Surah Fatir 35:1-7 - Quran Translation Commentary

(35:1) All praise to Allah,² Originator³ of the heavens and the earth,⁴ Appointer of angels (as) messengers; with wings: twos, threes, and fours.⁵ He adds to the creation as He will.⁶ Surely, Allah has power over all things.

(35:2) Whatsoever of mercy Allah opens for the people, has no withholder thereof; and what He withholds has no releaser of it⁷ thereafter;⁸ and He is the All-mighty, the All-wise.⁹

(35:3) O people, recall Allah’s blessings upon you. Is there a creator other than Allah to provide you out of heaven and earth? There is no deity save He. Where then are you being diverted?

(35:4) But if they cry lies to you, then Messengers before you were also cried lies to. And, to Allah are the affairs returned.

(35:5) O people, Allah’s promise is true; therefore, let not the life of the world delude you, and let not the (great) Deluder¹⁰ delude you concerning Allah.¹¹

(35:6) Indeed, Shaytan is an enemy to you; so treat him as an enemy. He only calls his party¹² so that they may be among the companions of the blaze.

(35:7) Those who have disbelieved, for them is a severe chastisement. As for those who believed and did righteous deeds, for them is forgiveness and a great reward.

Commentary

2. “When we praise Allah, it means that we understand and bring to mind that His glory and power are exercised for the good of His Creation, and this is the subject-matter of the Surah” (Yusuf Ali).‏

3. Ibn `Abbas is reported to have said that he did not know what “Fatir” was until he happened to be near two Bedouins disputing over a water-hole. One of them said to the other,

“I originated it” (Zamakhshari, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir). The word has its root in “fatara” which means “to split,” as well as “to create” (Qurtubi). Allah is the Originator in the sense of having created without a previous example, and without a previously existing set of physical laws (Alusi).

Yusuf Ali comments: “As man’s knowledge of the processes of nature advances, he sees how complex is the evolution of matter itself, leaving out the question of the origin of Life and the spiritual forces, which are beyond the ken of experimental science. But this knowledge itself becomes a sort of ”veil of Light": man becomes so conscious of the proximate causes, that he is apt, in his pride, to forget the primal Cause, the ultimate hand of Allah in Creation.. The word fatara here means the creation of primeval matter, to which further creative processes have to be added by the hand of Allah, or Allah ‘adds to His Creation as He pleases’, not only in quantity, but in qualities, functions, relations and variations in infinite ways.‏“

4. Majid gives a reason why a re-statement of the stated is necessary: “The earliest heathen gods were the personifications of the heaven and the earth. Hence the need for emphasizing that they are mere created beings. Even the Jews with their heritage of monotheism were led, under the sway of Platonic ideas, to conceive of creation ‘as carried into effect through intermediate agencies, not very distinguishable from sub-deities.’ (JE. IV. p. 338).”

Today’s scientists propose that the universe is “a free lunch”, that is, it came out of nothing. This is justified in the following curious manner: Firstly, we know that everything exists in pairs: positive and negative. For example, we have matter and antimatter. Now, before the big bang nothing existed but only energy. This positive energy must have had its negative partner. That partner is gravity which is assumed as negative energy. This negative energy cancels out the positive energy, and we end up having a universe out of nothing! Physicists say, on the other hand, that it is observed in the laboratories that during experiments sub-atomic particles pop up suddenly from nowhere. They have no mass, and no energy. But their physical effects are measurable. They come into existence all by themselves, for a microsecond, and disappear. This proves that the universe could have come into existence by itself.

One wonders how much of the above stated in scientific works is given credence by their authors themselves, or, is it for public consumption alone? (Au.).

5. That is, some of them have a pair of wings, others two, or three, or four. But there is no limit. During the night of the Flight to the heavens our Prophet saw Jibril with six hundred wings (Zamakhshari), between each of the wings was a distance of the east and the west (Ibn Kathir).

The above report, as in Ibn Abi Hatim and in Kitab Al-Adab of Bukhari, has the following words in Arabic:There is another report in Abu al-Sheikh, as also in Kanz to the effect that the Prophet saw Jibril at Sidratu al-Muntaha with six hundred motley colored wings (Au.).

Majid comments: “The figures are not designed to express actual number of wings. They are symbolic of the different orders of those beings so unlike the creatures of the earth… In the Bible also there is a mention of certain winged heavenly beings, known as seraphim, attending on God and proclaiming His holiness:- ‘I also saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim: each one had six wings: with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain did he fly.’ (Is. 6: 1-2).”

6. That is, there can be other creations with more than six hundred wings (Suddi – Ibn Kathir). But clearly, the allusion is to increase in all kinds of quantities and qualities in the creations (Zamakhshari). In the words of Asad, “the process of creation is continuous, constantly expanding in scope, range and variety.”

7. It is in this vein that the Prophet is reported to have supplicated in words as reported by Bukhari, Ahmad and others:

Warrad, who was Mughira b. Sho`ba’s secretary, wrote on his behest to Mu`awiyyah that the Prophet used to say after every of the five daily Prayers,

“There is no deity save Allah, the One. He has no partners. His is the kingdom and for Him the praise; and He has power over all things. O Allah, there is no withholder of what You grant, and no granter of what You withhold. And no possessor of good fortune can be of any benefit when faced with Your will.”

Muslim has a slightly different version of the above report, as also Ahmad. It is said that the Prophet used to say these words of supplication during his deep bows (ruku’). The actual words are:

“O our Lord, Yours is the praise (in quantities) filling the heavens and the earth, and filling whatever else You wish after them, worthy of praise; there is no withholder of what You grant, and no granter of what You withhold. And no possessor of good fortune can be of any benefit when faced with Your will” (Ibn Kathir).

Alusi notes: Ibn al-Mundhir has recorded from `Amir b. Qays that, “There are four verses of the Qur’an on the strength of which I do not care how I do my morning or my evening:

i) “Whatsoever of mercy Allah opens for the people has no withholder thereof; and what He withholds, has no releaser thereof after Him.”

A second says,

ii) “And, were Allah to visit you with an affliction, there is no remover thereof, save He. And, if He wished you any good, there is none to bar His bounty” (10: 107).

And a third:

iii) “And there is no creeper on the earth but upon Allah is its provision” (11: 6).

Finally,

iv) “Allah will place ease after hardship” (65: 7).

Sayyid Qutb has a passage the likes of which make his commentary stand out from others. Here is a shortened version, “Whatsoever of mercy that Allah opens for the people, has no withholder thereof; and what He withholds has no releaser of it thereafter: This single short verse puts an end to every doubt concerning the powers in the heavens and earth, binding man wholly to the power of Allah. On one hand, it drives into him disillusionment against every hope of mercy from any quarter of the universe, connecting him, on the other hand, with the mercy of Allah. It shuts all the doors of the heavens and earth, opening for him Allah’s door alone. It blocks every path in the heavens and the earth, leaving open the way to Allah alone.

“And Allah’s mercy appears in so many forms that they defy counting. Man is unable to take account of it all in his little self and what goes to make it. He cannot take account of all that Allah has bestowed of His mercy by way of honoring him, by way of the things He subjected to him: from above, from below, and from every side. But of course, those that a man realizes are but a meager few of those that he does not know.

“Allah’s mercy appears in those things that are prohibited as well as in those that have been declared lawful. When Allah opens up His mercy, the person concerned discovers it in everything, in every situation, in every condition, and in every place.. He finds it in his self, in his disposition, in things surrounding him, wherever he happens to be, and in whatever condition he happens to be, even when he is in the process of enduring all that the people consider as a stroke of misfortune. On the other hand, he misses the mercy we are speaking of, if Allah withholds it, in every thing, in every situation, in every condition, and in every place, even if he possesses all that the people reckon as the means of happiness and satisfaction.

“There is no blessing but it turns into a curse - if Allah disconnects it from His mercy. And there is no distress but it becomes a blessing - if it is accompanied by Allah’s mercy.. Man may rest on a bed of thorns – blessed with Allah’s mercy – and behold, it is a cushion. He might rest on a bed of silk – but Allah has withheld His Mercy – and behold, it is a bed of thorns. He could be struggling against all odds – but is in Allah’s mercy – and behold, they are the simplest of things to endure. On the other hand, he might be attempting one of the easiest things – but is without His mercy – and behold, it is one of the most difficult tasks to accomplish. He passes through dangerous situations, but experiences peace and comfort, if in Allah’s mercy, while without it, he indulges in the most simple of things, yet they prove distressful.

“There is no hardship with Allah’s mercy at hand. Hardship contains in it being withheld; even if a man is in the darkness of prison cells, or undergoing severe torture, or engulfed by flames of destruction. And there is no peace without it, even if a man is in the best of blessings, and material comforts. It is within the soul that springs of blessings and comforts sprout – by Allah’s mercy; and from within the soul scorpions of worry, anxiety, fatigue, hardship, distress and plight sting, when one is without Allah’s mercy.

“This is the door which, when open, could close all other doors, windows, and every opening. But no worry, for, it is the door to ease, comfort and prosperity. On the other hand, if this door is closed, but rest of the doors are opened, all the windows, and all the openings, but it will be of no use, for, it is going to mean constriction, pain, worries, and afflictions.

“This bestowal descends, but if there is constriction in provision, in housing, in livelihood, or, life happens to be rough and the resting place harsh – yet, no matter, for, they are of little consequence. In reality it is luxury, comfort, peace and blessing. On the other hand, if this bestowal is held back, but is followed by material ease, and by everything that sounds pleasant, yet it is no use. It will prove to be stressful, constricting, wretched and full of tribulation.

“Wealth and progeny, health and strength, power and prestige ... all these become sources of worry, exhaustion, distress and hardship – if Allah’s mercy is withheld. But if Allah opens the doors of His mercy, then the same things are sources of comfort, pleasure, satisfaction, and contentment.

“It is by Allah’s mercy that you feel His mercy. Allah’s mercy always encompasses you, overwhelms you, circumscribes you, but it is your awareness of it that turns it into a mercy. Your hoping to get it, and experience it - that is His mercy. It is your faith in it, and expectations of it in every affair, which is the true mercy. Torture is true torture when you feel you are veiled from it, or you doubt its coming. But it is that kind of torture that a believer never experiences for, ‘None despairs of Allah’s mercy but an unbelieving folk.’”

8. Imam Razi understood it as “after Him.” That is, who can release after Allah withholds it? (Zamakhshari). Our rendering follows Jalalayn, Alusi and others (Au.).

Mawdudi writes: “This is to remove the pagan beliefs that there are beings or agencies other than Allah responsible for providing, or for obtaining from Allah, wealth, health, progeny, etc. This has been emphasized in many parts of the Qur’an to release the people from the shame and humiliation of begging at every door and at every shrine.”

9. “He is All-mighty and so can grant what He wills, but is also All-wise, and so grants in accordance with the demands of wisdom” (Mawdudi).

10. Ibn `Abbas has said that the allusion by “the Deluder” is to Shaytan (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir).

Everyone agrees that Shaytan is the enemy to the humans, but few seem to live up to their own assertions. Fudayl b. `Iyad used to say to himself, “O liar! O slanderer! Fear Allah. Do not curse Shaytan in public while you befriend him in private” (Qurtubi).

11. “That is, he deludes you concerning Allah to the effect, (e.g.), He does not exist, or, if He exists, He does not take interest in the affairs of the world, or, if He does, it is not people’s guidance or misguidance that interest Him to be sending Messengers, or, if He did send, then, He is too merciful to punish the defaulters” (Mawdudi).

12. Ibn Zayd said that the allusion by “his party” is to those who befriend Shaytan or follow him (Ibn Jarir).