Verses 56–60
Having rebuked those believers who forsake their religion out of fear of persecution, God follows on by discussing the remaining believers whom the idolaters had oppressed in Mecca and whom they taunted with threats of persecution and torture. He instructs them to be steadfast and to put their trust in God, and to migrate from there if it is too difficult for them to hold on to their faith. He also admonishes them not to fear for their provision, for this is in God’s hands; it is He who will provide for them if they set off to emigrate, just as it was only Him that provided for them when they remained.
Commentary
يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّ أَرْضِي وَاسِعَةٌ فَإِيَّايَ فَاعْبُدُونِ ٥٦
(29:56) O My servants who have faith! My earth is indeed vast. So worship only Me.
This verse is addressed to those believers who find themselves in the land of disbelief and cannot openly practice the true religion or follow its teachings. This is indicated by the latter part of the verse.
My earth is indeed vast: The context of the verse suggests that earth (arḍ) means the ground upon which we dwell; it is added to the pronoun My to show that the earth in its entirety is one and the same to God, in that He can be worshiped anywhere on it. Describing it as vast suggests that if someone is prevented from following the true religion in one region of it, there are other regions in which he can do so. This means that it is never impossible to worship God, no matter what conditions prevail.
So worship only Me (fa iyāya fa ʿbudūn): The first fāʾ is to draw a conclusion from the vastness of the earth while the second fāʾ signifies the consequent of a conditional sentence (jazāʾ li al-sharṭ) that is implicit in the verse. In other words, “if that is the case, then worship only Me.” It appears that iyāya is placed in front of the verb to signify exclusivity (that is, “only”). This renders the meaning: “Do not worship anyone except Me, but worship only Me!”
In short: “My earth is vast. If you cannot worship Me in one region of it, then you can worship Me in another. Therefore, worship Me alone and do not worship anyone except Me. If you cannot worship Me in one part of the earth, then migrate to another and worship Me there.”
كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ ۖ ثُمَّ إِلَيْنَا تُرْجَعُونَ ٥٧
(29:57) Every soul shall taste death. Then you shall be brought back to Us.
This verse places emphasis on the command So worship only Me and is a preliminary to the forthcoming verse Those who are patient and who put their trust in their Lord… ().
Every soul shall taste death: It is a metaphorical way of saying that every soul will eventually die. The shift to directly addressing the listener when God says Then you shall be brought back to Us is to inspire awe.
So the meaning of this verse is: “The life of this world is just a handful of days followed by death. Then you will return to Us to be held to account. So do not let the trinkets of this worldly life—which are nothing more than fleeting vanities—distract you from preparing to meet God by having faith and doing righteous deeds. It is this that contains your everlasting happiness, and the neglect of this that will bring about your never ending ruin.”
وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَنُبَوِّئَنَّهُمْ مِنَ الْجَنَّةِ غُرَفًا تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ نِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعَامِلِينَ ٥٨
(29:58) Those who have faith and do righteous deeds, We will surely settle them in lofty abodes (ghurafa) of paradise with streams running in them, to remain in them forever. How excellent is the reward of the workers!
Here, God expounds the reward that awaits a person’s faith and righteous deeds after they die and return to Him. This verse encourages the faithful and motivates them to endure hardship for God’s sake and rely upon Him. “To settle” means to set someone down to reside somewhere; ghuraf is the plural of ghurfa, which is a room in the upper floor of a house.
First, God describes the reward of those who believe and do righteous deeds. Then he calls them “workers” (ʿāmilīn) by saying: How excellent is the reward of the workers! before explaining what he means by this in the next verse: Those who are patient and who put their trust in their Lord… (). In this way, He makes patience (ṣabr) and trusting in God (tawakkul) special qualities of the faithful. This shows that a believer’s faith is only accepted when he endures hardship for God’s sake and places his trust in Him. Therefore the believer must endure, in the way of God, every difficulty and pain that he encounters in his worldly life. And if it becomes impossible for him to follow the teachings of his religion in his land, then he must leave it and travel somewhere else, enduring suffering and privation for the sake of God.
الَّذِينَ صَبَرُوا وَعَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ ٥٩
(29:59) Those who are patient and who put their trust in their Lord.
This is a description of the workers. Patience (ṣabr) here includes both enduring hardships, performing obligations and avoiding sins, although the particular context here is related to enduring hardships as it best relates to the condition of the faithful in Mecca who are being told to emigrate.
وَكَأَيِّنْ مِنْ دَابَّةٍ لَا تَحْمِلُ رِزْقَهَا اللَّهُ يَرْزُقُهَا وَإِيَّاكُمْ ۚ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ ٦٠
(29:60) How many an animal there is that does not carry its own provision. Allah provides for it, and for you, and He is the All-hearing, the All-knowing.
How many (ka ayyin) suggests abundance. To carry… provision means to store it up as is the habit of human beings, ants, bees, mice and some other creatures.
This verse is supposed to reassure the faithful and strengthen their hearts by telling them that if they emigrate for the sake of God, He will give them their provision no matter where they are. They will not die of hunger, for their provider is their Lord and not their homeland. Here, God says: “There are many animals that do not carry their provision around with them, but God still provides for them. And He also provides for you, O humans who store up your food! And He is the All-hearing, the All-knowing.”
By concluding the verse with these two names, God is alluding to the proof of what has just been said, namely that the human being and all other creatures are in need of God for their provision and entreat Him for this provision by virtue of their existential neediness. And God is the one who hears His creatures’ prayers and knows all their needs. Therefore it is only logical, based on these names, that He will provide for them!
Examining Narrations
- Concerning the verse, O My servants who have faith! My earth is indeed vast… () Imam al-Bāqir said: He [God] is saying “Do not obey sinful rulers. And if you fear that they will persecute you and prevent you from practising your faith, then my earth is indeed vast.” And elsewhere He says: Indeed, those whom the angels take away while they are wronging themselves, they ask: What state were you in? They reply: We were abased in the land. They say: Was not Allah’s earth vast enough so that you might migrate in it? ().
- Imam al-Ṣādiq said: It means if God is disobeyed in the land where you live, then move to a different land.
- God’s Messenger said: “When the verse You will indeed die, and they too will die indeed () was revealed, I said: “O my Lord! Will all creatures die and the prophets survive?” Then the verse was revealed: Every soul shall taste death ().
Author’s comment: However, there are some problems with its content. After all, when God says You will indeed die, and they too will die indeed, this informs the Prophet of his own death and the death of all people, and he knows that those prophets who came before him had died. Therefore it makes no sense for him to ask: “Will all creatures die and the prophets survive?”
- Ibn ʿUmar said: We went out with God’s Messenger until we entered some walled orchards belonging to the Helpers. He began to pick up dates and eat them and said to me: “O Ibn ʿUmar! Why don’t you eat?” I said: “I don’t feel like it, O Messenger of God!” He said: “I do! This is the fourth morning on which I haven’t tasted food. If I wanted to, I could ask my Lord to give me a kingdom like that of Khosrow or Caesar! So how would it be for you, O Ibn ʿUmar, if you lived with a people who stored up provision of an entire year because they lacked certainty?” By God, not a moment had passed before the verse was revealed: How many an animal there is that does not carry its own provision. Allah provides for it, and for you, and He is the All-hearing, the All-knowing ().
Author’s comment: This tradition has also been narrated in al-Durr al-Manthūr. However, it has a weak chain of narration and, additionally, its contents do not match the context of the verse as we outlined above.