Verses 15–26
Now that it has been made clear to them that the creation and management of the universe are His alone—for He is their Lord with true control (mulk) over things, not those whom they call upon other than Him who do not control anything that they might use to look after them—the text embarks upon a second argument for the same thing, but with this one intermixed with threats. Namely, it is that God, the Exalted, is needless of them, whereas they are dependent on Him. If He wanted, He could destroy them and bring about a new creation in requital for what they have wrought.
Then the text shifts to speaking to the Prophet directly about what was happening to him. These [threats of] destruction only encompass the beliers, not the faithful who were genuinely affected by the Prophetic message. There is a clear difference between these two groups. The Prophet was a warner like the warners of yore, and his situation is like that of those warners who have passed. If they call him a liar, thus were other prophets accused; their peoples called them liars. God seized them severely, and He will do the same to the beliers of this nation.
Commentary
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ أَنتُمُ الْفُقَرَاء إِلَى اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ هُوَ الْغَنِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ ١٥
(35:15) O people! You are the ones who are in need of Allah, and Allah is needless, praised.
Without doubt, this verse sets the stage for the coming two verses. Still, it also stands independently.
To explain further: The context indicates that the deeds of these beliers showed that they imagined that their worship of their own gods freed them of any need for God. They deemed that, instead, God was the one who needed them! That must have been why God called them to Himself in the divine invitation, extended by His messengers. There was still needfulness and needlessness; however, [in their view], they had a share of needlessness, and God had a share of neediness (exalted be He from that!).
So God refutes what they alleged. O people! You are the ones who are in need of Allah, and Allah is needless, praised. He limits dependency to them and needlessness to Himself. They have the full share of neediness, and He has the full share of needlessness. Since needlessness (ghināʾ) and neediness (faqr) [or independence and dependence, being rich and poor] are complete opposites, when one is present, the other must disappear, and vice versa. Thus, since God is restricting them to needfulness, and declaring Himself needless, they must be fully dependent, and He must be fully independent.
For God is existentially, essentially “rich”. He can dispense with them or obliterate them. They are the ones who are existentially, essentially “poor. They cannot use others to make themselves independent of God.
The basis of God’s being needless (or rich, or independent) from them, and for them being needful (or poor, or dependent) towards Him is that is that He is the one who created them and manages their affairs. The use of the word God here indicates the neediness of creation and His needlessness. The sentence If He wishes, He can erase you and come forth with a new creation and so on are means of praising Him. He is the praised in His act, which is creating and managing.
Thus, the meaning returns to what we were discussing earlier: “O people! Because you are creations, managed by God, you are completely dependent on God and in need, and because God is the creator and manager, He is independent and needs no one else.”
[The following is a discussion of the implied question of whether it is wrong for the verse to limit the concept of dependency to human beings, since all of creation is dependent, not just human beings.]
Nevertheless, there is no harm in limiting dependency (faqr) to human beings—whether they specifically be the beliers (mukadhdhibūn) or whether they be all human beings—even though other creations also depend on God like them. This is because when the justification given for a principle is general, then the resulting principle is general. It is as if it is saying: “O inhabitants of creation! You are in need of your Creator and the one who manages your affairs, and He is the needless, the praised.”
This objection—namely, that dependency is ascribed only to humans even though it is applicable to all—has been refuted in various ways:
(1) Limiting dependency (faqr) to human beings is a rhetorical device emphasizing their intense need of God. That is, they are truly poor. Other created beings or things are also dependent on God with respect to their existence. For this reason, God says: The human being was created weak (). Here, He is not intending the jinn, because they do not need food and clothing and the other things that human beings do.
(2) Here, both people and others are intended. However, “human beings” are mentioned because, when speaking, the listener who is present takes priority over the listener who is absent, or speaking of what is known takes priority over what is unknown.
(3) The al- in al-nās (“human beings”) denotes the human species, and the al- in al-fuqarāʾ identifies a subgroup. This is because, in this verse, those who are being spoken to are the same as those who are being spoken about in That (dhalikum) is Allah, your Lord. To him belongs all dominion (). That is, dhalikum refers to the one who is worshipped, and He is the one who is being described with the attributes of majesty—not those whom they call upon other than Him. And you creations are even more dependent and in need of Him!
(4) The restriction is attributed to Him is relative not absolute.
It is no secret that the import and the context of the verse do not agree with any of these explanations. Yes, possibly the latter explanation has some merit, in that it rests on an explanation that we already provided.
The end of the verse describes God as praiseworthy, indicating that He is needless and praised on account of His acts, whether He gives or refrains from giving. This is because when He gives something, He does not give it in exchange for anything else, such as gratitude; anything that appears to be in exchange for it has already been decreed. And if He withholds something, no one has any right to contest that with Him, for no one can claim true ownership over anything.
إِن يَشَأْ يُذْهِبْكُمْ وَيَأْتِ بِخَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ ١٦ وَمَا ذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ بِعَزِيزٍ ١٧
(35:16–17) If He wishes, he can erase you and come forth with a new creation, and that is not difficult for Allah.
Meaning, “O people! He can obliterate you if He wants. He has no need of you and would not be harmed in the least if he wiped you out and came up with a new creation which praised and glorified Him. He also would have no need of them. No, for He is praised. However, He has made it incumbent upon Himself to be generous, and for that He is praised. And this is not difficult for God, in all His absolute power—mighty be His name!”
It is clear that the second verse here (and that is not difficult for Allah) links back to the first (if He wishes, He can erase you and come forth with a new creation) with respect to God being needless. Come forth with a new creation is a consequence of his attribute of being praiseworthy (ḥamīd). The meaning of these two verses together stems forth from another verse about His needlessness and mercy, namely: And your Lord is needless, the possessor of mercy. If He wishes, He could destroy you and replace you with whoever He wills ().
وَلا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى وَإِن تَدْعُ مُثْقَلَةٌ إِلَى حِمْلِهَا لا يُحْمَلْ مِنْهُ شَيْءٌ وَلَوْ كَانَ ذَا قُرْبَى إِنَّمَا تُنذِرُ الَّذِينَ يَخْشَوْنَ رَبَّهُم بِالْغَيْبِ وَأَقَامُوا الصَّلاةَ وَمَن تَزَكَّى فَإِنَّمَا يَتَزَكَّى لِنَفْسِهِ وَإِلَى اللَّهِ الْمَصِيرُ ١٨
(35:18) None shall bear the burden (wizr) of another. If a soul weighed down by a burden were to call upon someone to carry it for them, they would not [be able to] carry a smidgen of it, even if they were near of kin. You can only warn those who fear their Lord in secret and establish the prayer, and whoever purifies himself does so for his own self. And to Allah is the return.
al-Rāghib says:
Wazar (“burden”) is a mountain refuge, as in Nay, and no refuge (wazar)! (). Wizr is a burden likened to a mountain. It is used to refer to the burden of sin in: That they may bear their burdens completely () and they will bear their burdens and others’ burdens ().
It means that no one can bear another person’s burden of sin, and that a soul can only be taken to account for its own burden of sin that it has earned.
Some might raise a doubt about the end of the verse: When God says that, if He wills, He can obliterate people and create others, He is threatening destruction. This is because of the beliers, who are bearing the burden [of their denial]. But what about the believers? Wouldn’t destroying the believers entail making the believers also bear the beliers’ burden? [That is, it contradicts the idea that none can bear the burden of another.]
Our response: None shall bear the burden of another means that no soul shall bear any part of another’s burden, even if that person be family.
The divine call and the warning did not benefit the beliers, who are pinpointed for destruction, for their hearts have been sealed. Warnings can only benefit those who fear their Lord in secret and establish the prayer. The two groups are not equal, just as the blind is not like the seeing, shadows are not like the light, shade is not like heat, and life is not like death.
None shall bear the burden of another means that no person can bear another person’s sins.
If a soul weighed down by a burden were to call upon someone to carry it for them, they would not [be able to] carry a smidgen of it, even if they were near of kin: Meaning, if someone were to beg someone to carry a speck of their burden of spin, that person would not respond or be able to, even if that person were a relative like a father, mother, brother, or sister.
You can only warn those who fear their Lord in secret and establish the prayer: This refers to those beliers who did not benefit from the warning and could not realize the truth of the warning because their hearts had sealed shut. [It is as if it is saying:] “You can only warn (or your warning will only benefit) those people who fear their Lord in secret and establish the prayer—the best form of worship—and consider it important. You can only warn those who wholly believe in God and worship Him. That is, your warning inspires them to fear their Lord and establish the prayer, not that they first must fear their Lord and establish the prayer, and then you can only warn them after that, in that the effect would necessitate the cause, as in the verse: I see myself pressing wine ().”
Whoever purifies himself does so for his own self: Here, “fear” and “establishing the prayer” are replaced with “purification” to indicate that the desired result of the divine invitation is purification and purifying the soul, which is then adorned with fear of God in secret and establishing the prayer.
This emphasizes and confirms what preceded it—namely, that God is independent and praised. That is, God does not benefit from inviting people to purify themselves; rather, those who purify themselves do for their own good.
The verse finishes with And to Allah is the return. This indicates that this self-purification is not in vain, for both groups [those who did and did not purify themselves] will, without doubt, return to their Lord, and He will take them to account and recompense them; those who purified themselves will have a better recompense.
وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الأَعْمَى وَالْبَصِيرُ ١٩ وَلا الظُّلُمَاتُ وَلا النُّورُ ٢٠ وَلا الظِّلُّ وَلا الْحَرُورُ ٢١
(35:19–21) And the blind and the seeing are not alike, nor the darkness and the light, nor the shade and the heat.
This comes across as a continuation of the previous sentence (and to Allah is the return), explaining through metaphor how the two groups—those who purify themselves and those who belied the truth—are not the same. Some exegetes also say that it is linked to and the two seas are not alike ().
Nor the darkness (lit. darknesses) and the light: Nor (lā) is repeated in this and the subsequent verses to emphasis “no!”
Nor the shade and the heat (ḥarūr): Ḥarūr is said to mean: (a) “intense heat of the sun”, (b) “a hot wind”, and (c) “a hot wind which blows during the day, and heat persisting day and night”.
وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الأَحْيَاء وَلا الأَمْوَاتُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُسْمِعُ مَن يَشَاء وَمَا أَنتَ بِمُسْمِعٍ مَّن فِي الْقُبُورِ ٢٢
(35:22) And the living and the dead are not alike. Allah makes whoever He wishes hear, and you cannot make those in the grave hear.
This is linked to and the blind and the seeing are not alike. Rather than just saying “nor the living and the dead”, “they are not alike” (mā yastawī) is repeated to prevent the listener from forgetting the initial verb, since it is the fourth item in the sequence. This is similar to the repetition of how (kayf) in: How can there be an agreement between Allah and His Messenger, and the polytheists… and how, if they prevail against you () [that is, due to the lengthy intermittent text].
These four verses (the blind and the seeing up to the living and the dead [19–22]) are metaphors for believers and those who reject the truth, and the consequences of their deeds.
Allah makes whoever He wishes hear: This refers to the faithful whom God has enlivened. He has made their souls listen in preparation for that: Or whoever was dead, and We enlivened him and made him a light… (). As for the Prophet, he is a means [to God]; guidance is God’s.
You cannot make those in the grave hear: Meaning, the dead; here, “the dead” refers to those who rejected the truth (the kāfir) whose hearts are sealed.
إِنْ أَنتَ إِلاَّ نَذِيرٌ ٢٣
(35:23) You are naught but a warner.
This implies that he [the Prophet] can do no more. That is, “You can only warn them. If any of them are guided or misguided—and the misguided suffer the recompense of their evil deeds—this is in the hands of God.”
Although the Prophet is usually referred to as both a bearer of glad tidings (bashīr) and a warner (nadhīr), this says warner because that is his role being discussed here; both descriptions are used for him in the next verse.
إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ بِالْحَقِّ بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا وَإِن مِّنْ أُمَّةٍ إِلاَّ خَلا فِيهَا نَذِيرٌ ٢٤
(35:24) We have sent you with truth as a bearer of glad tidings and as a warner. Every people who came before had a warner pass through them.
Meaning, “We have sent you to give glad tidings and warnings. This is nothing strange or new; all peoples who lived before had warners among them. This is the practice of God with His creation.”
The context of the verse indicates that warner (nadhīr) means “messenger appointed by God (rasūl mabʿūth min ʿind Allāh)”. Some exegetes consider warner (nadhīr) to refer to anyone—whether prophet or simply a knowledgeable person—who comes forth preaching and warning. However, this is against the apparent meaning of the verse.
However, it is not necessary for all the peoples of the past to have had a warner who was actually one of them [as opposed to a member of a different nation or tribe, such as the ancient prophets who travelled]. God says “passed through them” (khalā fīhā), not “from them” (khalā minhā).
وَإِن يُكَذِّبُوكَ فَقَدْ كَذَّبَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ جَاءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُهُم بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ وَبِالزُّبُرِ وَبِالْكِتَابِ الْمُنِيرِ ٢٥
(35:25) If they call you a liar, those before you also called [the messengers] liars. Their messengers came to them with clear arguments (bayyināt) and the Psalms (zubur) and with the illuminating book (kitābun munīr).
Bayyināt are the āyāt (miraculous signs or verses) which bear witness to the messengers’ truth. Zubur is the plural of zabūr and—in that it is juxtaposed with book—may refer to scrolls and scriptures in which God is celebrated but which do not contain statutes for ritual law. Kitābun munīr refers to a divinely revealed book containing ritual law, like the books revealed to Noah and Abraham, the Torah of Moses, and the Gospel of Jesus. The meaning of the verse is clear.
ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَكَيْفَ كَانَ نَكِيرِ ٢٦
(35:26) Then I seized those who rejected [the truth], and how [intense] was the disavowal (nakīr)!
“Seized” is a metaphor for “punished”. Nakīr means inkār (“denial”, “disavowal”, “negation”). The remainder of the verse is clear.
Discourse
The discussion “On the General Meaning of Warning (indhār)” appears here in the printed volume. Read it in the Al-Mizan App.
Examining Narrations
- In al-Durr al-Manthūr, regarding none shall bear the burden of another (), Aḥmad and Tirmidhī relate—and al-Nasāʾī and Ibn Mājah consider it authentic—from ʿAmr ibn al-Aḥwaṣ:
The Messenger of God said at the farewell hajj: “A criminal reaps what he sows. A father shall not be punished for his son’s crime, nor will a son be punished for his father’s crime.”
- Tafsīr al-Qummī says regarding And the living and the dead are not alike. Allah makes whoever He wishes hear, and you cannot make those in the grave hear ():
These are those who rejected the truth (the kuffār); they do not hear you just as the inhabitants of the graves do not hear you.
- In al-Durr al-Manthūr, in the hadith of Abū Sahl al-Sirrī ibn Sahl al-Jandīsābūrī al-Khāmis related from ʿAbd al-Quddūs from Abū Ṣāliḥ, it is narrated that Ibn ʿAbbās said regarding you cannot make the dead hear () and you cannot make those in the grave hear ():
The Prophet was standing before the slain on the day of Badr and saying, “Have you found what your Lord promised you to be true? O so-and-so, son of so-and-so, did you not deny your Lord? Did you not call His prophet a liar? Did you not cut off your kinsman?”
They [the people] said, “O Messenger of God! Do they hear what you are saying?”
He said: “You do not hear what I am saying better than they do!” So God revealed the verse You cannot make the dead hear, and you cannot make those in the grave hear as a metaphor for those who rejected truth (the kuffār); they heard not his words.
Author’s comment: This narration has clear indications of fabrication, for the position of the Prophet is higher than for him to speak of something that he had no knowledge of from his Lord and for God to then to send him a verse refuting him and telling him what was correct.
Furthermore, the way the verse is presented does not match what is in the codex of the Qur’an, since part of it is taken from Sūrah al-Naml, verse 80, and the other part from Sūrah al-Fāṭir, verse 22. Additionally, the context of the verse indicates it is Meccan [whereas the Battle of Badr happened after the Prophet had migrated to Medina].
- In al-Iḥtijāj, it is related in the discussion with Imām al-Ṣādiq:
A questioner requested, “Tell me about the Zoroastrians (Majūs). Was a prophet sent to them? For I have found that they have a coherent book with eloquent preaching and exemplary examples. They believe in divine reward and punishment, and have a religious law that they enact.”
He [Imām al-Ṣādiq] said: Every people who came before had a warner pass through them (). God appointed a prophet for them with a book, but they renounced it and disavowed it.