids indecency, but Satan commands it; see 2:169, 268; 24:21. See 7:28–29: When they commit an indecency, they say, “We found our fathers practicing it, and God has commanded us thus.” Say, “Truly God commands not indecency. Do you say of God that which you know not?” Say, “My Lord has commanded justice. So set your faces [toward Him] at every place of prayer, and call upon Him, devoting religion entirely to Him. By wrong (munkar) is meant deeds that any person of sound intellect and rational faculties could not fail to recognize as inherently wrong (Z); al-Rāzī asserts that wrong here refers to sins associated with the irascible aspect of the soul, that is, sins rooted in love of power and characterized by violence. Similarly, rebelliousness can be interpreted to mean sins that indulge human pride and ambition (R) and entail gross injustice (Z). Perhaps because Satan was the first creature to rebel against God and His Command, al-Rāzī suggests that these sins derive from Satanic whims and illusions.

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# Fulfill the pact of God when you have pledged it, and break not your oaths after solemnly affirming them, and having made God a Witness over you. Surely God knows whatsoever you do.

91. Regarding the importance of fulfilling the pact of God, see v. 95, which warns people against selling the pact of God for a paltry price; see also 2:40; 3:76; 6:152; 13:20; 17:34; 33:15. Break not your oaths is said by some to refer to the Pledge of Good Pleasure (bayʿat al-riḍwān), which the Companions took with the Prophet (Ṭ, Z) at Ḥudaybiyyah, a pledge that is also understood to be one over which God was Witness (see 48:10c). Others suggest that oaths here has a more general meaning, since any righteous oath is in some sense an oath one takes before God (R), given the religious responsibility to fulfill all oaths that one takes in earnest; see 2:177; 4:33. However, one is not “taken to task” for careless oaths (2:225), and 5:89 provides a means of expiation for broken oaths. See also 3:77, where people are enjoined to be true to both their oaths and the pact of God.

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# Be not like she who unravels her yarn, breaking it after it had been strong [by] taking your oaths to practice deception among yourselves, so that one community might be larger and wealthier than another. God only tries you thereby. And on the Day of Resurrection, He will surely clarify for you that wherein you differed.

92. Weaving strands of yarn together to form a strong thread, only to senselessly unravel it, was reportedly the practice of a mentally impaired woman in Makkah who did this as a regular habit (JJ, R, Ṭ). In this verse, it is used as a metaphor for those who take oaths to form strong bonds of alliance, only to break those oaths and undo those bonds when they seem to have lost their political expediency or in order to forge an alliance with a larger and more powerful group (IK, JJ, R, Ṭ, Ṭs, Z). Insofar as the oaths in v. 91 are interpreted as the oaths of allegiance to the Prophet, the temptation to undo one’s oath here may refer to the temptation to abandon allegiance to the Prophet and the Muslim community and instead seek alliance with the Quraysh of Makkah, who were larger, wealthier, and more powerful than the early community of believers (Z). To be perfidious with regard to such oaths is what is meant by taking oaths to practice deception among yourselves. Regarding God’s clarifying of differences on the Day of Resurrection, see 2:113; 3:55; 5:48; 6:164; 10:93; 16:124; 22:69; 32:25; 39:3, 46.

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# Had God willed, He would have made you one community. But He leads astray whomsoever He will and guides whomsoever He will. And you shall surely be questioned about that which you used to do.

93. The counterfactual statement Had God willed, He would have made you one community can be interpreted to mean that humanity does not exist as “a single (religious) community,” because God has not willed it to be so, and thus that the multiplicity of religious communities is a matter of Divine Providence; see 5:48c; 2:213; 11:118; 42:8. It may also mean that God does not compel people to be one community or to follow one religion, although He is capable of doing so (Z). That God guides but also “leads astray” whomever He wills (cf. 6:39; 7:178; 13:27; 14:4; 17:97; 18:17; 35:8) is considered by some theologians, especially the Ashʿarites in contrast to the Muʿtazilites, to mean that all guidance or misguidance is ultimately a matter of Divine Will rather than exclusively a product of human will. In several verses, however, the Quran notes more specifically that God “leads astray” the iniquitous (2:26), the disbelievers (40:74), and the prodigal doubter (40:34), leading many theologians to argue that God leads people astray only as a consequence of or a punishment for their actions; see 6:39c. According to some, God leads astray those whom He knows will choose error of their own accord and guides those whom He knows will choose guidance (N, Z); others say He “leads people astray” by abandoning them (Bḍ, Z) and guides them by granting them success and ease in their spiritual and moral endeavors (Bḍ, Z).

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# Take not your oaths to practice deception among yourselves, lest a foot slip after it had been firmly planted, and you taste evil for your having turned from the way of God, and yours should be a great punishment.

94. Take not your oaths to practice deception, that is, as a means of committing treachery; see 16:92c. Lest a foot slip after it had been firmly planted means lest one perish after having been safe from perdition (Ṭ); or lest one slip from the path of Islam after one’s feet had been firmly planted upon it (Z); or else lest one slip from faith after having been firmly established in the knowledge of God (Q). To taste evil is said to refer in this verse to the experience of Divine Punishment in this world for one’s sins (Q, Ṭ, Z), while great punishment refers to Divine Punishment in the Hereafter (Q, Ṭ, Z). Negative experiences such as death and punishment are frequently described as being “tasted” (see, e.g., 3:106, 185; 4:56; 6:30; 7:39; 8:14; 21:35; 29:57), perhaps because to taste something is to gain direct and immediate knowledge of it. Moreover taste is also the most intimate of the senses, in that, unlike sight or hearing, it is connected with taking something physically into oneself. Divine Mercy is also sometimes described as being “tasted,” although less frequently (see, e.g., 10:21; 11:9–10; 30:33).

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# Sell not the pact of God for a paltry price. Surely that which is with God is better for you, if you but knew.

# That which is with you comes to an end, but that which is with God subsists. And surely We shall render unto those who are patient their reward for the best of that which they used to do.

95–96 See 3:77, where people are warned not to sell God’s Pact and their oaths for a paltry price, as well as 3:187, where some of the People of the Book are criticized for selling their covenant with God for a paltry price. Selling spiritually valuable realities for a paltry price is a common metaphor in the Quran, and other verses warn against selling God’s signs for a paltry price (2:41; 3:199; 5:44). To “sell” God’s pact and His signs for a paltry price is understood to mean trading the guidance, protection, and spiritual felicity they offer for the ephemeral goods of this world (R, Z), such as material wealth, power, and status. That which is with God is better, because it subsists (see also 20:131; 28:60; 42:36), while that which is with you in this world comes to an end. Patience is considered an integral element of piety (2:177; 33:35), a virtue that brings great spiritual reward, for God is with the patient (2:153, 249; 8:46) and loves the patient (3:146); and the patient are rewarded bounteously in the Hereafter (see 25:75; 28:54; 39:10). The Quranic model for patience is Jacob, who patiently bore the absence of his beloved son Joseph (see 12:18, 83–86); and in the Quranic story of Jacob and Joseph, the importance of patience is repeatedly and explicitly emphasized (and rewarded). The patience of Job, often mentioned in the Judeo-Christian tradition, is also implied in the Quran through the mention of Job’s enduring great affliction with faith (21:83–84; 38:41–44); and Job, like several other Quranic prophets, is described as steadfast, or “patient” (ṣābir; 38:44).

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# Whosoever works righteousness, whether male or female, and is a believer, We shall give them new life, a good life, and We shall surely render unto them their reward in accordance with the best of that which they used to do.

97. The Quran indicates that men and women are of the same moral and spiritual stature; that is, they share the same moral responsibility, the same capability for independent moral choice, and the same recompense for their deeds. See, for example, 3:195: So their Lord answered them, “I shall not let the work of any worker among you, male or female, be in vain; each of you is like the other. So those who emigrated, and were expelled from their homes, and were hurt in My way, and fought and were slain—I shall absolve them of their evil deeds and shall make them enter Gardens with rivers running below, a reward from God; see also 4:124; 33:35. That God shall give the righteous new life, a good life may refer to His provision for them in this world and their contentment with their provision (Q, R) as well as the aid and success He grants them in carrying out acts of obedience that lead to God being content with them (Q). In general, it is understood to refer to the various ways in which belief and virtue make one’s life, even in this world, satisfying and peaceful. For example, the good life is said to be characterized by the “sweetness of obedience” (Q), turning over to God the management of one’s affairs (Q, ST), and having one’s breast “expanded” by knowledge of God (R).

As believers become more aware of the ephemerality of worldly things, they are said to be less distressed by the vicissitudes of earthly life (R) and to enjoy a spirit of certitude (Su) that allows them to entrust their affairs to God (ST). The sixth Shiite Imam, Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, interprets the good life here as referring to the life of an individual who has both knowledge of God and a noble standing with Him (Q, Su). A minority opinion suggests that the good life refers to life after death, meaning what believers experience either in posthumous states prior to Resurrection (R) or in the Garden after Resurrection (Q); most, however, consider the good life to refer to life in this world, and God’s rendering unto them their reward to refer to the good they will experience in the Hereafter (Q).

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# So when you recite the Quran, seek refuge in God from the outcast Satan.

98. Cf. 7:200; 23:97; 41:36; 114:1–4. The specific instruction here to seek refuge in God from . . . Satan before reciting the Quran is part of everyday Muslim practice, since almost all Muslims begin every recitation of the Quran with the statement, “I seek refuge in God from the outcast Satan” (aʿūdhu bi’Llāhi min al-shayṭān al-rajīm), followed by the basmalah. Most religious authorities agree, however, that this is a recommended rather than a required practice (R, Ṭ). According to one interpretation, the Quran indicates that even prophets were subject to Satan’s attempts to insinuate error into the revelation; see 22:52: And no messenger or prophet did We send before thee, but that when he had a longing Satan would cast into his longing, whereupon God effaces what Satan cast. Although the command in this verse to seek refuge in God from Satan is specifically addressed to the Prophet, all who recite the Quran are similarly advised to do so, for if even the Prophet needs to seek such refuge, all the more do ordinary believers need to do the same (R). Ibn ʿAjībah says that seeking refuge in God is necessary, for Satan is like a vicious dog: if you try to defend yourself against the animal, it only intensifies its barking and may tear your clothes or your skin, but if you turn the matter over to the dog’s master, the master will be able to restrain it.

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# Truly he has no authority over those who believe and trust in their Lord.

# His authority is only over those who take him as a protector, and those who take him as a partner.

99–100 That Satan has no authority over those who believe (see also 15:39–42; 17:65) means either that he has no power to cause them to commit unforgiveable sins or that he has no power over them at all, because believers seek refuge in God from Satan and thus are protected against him (Ṭ; see 7:200). Al-Rāzī indicates that these verses should dispel any notion that Satan can take bodily control of a person, as some people have thought; rather, it is clear that Satan is only capable of whispering and insinuating and thereby tempting people toward wrongdoing and disbelief. Thus Satan’s “authority” is only over the souls of those who have chosen to follow him (15:42) and those who respond to his call (14:22) or, as here, those who take him as a protector, that is, those who accept his authority and obey him (R, Ṭ). In context, those who take him as partner seems to refer to those who take Satan as a partner, but commentators suggest that the phrase could also be rendered “those who ascribe partners unto Him [that is, God]” (Ṭ, Z); “those who [having taken Satan as a protector] are thereby idolaters”; or “those who are idolaters because of him [that is, Satan]” (R).

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# And when We replace one sign with another—and God knows best that which He sends down—they say, “You are only a fabricator!” Nay, but most of them know not.

101. That God might replace one sign with another is widely understood to refer to the possibility of God’s abrogating a ruling found in one verse and replacing it with a ruling in another verse (JJ, Ṭ). In some cases, both verses remain part of the Quranic corpus, although some commentators claim that this phrase can refer to the abrogation both of the legal ruling and of the verse itself from the corpus of the Quran (Ṭs); regarding abrogation, see 2:106c; 13:39.

Abrogation is considered a manifestation of Divine Beneficence toward human beings, for what might be a beneficial ruling at one time could pose a moral problem at a later one (Z). A clear illustration of abrogation in the Quran can be found in the verses containing seemingly contradictory rulings on the consumption of intoxicating beverages, which were implicitly or conditionally permitted by some verses (2:219; 4:43; 16:67), but later explicitly forbidden in 5:90–91; see commentary on these verses. Some held that the abrogation referred to here and elsewhere in the Quran related to God’s replacing a revealed ruling from an earlier religious community with another one specifically for Muslims, for example, the change of the Muslim direction of prayer from Jerusalem to Makkah (R; see 2:143–44 and commentary). When such abrogation occurred, the Makkan idolaters reportedly accused the Prophet of being a fabricator, that is, fabricating the revelations at will (JJ, W, Z). Most of them know not means that they are not aware of the possibility and benefits of abrogation (JJ, R, Ṭs) or the reason for it (Ṭs).

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# Say, “The Holy Spirit has brought it down from thy Lord in truth, to make firm those who believe, and as guidance and glad tidings for those who submit.”

102. According to most commentators, the Holy Spirit here refers to the Archangel Gabriel, the angel of revelation (R); see also 2:87c; 2:253; 5:110. According to al-Rāzī, the abrogation of verses or rulings, mentioned in the previous verse, was a test for the believers; if they continued to accept the revelation as coming from God and trusted in His Wisdom, this would make firm those who believe, in that they would show themselves to be firm in their faith and the path of their religion.

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# Indeed, We know that they say, “He has merely been taught by a human being.” The tongue of the one whom they falsely implicate is foreign, while this is [in] a clear, Arabic tongue.

103. This verse refers to an accusation made by some of the Makkan idolaters that the Prophet was learning his revelations from a local Christian blacksmith (or, variously, two blacksmiths) who was able to recite the Christian scriptures in his native language. Because the Prophet would occasionally stop to listen to his recitation (Z), the Makkans accused him of deriving the Quranic revelations from what he heard from this man. The Quran’s response to this accusation is to point out that the native language of the Christian blacksmith was foreign, and some commentators report that he knew either no Arabic at all or only very little (IK). Moreover the scriptures he recited were in a foreign language, perhaps Greek (Ṭ, Ṭs), which the Prophet did not understand—while the Quranic revelations were, by contrast, in such clear and eloquent Arabic (JJ, W, Z) that even a native Arabic speaker, let alone a foreigner, would have been incapable of composing them (Ṭs). According to some, the one they accused of “teaching” the Prophet was Salmān al-Fārsī (Ṭ, Ṭs, Z), but this is doubtful since Salmān was a Persian of Zoroastrian origin who later converted to Christianity before embracing Islam in Madinah, and al-Naḥl is a Makkan sūrah. Others indicate that the verse is referring to another young man who embraced Islam in Makkah (Ṭs, Z).

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# Truly those who believe not in the signs of God, God guides them not, and theirs shall be a painful punishment.

# Only those who believe not in the signs of God fabricate lies. It is they who are liars.

104–5 Those who reject the signs of God when they come to them, God guides them not; that is, they do not benefit from God’s Guidance. The Quran also states that God does not guide wrongdoers (2:258; 3:86; 5:51; 6:144; 9:19, 109; 28:50; 46:10; 62:5), disbelievers (2:264; 5:67; 9:37; 16:107; 39:3), the iniquitous (5:108; 9:24, 80; 61:5; 63:6), or those who lead others astray (16:37). The Makkan idolaters accused the Prophet of fabricating the revelations (v. 101), but v. 105 responds that the true “fabricators” of lies are the disbelievers.

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# Whosoever disbelieves in God after having believed—save one who is coerced, while his heart is at peace in faith—but whosoever opens his breast unto disbelief, upon them shall be the Wrath of God, and theirs shall be a great punishment.

106 This verse is believed by most commentators to have been revealed about the case of ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir, an early Makkan convert to Islam whose parents were tortured and killed because of Islam and who was himself coerced through torture and threat of death into outwardly renouncing his faith (Ṭ, W); see 3:28c. When the Prophet was told of this matter, he denied that ʿAmmār had truly renounced Islam, and when ʿAmmār later came to the Prophet weeping with regret, the Prophet asked him, “In what state was your heart?” ʿAmmār replied, “At peace in faith” (Ṭ, Ṭū). The Prophet consoled him and indicated that he approved of what he had done (W). This verse was then revealed (Ṭ, W), indicating an exception for those who renounce their faith outwardly under duress while their hearts are at peace in faith, for God only holds one to account for what one believes in one’s heart (Ṭ). A minority report claims that the verse was revealed about a group of Makkans who had embraced Islam and were encouraged to migrate to Madinah to become full members of the community. After leaving Makkah, they were pursued by the Quraysh, who caught up to them and compelled them to renounce their faith (W).

The first clause of the verse is the beginning of an incomplete conditional statement whose consequence has been elided. Some suggest that the meaning of the statement is that whoever renounces faith after having believed—save one who is coerced (as was ʿAmmār)—“will have a great punishment” (JJ). The elided phrase, “will have a great punishment,” is implied by the fact that the second conditional statement in the verse begins with a similar antecedent phrase mentioning disbelievers and concludes with the threat of God’s Wrath and of great punishment. One can therefore assume that the two statements have parallel meaning, or that upon them shall be the Wrath of God, and theirs shall be a great punishment is the consequence for both antecedent clauses (Ṭ). Others suggest that the first clause of this verse may be a continuation of the previous verse, so that it could be understood to mean: “They only fabricate lies, those who believe not in the signs of God, . . . [those] who disbelieve in God after having believed,” although this is less likely (Ṭ). But whosoever opens his breast unto disbelief willingly, in contrast to ʿAmmār and those who were tortured, is the one who has truly preferred disbelief over belief (Ṭ).

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# That is for their having preferred the life of this world to the Hereafter. And surely God guides not disbelieving people.

# It is they on whose hearts God has placed a seal, and on their hearing and their seeing. It is they who are heedless.

# There is no doubt that in the Hereafter they are the losers.

107–9 The disbelievers preferred the life of this world to the Hereafter (see also 14:3; 79:38), which is a foolish choice according to the Quran, since the life of this world is naught but the enjoyment of delusion (3:185; 57:20) or play and diversion (6:32; 29:64; 47:36). The Quran states that it is better to sell the life of this world for the Hereafter (4:74), for the life of this world is but fleeting enjoyment, whereas the Hereafter is truly the Abode of Permanence (40:39). That God guides not disbelieving people is also mentioned in 2:264; 5:67; 9:37; 16:104; 39:3. God’s placing a “seal” on hearts is understood to make them impervious to guidance, but it is often mentioned explicitly as a consequence of or punishment for willful disbelief or wrongdoing; see 2:7c; 4:155; 7:100–101; 9:87, 93; 10:74; 40:35; 45:23; 47:16; 63:3. Those whose belief and good deeds have earned them Paradise are described as those who prosper (see, e.g., 2:5; 3:104; 7:8), whereas those who disbelieved are repeatedly described as the losers (see, e.g., 2:27; 3:85; 5:4).

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# Then indeed thy Lord, for those who emigrated after being oppressed, then strove and were patient, surely thy Lord thereafter is Forgiving, Merciful.

110. Those who emigrated refers to those who left their homes in Makkah to move to Madinah to join the Islamic community; see 2:218; 3:195; 8:72–75; 9:20; 16:41; and 22:58, where emigrating is similarly connected with striving in the way of God and with Divine Reward and Forgiveness. This verse was reportedly revealed about a group of Muslims who were initially unable to migrate to Madinah with the Prophet in 1/622 and continued to reside in Makkah. The Emigrants in Madinah later wrote to them, informing them that they had to migrate to Madinah to be considered full members of the believing Muslim community (see commentary on 8:74–75); they attempted to leave, but were stopped and brought back by the Makkans. During a second attempt to emigrate, they were again overtaken by the Makkans, but this time they resisted strongly. Some were killed, and some were able to escape (Ṭ, W), after which this verse was revealed; see 4:98–99c; 29:2c. The verse could also be a continuing reference to ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir and those tortured along with him (see 16:106c), indicating that because they emigrated and strove in the way of God patiently after being oppressed through torture and compelled to recant their belief outwardly, God is Forgiving and Merciful toward them (Z).

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# That Day every soul will come disputing on behalf of itself, and every soul will be paid in full for that which it has done. They shall not be wronged.

111. That Day refers to the Last Day or the Day of Judgment. Every soul will come disputing on behalf of itself, because every soul on that day will be and can be concerned only with itself (IK, R, Z); see 80:37. The disputing of some individual souls will take the form of offering excuses for their wrongdoing (Z), for example, by blaming others for leading them astray (33:67); others will attempt to deny their error (e.g., 6:23). Yet, each soul will be paid in full the reward or recompense for its deeds, without stint and without diminution (R). Some Muʿtazilite theologians have argued that this verse supports their claim that there are no means by which to lessen God’s threatened punishment for those guilty of a major sin, not even intercession on their behalf (R). Others, however, interpret paid in full to indicate that neither will the reward earned be lessened, nor the punishment earned be increased (IK).

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# God sets forth a parable: a town secure and at peace, its provision coming unto it abundantly from every side. Yet, it was ungrateful for the blessings of God; so God let it taste the garment of hunger and fear for that which they had wrought.

# A messenger from among themselves had surely come unto them, but they denied him. And so the punishment seized them while they were wrongdoers.

112–13 The parable of the town secure and at peace with its provision coming . . . abundantly is meant to evoke the situation of Makkah (R, Ṭ, Z). Makkah was secure, because the Kaʿbah sanctuary in its midst made it a sacred city in which no violence was permitted (R, Ṭ). It was at peace, or “at rest,” since its residents had no need to leave their homes in search of food (R, Ṭ); that is, its residents were not forced to live the nomadic lifestyle of other Arabs on the peninsula, and the city enjoyed healthy air and a good physical environment (R). Its provision came abundantly in the form of the wealth it obtained as a result of the yearly pilgrimage and the profit its inhabitants earned along the trade routes between Yemen and Syria. The blessings that Makkah enjoyed can also be understood as a Divine response to Abraham’s prayer for the city in 2:126 and 14:35–37.

By putting forth the parable of a city with blessings similar to those of Makkah, which was nonetheless made to taste the garment of hunger and fear, the verse directs its warning to the Makkan Quraysh (Z), indicating that their worldly bounty may not last and is no guarantee against sudden and total destruction; see also 6:6: Have they not considered how many a generation We destroyed before them? We had established them on the earth more firmly than We have established you, and We sent the sky upon them with abundant rains, and made rivers flow beneath them. Then We destroyed them for their sins, and brought into being after them another generation. That this city “tasted” the garment of hunger and fear is said by some to presage, by way of analogy, several years of famine Makkah suffered and their fear of the Prophet’s growing military power in the years prior to the conquest of Makkah (Ṭ). Garment here is a metaphor for something that covers and surrounds and is meant to suggest the degree to which the town was overwhelmed from all sides by hunger and fear (R, Z). That which they had wrought is a reference to their ingratitude for the blessings of God as well as their rejection of His signs and the prophethood of Muhammad (R, Ṭ)—the messenger from among themselves. Regarding the human tendency toward ingratitude, see 16:53–55c.

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# So eat of the lawful and good things God has provided you, and give thanks for the Blessing of God, if it is He Whom you worship.

114. Human beings are repeatedly enjoined in the Quran to eat the “lawful” and “good” things that God has given them; see 2:168; 5:88. In 5:4 all good things are said to be lawful for human beings, and 5:87 warns people against arbitrarily forbidding the good things that God had made lawful.

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# He has only forbidden you carrion, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that which has been offered to other than God. But whosoever is compelled by necessity, without willfully disobeying or transgressing, truly God is Forgiving, Merciful.

115. For the dietary prohibitions and exemptions listed here, see 2:172–73c; 6:145c. For a more detailed list of dietary prohibitions, see 5:3.

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# And utter not lies in what your tongues assert, [saying], “This is lawful and this is forbidden,” such that you fabricate a lie against God. Surely those who fabricate lies against God will not prosper. ė A little enjoyment, while theirs shall be a painful punishment.

116–17 The lies regarding the lawful and forbidden refers to the arbitrary ritual prohibitions the pagan Arabs established for themselves; see 5:103c;

6:138–39. The Quran warns against declaring lawful things to be forbidden; see 10:59: Say, “Have you seen that which God sent down unto you for provision? Then you made some of it forbidden and some lawful.” Say, “Has God granted you leave, or do you fabricate against God?” According to al-Qurṭubī, this verse means that no one has the right to declare something religiously lawful, ḥalāl, or forbidden, ḥarām, when there is no explicit Divine or scriptural statement (including aḥādīth) about it. Even if the process of jurisprudential reasoning leads one to think that something is ḥarām, if it is not ḥarām according to one of the main sources of Islamic Law, some consider it better to say that it is “discouraged” or “reprehensible” (makrūh), rather than ḥarām. Those who render legal opinions (fatāwā) should also be careful to avoid making declarations of lawfulness or unlawfulness regarding things that are not directly addressed in scriptural sources; in such cases, some say it is preferable for legal authorities to limit themselves to making recommendations about what one should or should not do (Q). According to Ibn Kathīr, this verse pertains to any situation where one permits what is forbidden or forbids what is permitted on the basis of one’s own opinion. The warning that wrongdoers will have little enjoyment in this world followed by punishment in the Hereafter is also found in 2:126; 3:197; 10:70; 26:204–7; 31:24.

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# And unto those who are Jews, We forbade that which We recounted unto thee beforehand. We wronged them not, but they wronged themselves.

118. That which We recounted unto thee beforehand refers to the dietary prohibitions ordained for the Jews, as mentioned in 6:146 (Q, Ṭ, Z): And unto those who are Jews, We forbade every animal with claws; and of oxen and sheep We forbade them the fat thereof, save that upon their backs or their entrails or that which is mingled with bone. Thus did We recompense them for their willful disobedience, and surely We are truthful. These dietary prohibitions are more extensive than those established for Muslims in the Quran, and 6:146 indicates that the additional prohibitions were a punishment for earlier disobedience; see also 4:160–61. Although v. 117 criticizes those who would impose arbitrary dietary and ritual prohibitions on themselves, the present verse makes it clear that the additional dietary prohibitions of the Jews are in fact Divinely ordained. We wronged them not, but they wronged themselves is repeated verbatim or in slight variation throughout the Quran (see, e.g., 3:117; 9:70; 10:44; 11:101; 16:33; 29:40; 30:9; 43:76).

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# Then truly thy Lord—for those who commit evil in ignorance, then later repent and make amends—truly thy Lord thereafter is Forgiving, Merciful.

119. Those who commit evil in ignorance may refer to those who sin unintentionally, but some commentators suggest that it refers even to purposeful sinners who are not fully aware of the repercussions of their sin. Some consider it a reference to all sinners, since anyone who disobeys God can be considered, at some level, to be in a state of ignorance; for these interpretations, see 4:17–18c; 6:54c.

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# Truly Abraham was a community, devoutly obedient to God, a ḥanīf, and he was not among the idolaters.

# [And he was] thankful for His Blessings. He chose him and guided him unto a straight path.

# And We granted him good in this world, and surely in the Hereafter he shall be among the righteous.

120–22 Abraham may be described here as a community (ummah), because the reference to Abraham also includes his sons Ishmael and Isaac, his grandson Jacob, and Jacob’s sons. Alternately, some commentators suggest Abraham constituted a community unto himself insofar as all good qualities were combined and perfected in him (R, Z) or because he was the only believer on earth, or at least in his land, at a time when all others there were disbelievers (R, Ṭs, Z). Others note that the word for community (ummah) is derived from the same root as imām, a title of spiritual authority ascribed to Abraham and his sons (2:124; 21:73). In the present verse, then, community is understood by many to mean one who is a teacher of the good (IK, Ṭ, Ṭs, Z) or one who, like an imām, is a leader and model for others to follow or imitate (IK, Ṭ, Z).

Abraham is further described as ḥanīf and not among the idolaters, a common description of Abraham also found in 2:135; 3:67, 95; 6:79. Ḥanīf denotes a primordial monotheist who is neither a Jew nor a Christian. It is associated most frequently in the Quran with Abraham (see also 4:125), but is also used in the Islamic tradition to describe Muhammad’s spiritual life prior to his becoming a prophet and to others who were monotheist even in the Age of Ignorance (jāhiliyyah), that is, in pre-Islamic Arabia. Ḥanīf refers to a person who is inclined toward the central creed of islām, or submission to the One God (Z), and ḥunafāʾ (pl.) were said to observe the Abrahamic rites of circumcision and the ḥajj, or pilgrimage to the Kaʿbah in Makkah (R). For further discussion of ḥanīf, see 2:135c; 30:30c. The mention of Abraham in these verses is meant to make it clear to the Makkan idolaters that Abraham cannot be associated with them, nor they with him (Ṭ), since he had rejected idolatry and they embraced it. Some report that the Makkans wished to associate themselves with Abraham and wrongly considered themselves to be following the creed of Abraham, their forefather (Z).

God chose Abraham, either as a prophet (R), as He chooses other prophets (see 6:84–87; 19:58; 20:122–23), or as His “intimate friend” (khalīl; Ṭ; see 4:125c) or both. Abraham was thankful for His Blessings, unlike those in the parable of the town (a thinly veiled reference to Makkah) in v. 112, and he did not make any other a “partner” with God in the gratitude he rendered to Him (Ṭ). His blessings included being delivered from the fire into which his people had thrown him (21:69; 29:24); his sons, Isaac and Ishmael (14:39; 19:49; 21:72; 29:27); his being made an imām for mankind (2:124; 21:73); the gift of prophethood for himself and his progeny (4:54; 29:27; 57:26); sound judgment (21:51); and his sublime reputation (19:50), meaning that he was and is praised among various religious communities (IK, R, Ṭ, Ṭs, Z), even those of the pagan Arabs (R). That Abraham enjoyed good in this world and will be among the righteous in the Hereafter is also mentioned in 2:130 and 29:27. This verse can be read as a response to Abraham’s prayer in 26:83: My Lord! Grant me judgment, and bind me to the righteous! (R).

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# Then We revealed unto thee, “Follow the creed of Abraham, a ḥanīf, and he was not among the idolaters.”

123. The Prophet is commanded to follow the creed of Abraham, that is, by rejecting idol worship and believing in the One God (R) or calling people to God’s Oneness in a gentle manner, through sound proofs and arguments (R). The creed of Abraham is connected with his being ḥanīf and not among the idolaters; see 6:161, where the Prophet declares, Truly my Lord has guided me unto a straight path, an upright religion, the creed of Abraham, a ḥanīf, and he was not of the idolaters. Abraham is revered by various religious communities (see 19:49–50c), but the Quran indicates a special connection between Abraham and the Prophet Muhammad and his community, as in 3:68: Truly the people worthiest of Abraham are those who followed him, and this prophet and those who believe (see also 22:78). The creed of Abraham represents what is best in religion (4:125), and the Quran asks in 2:130, Who shuns the creed of Abraham, but a foolish soul?

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# And the Sabbath was only ordained for those who differed concerning it, and surely thy Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection, concerning that wherein they used to differ.

124. The Sabbath is mentioned in the Quran as an obligation established for the Children of Israel at the time of the covenant on Mt. Sinai (4:154), and the Jews are chastised in several verses for not observing it properly (2:65; 4:47; 7:163–66). The present verse, however, reiterates that the Sabbath is not a universal aspect of religious practice, since it was only ordained for those who differed concerning it, understood to mean the Jews. It was not part of the religion of Abraham (Q), nor is it part of religious practice established by the Prophet Muhammad. That the Jews differed concerning it may mean that some considered it sacred while others did not (Ṭ, Ṭs) or that sometimes they considered hunting (or fishing) permissible on this day and at other times did not (R, Ṭ, Z); see commentary on 7:163–66. The commentators also use this verse to discuss the different days of congregational worship among Jews, Christians, and Muslims, noting Muslims observe Friday, since it was the day on which God completed His creation (Ṭ); the Jews observe Saturday, because it was a day of “rest” after the completion of creation (although the idea that God tires or rests is unacceptable in Islam; see 2:255); and the Christians are said by these commentators to observe Sunday because it is the day on which God began the creation of the world (Q, R), although in Christian doctrine it is related to the belief that Christ was resurrected on this day. For the idea that God will judge between them, or adjudicate religious differences, on the Day of Resurrection, see 3:55; 22:69; 32:25; 45:17.

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# Call unto the way of thy Lord with wisdom and goodly exhortation. And dispute with them in the most virtuous manner. Surely thy Lord is He Who knows best those who stray from His way, and He knows best the rightly guided.

125. To call . . . with wisdom may mean that people should call others to religion on the basis of the revelation that has come to them (Ṭ), or with firm and truthful words, avoiding obscure language (Z), or by means of conclusive proofs that bring intellectual certitude, which al-Rāzī considers to be the best way; see 2:269: Whosoever is granted wisdom has been granted much good. The term goodly exhortation may also be rendered “beautiful exhortation” and can be understood to refer to the beautiful expressions that constitute the arguments, proofs, and reminders found in scripture, including those brought together in this sūrah (Ṭ). Goodly exhortation can also mean exhortation that is done sincerely and purely for the benefit of people (Z) or exhortation offered without coarseness, in a manner that would soften hearts (Ṭs), that is, with gentle persuasion and reasonable commands (R). Some suggest that wisdom and goodly exhortation collectively refer to the Quran (Ṭs, Z). Similarly, the injunction to dispute with them in the most virtuous manner is understood to mean that one should dispute in matters of religious difference by using logical argumentation based upon sound and mutually agreed-upon principles (R), without harassment (Ṭ), rudeness, or harshness (Z); see also 29:46: And dispute not with the People of the Book, save in the most virtuous manner, and commentary on this verse. Thy Lord is He Who knows best those who are inherently good, and thus need only the slightest admonition or advice to take the right course, and those without inherent goodness, who cannot be helped and for whom admonishment is like “striking cold iron” (Z).

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# And if you would punish, then punish with the like of that wherewith you were punished. But if you are patient, then that is better for the patient.

126. Most commentators consider the last three verses of this sūrah to be Madinan (IK, R, Ṭ), although others claim that all of this sūrah is Makkan or that it is unlikely that these verses are a sudden reference to something very different than the rest of the sūrah (R). If Madinan, they are thought to have been revealed after the Battle of Uḥud (3/625), when the Muslims saw the carnage, especially the mutilation, that the Makkan idolaters had inflicted upon their dead, and they vowed to retaliate in a more devastating way (IK, Q, R, Ṭ, Ṭs). Some say the Prophet himself made this vow after seeing his beloved uncle Ḥamzah terribly mutilated. This verse was then revealed, enjoining the Muslims to respond only with the like of what they suffered and, better yet, to forgo retaliation altogether (R, Ṭ, Z); the Prophet thereafter renounced his oath of vengeance (Z) and declared he would be patient (Ṭ). When the Quraysh eventually surrendered Makkah to the Prophet in 8/630, one of the Prophet’s Companions said, as they prepared to enter the city, “Today is a day of vengeance!” But the Prophet responded, “No, today is a day of mercy.” On this day, Hind, the woman who had mutilated Ḥamzah, was allowed to enter Islam under the general amnesty for the Quraysh, and Waḥshī ibn ḥarb, the Abyssinian slave who had killed Ḥamzah, later sought and was granted the Prophet’s pardon. If you are patient, then that is better means that it is better to forgo punishing those who have wronged you and to leave their reckoning to God (Ṭ).

Some have suggested that this verse was abrogated by 9:5, which commands Muslims, Slay the idolaters wheresoever you find them, although many major commentators disagree, considering the present verse to be general in its meaning, that is, applying to anyone at any time who has been wronged, and therefore not abrogated (Q, R, Ṭ, Ṭs). The Quran’s intention to establish a limitation on retaliation so that it does not exceed the original wrong is also manifest in 2:190: And fight in the way of God against those who fight against you, but do not transgress. Truly God loves not the transgressors. Its preference for pardon over retaliation is also seen in 42:40: The recompense of an evil is an evil like unto it. Yet whosoever pardons and sets matters aright, his reward is with God. Truly He loves not the wrongdoers. See also the essay “Conquest and Conversion, War and Peace in the Quran.”

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# So be patient, and thy patience is only with God. And grieve not on their account, nor be distressed by what they plot.

127. This verse is addressed to the Prophet (Ṭ). That patience is only with God is interpreted to mean that one can only be patient with God’s Help (R, Ṭ, Ṭs, Z). The Prophet is instructed, Grieve not on their account; that is, he should not be distressed by those who deny him and accuse him of sorcery or of being a poet (Ṭ) or by what they plot in order to try to turn others away from the path of God (Ṭ).

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# Truly God is with those who are reverent, and those who are virtuous.

128. God is also said to be with the reverent in 2:194; 9:36, 123; and with the virtuous in 29:69. In other verses, He is said to love the reverent (3:76; 9:4, 7) and the virtuous (2:195; 3:134, 148; 5:13, 93).

Source: The Study Quran, by Sayyed Hossein Nasr and 4 Others

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