Verses 61–69
These verses shift from addressing the faithful to addressing just the Prophet but their content is intended for everyone, even if their grammatical form only speaks to Him, because the proofs they contain are applicable to all.
The verses in this section discuss the contradictory opinions held by the idolaters about what the faithful were presented and believed in above; they acknowledge that the creator of the heavens and the earth and the director of the sun and the moon—upon which people’s sustenance depends—is none other than God, and that it is He who sends down rain from the heavens and gives life to the barren land but they still call on other deities to give them sustenance; they worship God when they travel by sea, but when they reach land they worship others; they live in a holy sanctuary which is His blessing to them but they believe in falsehood, deny the truth and scorn his blessings.
The concluding verse of this sūrah, As for those who strive in Us, We shall surely guide them in Our ways, and Allah is indeed with the virtuous (), matches the opening of the sūrah, Do the people suppose that they will be let off because they say: We have faith, and they will not be tested… Whoever strives, strives only for his own sake ().
Commentary
وَلَئِنْ سَأَلْتَهُمْ مَنْ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَسَخَّرَ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ لَيَقُولُنَّ اللَّهُ ۖ فَأَنَّىٰ يُؤْفَكُونَ ٦١
(29:61) If you ask them: Who created the heavens and the earth, and disposed the sun and the moon? They will surely say: Allah. Then where do they stray?
The creation of the heavens and the earth, and the origination and disposal of the sun and the moon—by causing them to rise and set and alter in distance from the earth—are things which the sustenance of human beings and all other animals depends upon. Moreover, these two roles of creation and disposal (al-khalq wa al-tadbīr) are inseparable from one another. So, whoever acknowledges one of them must also acknowledge the other.
Insofar as God is the Creator, in whose hand is the governance of the heavens, the earth and the sustenance of all the creatures therein, it is He and no other who should be asked for provision and any other form of disposal. So it is strange indeed that the human being should turn to anyone besides Him, especially someone who has no power. This is why God says: Then where do they stray? In other words, when the creation and governance of the cosmos are in His hands, how can they invoke and worship idols besides Him?
اللَّهُ يَبْسُطُ الرِّزْقَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ وَيَقْدِرُ لَهُ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ ٦٢
(29:62) Allah expands the provision for whomever He wishes of His servants, and measures it for him. Indeed Allah has knowledge of all things.
This verse makes explicit what was hinted at in the previous one. “To measure” provision means to narrow or limit it, which is the opposite of “to expand,” meaning to increase it. Allah is used instead of a pronoun in the verse’s coda—Indeed Allah has knowledge of all things—to indicate why He has knowledge of all things; namely, because He is God!
In other words, God increases the provision of whoever He wishes and constrains the provision of whoever He wishes. However, God only wills something on the basis of His creatures’ best interests (maṣlaḥa), which He knows because He has knowledge of all things. And He has knowledge of all things because He is God, and God is absolutely perfect from every aspect.
وَلَئِنْ سَأَلْتَهُمْ مَنْ نَزَّلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الْأَرْضَ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَوْتِهَا لَيَقُولُنَّ اللَّهُ ۚ قُلِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ ۚ بَلْ أَكْثَرُهُمْ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ ٦٣
(29:63) And if you ask them: Who sends down water from the sky, with which He revives the earth after its death? They will surely say: Allah. Say: All praise belongs to Allah! But most of them do not apply reason.
Revives the earth after its death means to cause vegetation to flourish in the season of Spring.
Say: All praise belongs to Allah! means: “I praise God for completing the argument against them through their own admission that He alone governs the affairs of His creation; therefore they should worship only Him and not the idols or the deities they claim they represent!”
But most of them do not apply reason means: they do not reflect on the signs or make proper use of their intellects in order to know God, or to distinguish truth from falsehood. Therefore they do not really apply reason.
وَمَا هَٰذِهِ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا لَهْوٌ وَلَعِبٌ ۚ وَإِنَّ الدَّارَ الْآخِرَةَ لَهِيَ الْحَيَوَانُ ۚ لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ ٦٤
(29:64) The life of this world is nothing but diversion and play, but the abode of the Hereafter is indeed Life, had they known!
Diversion (lahw) is whatever distracts you from something of importance, so the life of this world is a kind of diversion because its fleeting vanities distract the human being from the eternal life of the Hereafter.
Play (laʿb) is a kind of organized activity that is devoid of purpose, like the games children play. The life of this world is a kind of play because it is ephemeral and will soon pass into oblivion, just as children gather together and devote themselves to a game for a while but then lose interest and move on to something else. Now, most of the objectives for which people compete and towards which the wrongdoers hasten are illusory and counterfeit; take, for example their wealth, spouses, children, and various kinds of social standing, leadership and power—if they possess these things, many of them exist only in the confines of their own minds and imaginations, so they do not actually possess anything at all!
On the other hand, the life of the Hereafter, in which the human being will dwell in the actual perfection he has acquired by virtue of his faith and righteous deeds, is a goal in whose pursuit there is no diversion, play, futility or blame; it is life without end; pleasure without pain; happiness unsullied by grief. Therefore it is life in the truest sense of the word.
This is what God means when He says: The life of this world is nothing but diversion and play, but the abode of the Hereafter—it is indeed Life…
As you can see, this verse reduces all worldly life to diversion and play. It uses the demonstrative pronoun this to imply lowliness. Meanwhile, the life of the Hereafter is nothing but life, and it is actually life itself.
…had they known!—meaning that if they knew, they would have known the reality to be as We have described it.
فَإِذَا رَكِبُوا فِي الْفُلْكِ دَعَوُا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ فَلَمَّا نَجَّاهُمْ إِلَى الْبَرِّ إِذَا هُمْ يُشْرِكُونَ ٦٥
(29:65) When they board the ship, they invoke Allah putting exclusive faith in Him, but when He delivers them to land, behold, they ascribe partners.
This draws a conclusion from what the above verses have said about their condition; that they stray and many do not apply reason. In other words, they go astray by turn aside from worshiping God to worshiping others and most of them to not apply reason because they contradict themselves by acknowledging one thing but denying the same thing’s consequences.
When they board the ship…: “To board something” (rukūb) means to sit atop something that moves; the verb is transitive in itself but it is given a preposition in the verse to convey a sense akin to permanence. In other words: “When they board the ship and remain upon it, or remain riding upon the ship…” The rest of the meaning is obvious and it demonstrates yet another example of them contradicting themselves and denying God’s blessings.
لِيَكْفُرُوا بِمَا آتَيْنَاهُمْ وَلِيَتَمَتَّعُوا ۖ فَسَوْفَ يَعْلَمُونَ ٦٦
(29:66) Let them be ungrateful (li yakfurū) for what We have given them! And let them enjoy (li yatamattaʿū). Soon they will know!
The lām in li yakfurū and li yatamattaʿū is an imperative lām. Now, when God commands someone to do something He is displeased with, this signifies a threat and a warning. This is like when you say to someone: “Do what you like”, as for example in the verse: Act as you wish; indeed He sees best what you do ().
It is also possible that this is a purposive lām, in which case it means: “They do this in order to be ungrateful for Our blessings and to enjoy…” However, it is the first of these two possibilities that best accords with the verse’s coda: Soon they will know! This is further supported by what God says elsewhere: Let them be ungrateful toward what We have given them. So enjoy yourselves! Soon you will know! () That is why some recite the lām without a vowel, as only the imperative lām can be vowel less.
أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّا جَعَلْنَا حَرَمًا آمِنًا وَيُتَخَطَّفُ النَّاسُ مِنْ حَوْلِهِمْ ۚ أَفَبِالْبَاطِلِ يُؤْمِنُونَ وَبِنِعْمَةِ اللَّهِ يَكْفُرُونَ ٦٧
(29:67) Have they not seen that We have appointed a safe sanctuary, while the people are despoiled all around them? Would they then believe in falsehood and be ungrateful toward the blessing of Allah?
The safe sanctuary is Mecca and its environs. God made it a sanctuary in response to the prayer of Abraham and despoiled (takhaṭṭaf) means to violently wrest something away from someone. In those days the Arabs lived in a state of perpetual conflict and mutual depredation; they were constantly fighting, looting and enslaving one another. Yet, in spite of this, they respected the sanctity of the holy sanctuary at Mecca and did not aggress against anyone who dwelled therein.
Therefore this verse means: “Do they not consider the fact that we have made a safe sanctuary in which people are safe from killing, looting and enslavement, while everyone around this sanctuary are subject to such depredations?”
Would they then believe in falsehood and be ungrateful toward the blessing of Allah? God rebukes them for repaying this great blessing with ingratitude while believing in idols which are nothing but mere names.
وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ افْتَرَىٰ عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا أَوْ كَذَّبَ بِالْحَقِّ لَمَّا جَاءَهُ ۚ أَلَيْسَ فِي جَهَنَّمَ مَثْوًى لِلْكَافِرِينَ ٦٨
(29:68) Who is a greater wrongdoer than him who fabricates a lie against Allah, or denies the truth when it comes to him? Is not the abode of the faithless in hell?
God threatens them with the punishment of hell insofar as they are imputed with the most serious kind of wrongdoing; inventing lies in God by claiming that He has taken other deities as partners with Himself, and denying the truth when it came to them. Both of these descriptions apply to the Meccan idolaters, for they worshiped idols and denied the Qur’an when it came to them. Therefore they are truly disbelievers and the place of such people in the Hereafter is hell.
وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا ۚ وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَعَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ ٦٩
(29:69) As for those who strive in Us, We shall surely guide them in Our ways, and Allah is indeed with the virtuous.
The root of “strive” (mujāhahda) is j-h-d, meaning to expend effort, while mujāhada literally means to give one’s all in repelling an enemy. Striving has three varieties; striving against a manifest foe, striving against Satan, and striving against one’s self. This is what has been mentioned by al-Rāghib.
…strive in Us means that “their struggle rests in Us.” This is a figurative way of saying that their efforts are expended in things connected to God, whether beliefs or actions. In other words, nothing will turn them aside from believing in Him, following His commands and observing His prohibitions.
We shall surely guide them in Our ways…: God affirms the existence of ways (subul) for Himself and whatever these may be, they all lead to Him, as a way (sabīl) is nothing other than a means of reaching that to which it belongs, meaning its destination. Therefore, God’s ways are those which bring people closer to Him and guide them towards Him. And insofar as the act of striving is itself a form of guidance, this means that guidance to God’s ways is a kind of guidance upon guidance, as God alludes to in the verse: As for those who are guided, He enhances their guidance ().
Based on the above, we can see that there is no need to interpret in Us as belonging to an implicit possessive construct to the effect of for Our sake.
…and Allah is indeed with the virtuous: Some have said God’s being with them means in the sense of His assistance and support and this is supported by the fact this phrase appears alongside mention of striving. This is a plausible reading. However, a superior interpretation is that God’s being with them is symbolic of His mercy and concern for them, which would implicitly include His assistance and support, as well as many other forms of divine concern which He shows to His virtuous servants out of His infinite mercy and kindness. However, this being with is still more particular than the general sense of being with them by mere virtue of their existence (wujūd), which is the import of the verse: …and He is with you wherever you may be… ().
And we have already mentioned above the appositeness of the conclusion of this sūrah to its opening.
Examining Narrations
- God’s Messenger said: How strange it is to see one meant for the abode of life striving for the abode of deceit!
- The people told the Prophet: O Muḥammad! Naught prevents us entering your religion save the fear that people will despoil us and the Arabs are more numerous than we—when they hear we have entered your religion, they will feast upon us!
Then Allah revealed: Have they not seen that We have appointed a safe sanctuary, while the people are despoiled all around them? Would they then believe in falsehood and be ungrateful toward the blessing of Allah? ().
- Concerning the verse, As for those who strive in Us, We shall surely guide them in Our ways, and Allah is indeed with the virtuous, Imam al-Bāqir said: This verse is about the Household of Muḥammad and their followers.
This is shown by the use of emphasis in the form of indeed (inna), the lām of emphasis, and inserting the pronoun it of separation (ḍamīr al-faṣl). (Auth.) ↩︎
Al-Durr al-Manthūr, on the authority of Ibn Abī Dunyā and al-Bayhaqī’s Shuʿab al-Īmān, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar. ↩︎
Al-Durr al-Manthūr, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās. ↩︎
Tafsīr al-Qummī, on the authority of Abū Jārūd. ↩︎