Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 88 Al-Ghashiyah, Ayat 17-26

اَفَلَا يَنۡظُرُوۡنَ اِلَى الۡاِ بِلِ كَيۡفَ خُلِقَتۡ‏ ﴿88:17﴾ وَاِلَى السَّمَآءِ كَيۡفَ رُفِعَتۡ‏ ﴿88:18﴾ وَاِلَى الۡجِبَالِ كَيۡفَ نُصِبَتۡ‏ ﴿88:19﴾ وَاِلَى الۡاَرۡضِ كَيۡفَ سُطِحَتۡ‏ ﴿88:20﴾ فَذَكِّرۡ ؕ اِنَّمَاۤ اَنۡتَ مُذَكِّرٌ ؕ‏ ﴿88:21﴾ لَـسۡتَ عَلَيۡهِمۡ بِمُصَۜيۡطِرٍۙ‏ ﴿88:22﴾ اِلَّا مَنۡ تَوَلّٰى وَكَفَرَۙ‏ ﴿88:23﴾ فَيُعَذِّبُهُ اللّٰهُ الۡعَذَابَ الۡاَكۡبَرَؕ‏ ﴿88:24﴾ اِنَّ اِلَيۡنَاۤ اِيَابَهُمۡۙ‏ ﴿88:25﴾ ثُمَّ اِنَّ عَلَيۡنَا حِسَابَهُمْ‏ ﴿88:26﴾

(88:17) Do (these unbelievers) not observe the camels: how they were created? (88:18) And the sky: how it was raised high? (88:19) And the mountains: how they were fixed? (88:20) And the earth: how it was spread out?7 (88:21) So render good counsel, for you are simply required to counsel, (88:22) and are not invested with the authority to compel them.8 (88:23) But whoever will turn away (from the Truth), (88:24) Allah will chastise him with the most terrible chastisement. (88:25) Surely to Us is their return; (88:26) and then it is for Us to call them to account.

Notes

7. That is, if they deny the possibility of the Hereafter, have they never looked around themselves and considered how the camels were created, how the heaven was raised high, how the mountains were firmly set and how the earth was spread out? When all these things could be created, and exist before them in their finished form, why can the Resurrection not take place? Why cannot a new world come about, and why cannot Hell and Heaven be possible? Only a foolish and thoughtless person would think that the coming into existence of only those things which he has found existing, on opening his eyes in the world, is possible, because they already exist. As for the things, which he has not yet observed and experienced, he should thoughtlessly pass the judgment that their coming into being is impossible. If he has any common sense, he should think as to how the things, which already exist, came into being? How did the camel possessing precisely the same characteristics as needed for the beast required by the desert dwellers of Arabia come into being? How did the sky whose atmosphere is filled with air to breathe in, whose clouds bring rain, whose sun provides light and warmth in the day, whose moon and stars shine at night, come into being? How did the earth spread out on which man lives and passes his life, whose products fulfill all his needs and requirements on whose springs and wells his life depends? How did the mountains rise up from the surface of the earth, which stand fixed with earth and stones of different colors and a variety of minerals in them? Has all this happened without the artistic skill of an All-Powerful, All- Wise Designer. No thinking and intelligent mind can answer this question in the negative. Unless it is stubborn and obstinate, it will have to acknowledge that each one of these things was impossible, had not an Omnipotent, Wise Being made it possible. And when an All-Powerful, Wise Being created these things, there is no reason why the Hereafter should be regarded as remote from reason and impossible.

8. That is, if a person does not listen to reason, he may not. You have not been appointed to force the will of the deniers: your only task is to distinguish the right from the wrong for the people and warn them of the consequences of following the wrong way; so this is the task you should continue to perform.