Surah Fussilat 41:9-18 - Quran Translation Commentary

(41:10) And He placed therein pegs from above it,⁸ placed blessings therein,⁹ and ordained therein its providences¹⁰ in four days¹¹ - alike for all who ask.¹²

(41:11) Then He turned¹³ to the heaven, it was then smoke,¹⁴ and said to it and to the earth, “Come¹⁵ willingly, or unwillingly.”¹⁶ They said, “We come willingly.”

(41:12) Then He determined them as seven heavens in two days¹⁷ and revealed in every heaven its affair.¹⁸ And He adorned the earthly heaven with lamps and a means of protection. Such is the ordaining of the Mighty, the Knowing.’

(41:13) But if they turn away, then say, ‘I have warned you of a thunderbolt like the thunderbolt of `Ad and Thamud.

(41:14) When there came to them the Messengers from before them and from behind them (saying), ‘Worship not but Allah,’ they said, ‘Had our Lord willed, He would have surely sent down angels. We are indeed disbelievers in what you have been sent with.’

(41:15) Then, as for `Ad, they waxed proud in the earth without right and said, ‘Who is stronger that we in might?’ Had they not seen that Allah who created them was stronger than they in might? But they kept disputing with Our signs.

(41:16) So We sent upon them a furious wind¹⁹ through ominous days²⁰ to make them taste the humiliating torment in the life of this world. And surely, the torment of the Hereafter is more humiliating; and they will not be helped.

poisonous, cold winds will not be going out of the way (Ibn Kathir, Shawkani).

(41:17) As for Thamud, We guided them but they preferred blindness to guidance. So there seized them torment of the debasing thunderbolt because of what they were earning.

(41:18) And We delivered those who had believed and were ever fearful (of Allah).

Commentary

7. The allusion by the “days” cannot be to the 24-hour cycle of days and nights since, at the time of creation there was neither the day nor the night as known by us now (Shabbir).

Ibn `Abbas was asked to reconcile this ayah which speaks of the creation of the earth before that of the heavens, with those in A-Nazi`at (27-30) which speak of heavens as being created first. Those verses say,

???

“What? Are you more difficult to create than the heavens that He built? He increased its expanse and then organized (and arranged) it. Then He darkened its night and brought out its daylight. Then, after that, He readied its earth.”

Ibn `Abbas replied, “Allah created the earth first – in two days. The creation of the heavens followed. Thereafter He turned to the heavens and readied them in two more days. Thereafter He readied the earth, i.e., brought out its water and pasture. He also created the mountains, the inanimate objects, reefs and all else in two other days. Thus, the earth, and all that it contains was created in four days while the heaven was created in two other days.

The report is in Bukhari (Ib Kathir). But it must be clearly noted as a statement of Ibn `Abbas.

8. (Lit., from above it), meaning, rising high above the surface of the earth (Shawkani).

9. That is, made it capable of yielding plants (Ibn Kathir); water and minerals (Qurtubi).

10. At this point Ibn Jarir quotes the hadith that we have quoted elsewhere which, (found in Muslim’s collection) tells us that Allah created the dust on Saturday, mountains on Sunday, trees on Monday, makruhat on Tuesday, Nur (according to another version, Nun) on Wednesday, the beasts on Thursday and Adam on Friday, in the last hours of the day between late evening hours before nightfall. Ibn Kathir adds that Bukhari found defect in the above report, stating in his Al-Tarikh that it is more correctly a narrative of Ka`b al-Ahbar. See note 81 of Surah 7 for discussions.

11. Some grammarians have thought that the creation and placement of providence took four days, i.e., the first two days are included in the four of later mention. They quote examples of such usage in Arabic language (Tabari, Zamakhshari, Shawkani).

12. This is how Razi and Shawkani understand “istawa” at this point.

13. That is, enough providence for all who will ever inhabit the earth (Tabari, Ibn Kathir).

14. “I.e., a gas – evidently hydrogen gas, which physicists regard as the primal element from which all material particles of the universe have evolved and still evolve” (Asad).

15. “Come”: That is, Allah said to the heavens: “Bring out your suns, moons and stars,” and to the earth, “Split up to produce the springs and bring out your fruits and pasture,” and they responded (Ibn Kathir, Shawkani). Other modifications to the two – heaven and earth - were also effected (Thanwi).

16. That is, you have no choice. You will have to do as told. But the question is, are you submitted? They answered, yes we are, and are pleased to do as ordered (Thanwi).

17. The use of the words “thumma” or “fa” (then) need not be an indication of order or sequence. There are several Qur’anic instances to demonstrate that these articles lend other meanings (Shabbir).

A hasty totaling gives us the figure of 8 days for the creation of the heaven and earth. But, there has been overlapping. That is, while some developments were taking place in the earth, they were taking place in the heavens also. There are examples of this kind of phrasing in Arabic.

18. Mujahid and Suddi have thought that the allusion is to the placement of suns, moons, stars, and creations in every firmament (Ibn Jarir).

Shabbir quotes an opinion of Shah `Abdul Qadir which is much advanced of his times considering the fact that just a few decades ago scientists were still discussing whether there is any possibility of life in other parts of the universe, “Our Lord alone knows what kind of creations inhabit other parts of the universe, in what manner, and following what laws. In this our this little planet itself there are thousands of (various kinds of life-)systems. Can the immensely large other-worlds be empty?”

19. Furious poisonous winds, is one opinion of the Salaf. Another opinion is that the allusion is to extremely cold, high sounding winds (Ibn Jarir). But to understand it as furious,

20. This was the opinion of Mujahid, Qatadah and Suddi, and which is the opinion of Tabari, although he quotes Ibn `Abbas that the allusion is to “continuous” days (Tabari).

In Majid’s words: The days were “inauspicious for them on account of the Divine visitation;” but auspicious for the believers (Ibn Qayyim).

Alusi removes a superstition of pagan origin and Thanwi reproduces it in view of its popular currency among some Muslims: Citing this ayah as evidence, some people believe that some days are ominous while others are blessed. But this ayah cannot be used in evidence because the days, as mentioned elsewhere, cover all the days of the week, and beyond. The Qur’an said elsewhere, without mentioning the ominousness:

???

“And, as for `Ad, they were destroyed by a fierce howling wind, which Allah caused to blow against them for seven nights and eight days continuously, so that you could have seen the people therein lying prostrate, as though they were trunks of palm trees fallen down” (69: 6-7)].