Verses 1–13
بِسۡمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
In the name of Allah, the most Merciful, the most Compassionate
The purpose of this sūrah is a general call in the form of a warning. It begins by mentioning the signs of God’s oneness, before the promulgation of a divine code (sharīʿah) for the Prophet. Then it emphasizes the importance of following this code for him and others because ahead of them lies a day on which they will be recompensed for their righteous deeds—such as having faith and following the Prophet’s teachings—and they will only hurt themselves with evil deeds if they turn away from the religion. Finally, it mentions what will become of both groups on that day, namely the Day of Resurrection.
Throughout its topics, there is a severe warning and threat of punishment for those who arrogantly defy God’s signs, and those who take their own desires as gods, and whom God misguides upon knowledge.
One of the most fascinating subjects discussed in this sūrah is how deeds are written down and recorded.
Based on the tone and content of its verses, this is a Meccan sūrah, although some commentators made an exception for the verse Say to the faithful… (). However, there is nothing to attest to their opinion.
Commentary
حم ١ تَنْزِيلُ الْكِتَابِ مِنَ اللَّهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَكِيمِ ٢
(45:1–2) Ḥā, Mīm. The sending down of the Book is from God, the All-mighty, All-wise.
The construct state (iḍāfah) in the second verse, the sending down of the Book (tanzīl al-kitāb), is one wherein an adjective (the first element) is linked to its noun (the second element). This adjective takes the form of a verbal noun (maṣdar), but its meaning is that of a passive participle (ism mafʿūl). From God is connected to sending down (tanzīl), and the entire phrase is a predicate for an implicit subject (mubtadaʾ).
The meaning of this verse is: “This is a book sent down from God, the All-mighty, the All-wise.” And we have discussed the meaning of its vocabulary previously.
إِنَّ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ لَآيَاتٍ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ٣
(45:3) Indeed in the heavens and the earth there are signs for the faithful.
The sign (āyah) of a thing is a marker that points and guides towards it. When God says that the heavens and the earth contain signs, this means that they themselves are His signs, for there is nothing beyond the heavens, the earth and everything that God has created that contains all of them which is a sign that points to Him.
What we have just said is evinced by the different expressions God uses for this in His speech; sometimes he says that there is a sign “in”(fī) something, while at others He counts the thing itself as a sign. For example, He says: Indeed in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day are signs… (). But, at the same time, He says elsewhere: Among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth… (). From the different expressions found in these verses and the many others like them, we can deduce that when something has a sign in it, this means it itself is a sign. This is just as we understand from the verses Indeed in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day are signs… and Indeed in the heavens and the earth there are signs for the faithful that the creation of the heavens and the earth (khalq al-samawāt wa al-arḍ) means the heavens and the earth themselves, not something else.
When God says that something contains a sign while it itself is a sign, His concern is with the different facets of its existence (jihāt wujūdihi). If something has one or more facets to its existence, then each of these facets is a sign in its own right. But were we to take the thing itself into consideration, we could only take it as a single sign. This is as God says: In the earth are signs for those who have conviction (), whereas if the sign was the earth itself, He could only say: “The earth is a sign for those who have conviction.” In this case we would lose the deeper meaning of the verse, namely that the earth has multiple facets of its existence, and each of these facets is a sign in its own right.
So the words …in the heavens and the earth there are signs… mean that there are many facets to the existence of the heavens and the earth, all of which point to God alone being their creator and governor, without any partner. This is because they have an essential need (ḥājah dhātiyyah) for someone to bring them into being; they need someone to give them their awesome creation, their wondrous composition, to connect the different parts of their being, to unite them in their astounding multiplicity, and to subsume each of their particular natural orders under a single, unifying cosmic order to govern them. All of this demonstrates that they have a creator and that He alone is their governing Lord. For, were there not someone there to originally bring them into being, and were they not governed by a single Lord, their arrangement would have been filled with contradictions and conflicts.
From the above, it should be clear that what some commentators have said, namely that in the heavens has an implicit construct state with the meaning in the creation of the heavens is an unnecessarily tortuous reading of the text.
وَفِي خَلْقِكُمْ وَمَا يَبُثُّ مِنْ دَابَّةٍ آيَاتٌ لِقَوْمٍ يُوقِنُونَ ٤
(45:4) And in your creation and whatever animals that He scatters, there are signs for a people who have certainty.
To “scatter” (bathth) is to spread out and stir up, and His “scattering” the animals means to create them, separate them, and spread them across the world, as God says about the creation of the human being: …then, behold, you are humans scattering! ().
The meaning of the verse is: “And in you, qua your created existence, and in those animals God distributes, qua their creation, are surely signs for a people who travel upon the path of certainty.”
And the creation of the human being, insofar as he is a terrestrial being who is connected to matter, is different kind of creation to that of the heavens and the earth. This is because he is the combination of a terrestrial body that is made up of matter and will decompose into dust when he dies, with something else beyond that; something transcendent and immaterial that not only survives death but will be received and kept safe with God. This other element is what the Qur’an calls the spirit: …and breathed into him of My spirit… (). And, after mentioning the creation of the human being from semen (nuṭfah), then from a clot (ʿalaqah), then from a chewed substance (muḍghah), then the completion of his body’s creation, God says: Then We produced him as another creature () and: Say: “You will be taken away by the angel of death, who has been charged with you…” ().
So when one considers the creation of the human being one is considering not only the signs in his terrestrial existence, but also those in his astral existence (malakūtiyyah) that lies beyond this. In the same vein, one who considers the creation of animals—and animals are endowed with living, feeling souls, even if these are of a lower degree to those of human souls, just as their physical abilities are beneath that of a human—all of these contain signs for people of certitude, by which people can know God, and know that He is one and without any partner in his lordship or divinity.
وَاخْتِلَافِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مِنْ رِزْقٍ فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا وَتَصْرِيفِ الرِّيَاحِ آيَاتٌ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ ٥
(45:5) And in the alternation of night and day… for a people who apply reason.
These kinds of signs fall into the category of signs that exist between the heavens and the earth.
And in the alternation of night and day… meaning their alternation in becoming longer and shorter, which is part of the natural order and runs in tandem with the changing of the seasons in different parts of the world, repeating with the repetition of the years. In this way, God arranges the means of sustenance for the earth’s inhabitants and gives them a proper education. He says: and ordained therein its means of sustenance in four days, alike for all the seekers ().
…and what God sends down from the heavens of provision with which He revives the earth after its death….
The provision (rizq) which God sends down from the heavens means rain. Here, he either uses the word “provision” for rain figuratively, giving the cause (rain) the name of the thing it causes (provision), or because rain is also a form of provision, as the waters of the earth originate as rain. Heavens here is used figuratively to refer to the sky or clouds. Revive the earth after its death means reviving the plants it contains by causing them to grow. And invoking this image of life after death is a subtle allusion to the Resurrection.
…and in the disposal of the winds… means changing them and sending from one direction to another; their disposal carries many general benefits; one of the most general of these is carrying clouds to different parts of the world, pollinating plants, and carrying away unpleasant airs.
…there are signs for a people who apply reason meaning those people who distinguish between truth and falsehood and between right and wrong using their God-given intellects.
And each of these categories of signs are directed to a specific group of people; the signs of the heavens and the earth are directed to those who believe; the signs of the human being and all other animals are directed to those who have certainty; while the signs of night and day, and rains and wind are directed to those who apply reason. Perhaps the reason for this is that the signs of the heavens and the earth offer simple straightforward guidance that they did not bring themselves into being, nor did they come about by coincidence or chance, rather they have an originator who brought them into being, and all the causes and activities which produce the visible natural order. Therefore their creator must be the creator of everything and the lord of all. Any human being can grasp that, even with the simplest mind; so all levels of the faithful understand this and benefit from it.
Meanwhile, as for the signs in God’s creation of the human being and all living, sensing creatures, they are—at least from the aspect of their living and sensing souls—from a realm beyond that of matter, and this is called the realm of dominion (malakūt). The Qur’an restricts the comprehension and perception of this to the people of certainty, as it says: Thus did We show Abraham the dominions of the heavens and the earth, that he might be of those who possess certitude ().
As for the signs of the alternation of night and day, the rains that revive the earth and the disposal of the winds; because of their variety, their multifacetedness, their connection to the earth and terrestrial realities, their abundant benefits and the breadth of their value, they require deep and meticulous contemplation. Such contemplation cannot be grasped by simple minds, which is why God says that these are only for people who apply reason. God’s signs are signs for all people, but insofar as only some of them benefit from these signs, God says that they are for them.
God describes the people of certainty and those of reason as a people who have certainty (qawmun yūqinūn) and a people who apply reason (qawmun yaʿqilūn), while he describes the people of belief as the faithful (muʾminīn). This is because the simplicity of the sign given to the people of belief suggests that what is meant by belief is its basis, which is already fixed in them (so they do not need to do anything). Hence it is fitting to describe them with the adjective faithful, unlike the next two groups of people. On the other hand, the people of certitude and reason, because of their meticulousness and intellectual abilities, grasp things stage-by-stage, hence it is more fitting to describe them with an imperfect verb to signify an ongoing process of reflection.
It is said: The arrangement of the three groups of people in these three verses, beginning with the people of belief, then the people of certainty, then the people of reason, follows the stages by which a person ascends in his understanding. Certainty is a specific level of belief; it is the utmost limit of belief. Meanwhile, reason is the axis of both belief and certainty. By reason, we mean human reason that is aided by the illumination of insight, by which certainty is freed from all kinds of doubt and in whose strengthening every good thing is found. The arrangement of the three verses follows that of these three levels.
However, according to what this interpretation says about reason, the Qur’an should have mentioned it before either of the other two levels, as—by definition—it is inconceivable that certainty should be affected by doubts.
It is also said about the arrangement: In order to consider the signs in the second verse fully, one must reflect on the signs in the first. This is because the heavens and the earth are two of the causes for the existence of animals, therefore they must be mentioned before it. The same applies to the signs of the third verse; to consider them fully one must consider both the first and second verse. As for the first verse, the reason is obvious. As for the second verse, it is because it is the final cause. Therefore it must be comprehensive; in other words, the third verse must be read as an effect (maʿlūl) whose understanding depends on understanding its final cause mentioned in the verse before it.
However, even if this explains why the signs have been arranged in this order, it does not explain why the three qualities have been associated with them; meaning faith, certainty, and reason. Moreover, is the third group of signs not, like the first, one of the causes for the existence of animals? Therefore it should have come before the second. Alternatively, is not the second group of signs the final cause for the first? In which case should it not have come before it, just as it came before the third?
It is said: The reason for the arrangement of these categories means to say: If you are faithful, then think about these signs. But if you are not faithful and you are looking for certainty and knowledge, then think about these signs. And if you are neither faithful nor certain, then strive to comprehend these signs.
However, even if this explains the arrangement of the three qualities but it does not explain the arrangement of the three sets of signs. Moreover, its logical corollary is that none of these three sets of signs should be restricted to just one of these qualities. Instead, all the signs should be for all of these people, and the context does not support this understanding. Furthermore, he appears to have interpreted certainty as being equivalent to knowledge, which leaves reason has no role to play except in speculative knowledge (ʿilm ẓannī), and this kind of knowledge is inadmissible in matters of belief!
تِلْكَ آيَاتُ اللَّهِ نَتْلُوهَا عَلَيْكَ بِالْحَقِّ ۖ فَبِأَيِّ حَدِيثٍ بَعْدَ اللَّهِ وَآيَاتِهِ يُؤْمِنُونَ ٦
(45:6) These are the signs of God that We recite for you in truth. So what discourse will they believe after God and His signs?
“Belief” (īmān) in something means to know something and adhere to it in practice; if someone does not adhere to something then it is not belief, even if knowledge is there. God says: They impugned them although they were convinced in their hearts (), and: …and whom God has led astray upon knowledge… ().
Recall that signs (ayāt) are guideposts, so God’s cosmic signs are cosmic phenomena whose objective existence points to God being solitary in creation, endowed with the attributes of perfection, and divested of all need or deficiency. Believing in these signs means believing that they point to Him, and the logical consequence of believing in them is believing Him to be as they indicate.
On the other hand, Qur’anic signs are signs of his that point to the cosmic signs leading to Him, to lessons of doctrine, to practical laws or to moral qualities that God is pleased with and enjoins upon people. Their contents point to him and are from him; so believing in these signs also means believing that they point to something, which in turn necessitates belief in that to which they point.
As for signs in the form of miracles (muʿjizāt), these too are either cosmic signs who point in the same way as cosmic signs, or they are non-cosmic signs. For example, the Qur’an’s miraculous inimitability and its pointing to the significance of the cosmic signs is not itself a cosmic sign.
These are the signs of God that We recite for you in truth refers to the signs of the Qur’an that are recited to him. It could also refer to the cosmic signs that God mentions in the three above verses, intending to unify both the signifier and the signified therein.
So what discourse will they believe after God and His signs?
It is said: This is like you saying: “Zayd and his nobility amazed me” and “You can only be amazed by his nobility!” Looking carefully, this means “Zayd’s nobility amazed me, as did Zayd with regard to his nobility.” So the meaning of the verse is: “What discourse after these signs of God—meaning the signs in the Qur’an—will they believe in?” In other words: “If they will not believe in this discourse, then what other discourse could they believe in?”
It is said: Discourse means God’s speech, so the meaning is: “If they will not believe, then in what discourse after God’s speech and His signs, will they believe?” But if this was the meaning, it would be more fitting for signs to mean the cosmic signs, which is why Ṭabrisī says after mentioning this reading: “The difference between the discourse of the Qur’an and its signs is that its discourse are stories taken from it in the course of distinguishing truth (ḥaqq) from falsehood (bāṭil), while its signs are its proofs that separate correct (ṣaḥīḥ) from incorrect (fāsid).”
But the first of these two interpretations is finer.
وَيْلٌ لِكُلِّ أَفَّاكٍ أَثِيمٍ ٧
(45:7) Woe to every sinful liar.
Woe means “perish!”
The word used here for liar (affāk) is in the intensive noun form (ṣīghat al-mubālaghah), meaning “one who is addicted to lying.” Sinful (athīm) means one who commits sins. So the meaning of the verse is: “Let every sinning liar perish!”
يَسْمَعُ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِ ثُمَّ يُصِرُّ مُسْتَكْبِرًا كَأَنْ لَمْ يَسْمَعْهَا ۖ فَبَشِّرْهُ بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ ٨
(45:8) who hears the signs of God being recited to him then persists disdainfully, as if he had not heard them. So inform him of a painful punishment.
This sentence is an adjective for sinful liar, above. Then (thumma) is used here for a sequence in order (not time) and gives a sense of distance. To “persist” (iṣrār) in doing something means to keep it and not give it up.
So the meaning is: He heard God’s signs—the verses of the Qur’an—being recited to him, but he still clings to faithlessness; in fact, he is arrogant and will not humble himself before the truth, as if he has not heard those verses. So inform him of a painful punishment.
وَإِذَا عَلِمَ مِنْ آيَاتِنَا شَيْئًا اتَّخَذَهَا هُزُوًا ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُهِينٌ ٩
(45:9) Should he learn anything about Our signs, he takes them in derision. For these there is a humiliating punishment.
Judging from the context, it appears that them refers to the signs. By connecting in derision is to signs rather than what he has learnt about them, this emphasizes his utter ignorance thereof.
The verse means: “And when that sinful liar who persists in his disdain learns anything about Our signs, he derides them all.”
For these there is a humiliating punishment: In other words, they will suffer abasement and disgrace. The punishment is described as humiliating in response to their arrogance and derision. These (ulāʾika) is employed here to refer to every sinful liar. It is said that there are other interpretations of this verse, but we have omitted these because there is no benefit to discussing them.
مِنْ وَرَائِهِمْ جَهَنَّمُ ۖ وَلَا يُغْنِي عَنْهُمْ مَا كَسَبُوا شَيْئًا وَلَا مَا اتَّخَذُوا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ أَوْلِيَاءَ ۖ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ ١٠
(45:10) Behind them is hell, and what they have earned will not avail them anything, nor what they had taken as guardians besides God and there is a great punishment for them.
In that they are so preoccupied with this world that they turn away from the truth and pay no attention to the consequences of their actions, Hell is put behind them, even though they are heading straight for it and facing its direction.
It is said: Behind them means in front of them. Majmaʿ al-Bayān says: “Behind (warāʾ) is a noun that can be used to mean either in front or behind. Whatever is beyond you is behind you, whether it is behind you or in front of you.”
And when God says behind them is hell, this is a foreordained decree.
…and what they have earned will not avail them anything: What they have earned means what wealth and the like thereof they have obtained in this world. Anything is left indefinite to belittle it, meaning: “None of the wealth, rank or supporters they garnered in this world will help them in the slightest bit on the Day of Judgement.”
…nor what they had taken as guardians besides God: Guardians refers to the deities of the idols which they took as lords and gods in this world and claimed that they would intercede for them, or it refers to the idols themselves.
…and there is a great punishment for them: This reaffirms the threat of the punishment that awaits them. This threat was first made in the verse: Woe to every sinful liar, second in the verse: so inform him of a painful punishment, third in the verse: For these there is a humiliating punishment, fourth in the verse: Behind them is hell, and fifth in this verse just now. Throughout these verses the punishment is described as painful, humiliating, and great.
هَٰذَا هُدًى ۖ وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِآيَاتِ رَبِّهِمْ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مِنْ رِجْزٍ أَلِيمٌ١١
(45:11) This is a guidance, and as for those who defy the signs of their Lord, for them is a painful punishment due to defilement.
This refers to the Qur’an. It is described as a guidance for hyperbole, as when we say “Zayd is justice.” Defilement—as has been said—is the most severe kind of punishment, and its original meaning is confusion.
This verse should be read in the context of repudiating the aspersions cast upon the Qur’an by the faithless, considering it worthy of derision and mockery. In short, however, it is a warning for those who reject its signs.
اللَّهُ الَّذِي سَخَّرَ لَكُمُ الْبَحْرَ لِتَجْرِيَ الْفُلْكُ فِيهِ بِأَمْرِهِ وَلِتَبْتَغُوا مِنْ فَضْلِهِ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ ١٢
(45:12) It is God who disposed the sea for you so that the ships may sail in it by His command.
Having mentioned the condition of those who lie out of disdain for faith, deride the signs that are recited to them and mock what they know of them, and warned them in the most forceful way of a punishment most severe, God now turns away from them to address all people: believers and disbelievers. He mentions some of the signs of His lordship, of which some are too magnificent for them to deny. He begins by describing how He disposed the sea for them, then all the contents of the heavens and the earth, which contain signs no one can deny unless they have left their very humanity behind and forgotten how to think—and thinking is the most magnificent trait of the human being.
For you in it is God who disposed the sea for you indicates purpose; in other words, He disposed the sea for your sake, in a way that ships could float and travel upon it so that people could benefit thereby. It is also possible that for you could signify transitiveness, in the sense that man tamed the seas by God’s leave.
…so that the ships may sail in it by His command… explains the reason why He disposed the sea; ships sailing by His command means that He created sailing with the creative command: “Be!” (kun!). This is because the properties of things, like things themselves, are attributed to Him.
…and that you may seek of His grace… means so that by riding upon ships you could seek His grace, meaning His sustenance.
…and that you may give thanks—meaning in order that you might give thanks to God in return for this blessing, namely His subduing the sea for you.
وَسَخَّرَ لَكُمْ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا مِنْهُ ۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ ١٣
(45:13) And He has disposed for you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth; all is from Him. There are indeed signs in that for a people who reflect.
This verse progresses from the last by linking a more general statement to a more particular one. For you is exactly like for you in the previous verse. All is to emphasize that it includes everything in the heavens and the earth, or a circumstantial qualifier for whatever.
Disposing these for the human being means that the different parts of the visible world run according to a single natural order, which governs them, joins one part to another, and joins all of them to the human being. This allows the human being to benefit from them in his life, whether they are great or small. Human civilization is continuously finding new ways to benefit through this order and use it to attain a better standard of living. This is because it is all at his disposal.
From means “originating with” and Him refers to God. This is a circumstantial qualifier for whatever is in the heavens and the earth.
The verse means: “He has disposed for you whatever is in the heavens and the earth altogether, while it has originated from Him and comes from Him.” The essences of things originate with Him when He brings them into being without any prior precedent for them. The same is true of their properties and qualities, which He creates in them. One such property or quality is that they are connected to one another, and this is the natural order which is connected to the human being. God says: God originates the creation, then He will bring it back (). And He says: It is indeed He who originates and brings back ().
Commentators have mentioned other meanings for from Him but all of them entail rather tortuous readings of the text. For this reason, we have omitted them.
There are indeed signs in that for a people who reflect: The connection between the above and reflection (tafakkur) is obvious.