19. “On it,” i.e., on the earth.

20. There is isn’t any difference in opinion that by “the Face” the allusion is to the Person of Allah, Most High.

21. “Ikram: two ideas are prominent in the word, (1) the idea of generosity, as proceeding from the person whose attribute it is, and (2) the idea of honour, as given by others to the person whose attribute it is. Both these ideas are summed up in ‘nobility’. To make the meaning quite clear, I have employed in the translation the two words ‘Bounty and Honour’ for the single word ikram. The same attributes recur in the last verse of this Surah. In the Fact of Allah’s Eternity is the Hope of our Future” (Yusuf Ali).

The Prophet has told us to appeal in supplications by these Attributes of Allah (Kashshaf, Qurtubi):

أَلِظُّوا بِيَا ذَا الْجَلالِ وَالإِكْرَام

The report has been preserved by many, including Ahmad and Hakimو the latter treating it as trustworthy following the conditions laid down by Bukhari and Muslim. However, Tirmidhi declared it weak (Au.).

22. Qatadah said: None can regard himself as free of Him and His bestowal, whether in the heavens or on the earth. Everyone depends on Him and seeks His help and support, the source of all good (Ibn Jarir). Hence the reported supplicatory words (du`a ma’thura):

يا حي، يا قيوم، يا بديع السموات والأرض، يا ذا الجلال والإكرام، لا إله إلا أنت، برحمتك نستغيث ، أصلح لنا شأننا كله، ولا تكلنا إلى أنفسنا طرفة عين، ولا إلى أحد من خلقك

“O the Living, the Self-subsisting by whom all subsist, O the Originator of the heavens and the earth, O the Majestic, the Splendid, there is no deity save You, by Your mercy do we seek Your aid: set right our affairs; do not leave (our affair) to depend on ourselves for a moment, nor upon anyone of Your creation” (Ibn Kathir).

For example, if Allah had so designed the human tongue that it moved only on specific commands, they would eat off their tongues, placing it between the teeth at the wrong moment. If the tongue moves around a hundred times during a minute, shifting material to be chewed, but never getting hurt it is because Allah has not left us dependent upon ourselves in this regard (Au.).

23. It is said (Muqatil: Alusi) that this was revealed in response to Jewish claims that Allah takes rest on Saturdays (Kashshaf).

Mujahid and `Abd b. `Umayr remarked: Every day He is in a new affair: feeding the creations, removing their affliction, curing the sick and answering to the call of the callers. Qatadah added: Adding new creations, dealing death to others, and giving shape to new creations.

A hadith is also quoted in this regard:

عنْ أَبِى الدَّرْدَاءِ عَنِ النَّبِىِّ -صلى الله عليه وسلم- فِى قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى (كُلَّ يَوْمٍ هُوَ فِى شَأْنٍ ). قَالَ « مِنْ شَأْنِهِ أَنْ يَغْفِرَ ذَنْبًا وَيُفَرِّجَ كَرْبًا وَيَرْفَعَ قَوْمًا وَيَخْفِضَ آخَرِينَ ».

Abu Darda’ reports that when the Prophet was asked about the meaning of this verse he said, “It is part of His affairs that He forgives the sin, removes the affliction, allows ascendancy to a people, and brings down others” (Ibn Jarir, Kashshaf, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).

However, Bukhari treated the above words as those of Abu Darda’ (Ibn Kathir). But a shorter version has been treated as Sahih by Albani (S.Ibrahim).

Majid looks at a wider aspect: “God is thus not only the Creator of the universe but also its Sustainer every moment of its existence. The entire cosmic order is ever dependent on His will, incapable of sustaining and developing itself and performing its works, without His aid, in virtue of its own inherent energies, and creation is not an act of the past combining automatically: His creative activity is incessant. This refutes the Hindu doctrine that Brahma, having performed his legitimate past in the mundane evolution by his original creation of the universe has retired into the background.’ (EBr. xi. P. 577) This also repudiates the mechanistic concept of deism, which limits the divine activity to creation of the world and denies to Him any direct contact with His creation and also the Greek idea which states that God is static, and aloof from the world. A Christian scholar sums up the position of the orthodox Muslim theologian thus: - ‘He regards the world and all the events in the world as a perpetual miracle – a miracle always and consistently going on. It is not only that, by a creative miracle, the world was brought into existence... but all through the existence of the world – from moment to moment – there is this miraculous creation going on... When fire burns or when a knife cuts, that is not by any nature in the fire, or a quality of the knife. The cutting and the being cut, the burning and the being burned, are all by Allah. The burning and its direct effects are the direct creations of Allah.’ (Macdonald, Aspects of Islam, pp. 137-139).”

Zamakhshari’s following note should set a few minds at rest. `Abdullah b. Tahir sent for Husayn b. al-Fadl and said to him: Three verses worry me and I have called you to help me out. (i) Allah’s words:

فأَصْبَحَ مِنَ النَّادِمِينَ [المائدة/31]

“Then he became of those remorseful.” (This is about Habil who murdered Qabil: Au.).

Now, said `Abdullah b. Tahir, remorse is nothing but repentance, so why was he punished?

Then again, (ii) His words,

وَأَنْ لَيْسَ لِلإِنْسَانِ إِلا مَا سَعَى [النجم/39]

“There is nothing for man but that for which he strives.”

But, said `Abdullah b. Tahir, if there is nothing for man in the Hereafter, beyond what he earned, then, what is the meaning of Allah’s words which promise several-fold rewards?

Again, (iii) His words,

كُلَّ يَوْمٍ هُوَ فِي شَأْنٍ [الرحمن/29]

“Everyday He is in an endeavor.”

Now, asked `Abdullah b. Tahir, is it not true that all that has to be until the Day of Judgment has been penned down. So, how do we understand Allah being in any fresh endeavor?

Husayn al-Fadl answered him: As for the verse,

فَأَصْبَحَ مِنَ النَّادِمِينَ [المائدة/31]

- the remorse was not over the death of his brother, but over the fact that he had attacked him at all.

(Imam Razi points out that his remorse was on account of the fact that after he had left his brother’s corpse in the open, he witnessed the fight of the two ravens, one killing another, and burying it. He felt remorseful that he hadn’t been as considerate with his brother’s corpse as the raven had been for the dead raven).

Another explanation is that “nadamah” had different requirements and connotations in different nations of the past. This was not the “nadamah” of repentance which could wipe out sins. In some ways Allah has treated this Ummah as a special people: a status others do not share with it. As regards the words,

وَأَنْ لَيْسَ لِلإِنْسَانِ إِلا مَا سَعَى [النجم/39]

- the reward of “one for one” is following Allah’s “`adl” (justice), while a thousand times more reward is following His “fadl” (grace). Finally, with regard to the words,

كُلَّ يَوْمٍ هُوَ فِي شَأْنٍ [الرحمن/29]

- the allusion is not to beginning of the affairs or endeavors, but to bringing them to light, in Arabic:

فإنها شؤون يبديها لا شؤون يبتدئها

24. The allusion is to mankind and Jinn (Ibn Jarir, Kashshaf and others). The word has been used for men and Jinn in ahadith also (Ibn Kathir). Ja`far al-Sadiq is reported to have said that they have been so called because they are heavily loaded with sins. Further, this Surah and Surah al-Ahqaf, supported by a few other Qur’anic verses, prove that the Jinn have also been addressed by the Prophet. They are just like the humans in this regard (Qurtubi).

They could have been so called because (i) both men and Jinn can attempt and achieve what no other creation can, and (ii) both have been given freedom of choice and are, therefore, difficult to move out of their opinions, especially in matters related to their Lord, where their adamancy runs to a supreme degree (Au.).

To help understand the meaning of the word “thaqal”, Mufti Shafi` writes: A hadith says,

إِنِّى تَارِكٌ فِيكُمُ الثَّقَلَيْنِ أَحَدُهُمَا أَكْبَرُ مِنَ الآخَرِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ حَبْلٌ مَمْدُودٌ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ إِلَى الأَرْضِ وَعِتْرَتِى أَهْلُ بَيْتِى وَإِنَّهُمَا لَنْ يَفْتَرِقَا حَتَّى يَرِدَا عَلَىَّ الْحَوْضَ

“I am leaving behind me two weighty things, one of which is heavier than the other: (i) Allah’s Book which is the rope extended from the heaven to the earth, and (ii) my kinsfolk. And the two will never part until they come to the Pond.”

Sho`ayb al-Arna’ut remarked that although the narrative is week (so said Tirmidhi himself), but it draws strength from other reports of similar meaning. However, the part which says, “And the two will never part until they come to the Pond,” is definitely weak (Au.).

There are other ahadith that speak of the importance of the Qur’an and Sunnah that the Prophet left behind, although he did not employ the word “thaqal” in them. At all events, “thaqal” is used for anything heavy, important, or prominent (Au.).

25. Ibn `Abbas said that this is only a manner of threat, otherwise, Allah is never occupied (in such a way as not to be free for another affair) – Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir.

Bukhari said that being engaged in an affair does not prevent Him from taking up another (Ibn Kathir).

26. Dahhak’s opinion was that the allusion is to the Day of Judgment when the criminals would like to flee but will find seven rows of angels on the horizons stationed as barriers. But Ibn `Abbas preferred the simpler meaning that men and Jinn can never escape out of Allah’s domain, hold, and power (Ibn Jarir, Qurtubi); which includes heavens and the earth, as well as His decrees: Zamakhshari); and His punishment (Razi).

Mufti Shafi` points out that the verse cannot be related to space travel either in negative or in positive.

A major problem in space is the distance. Traveling at the speed at which they do in space, about 10 km per second, humans will need 135,000 years to reach the next star; which, by cosmic standards, is as close to the sun as two bacterium within a dot. To cross their own Milky Way Galaxy, humans will need 3,000,000,000 (3 billion) years. And how many galaxies are there? Billions. What is the space between galaxies? It is, in terms of travel distance, billions of years. And, finally, there are areas that humans can never reach, even if they travel at the speed of light, because those areas are receding at the same rate at which light travels. Thus, humans can never pass through the confines of the heavens. Far from that, they will never know where those confines are. Now, that was about the borders of the heavens. The situation with the confines of the earth is not any brighter since its confines are ultimately the confines of the Solar system – its own confines being inseparable. To cross the Solar system’s gravitational pull will need several decades of travel, for which, (apart from length of human life, repair and maintenance of the craft, food supply, etc.), carrying the fuel is an insurmountable problem (unless a huge nuclear reactor is lifted into space: an impossibility by any measure). But, more importantly, the address is to the entire humanity, not to a few individuals, ready for suicide, sent into deep space. Humanity in general, is shackled to this earth (Au.).

27. Most of the scholars have said that “shuwaz” is used for that blue flame that breaks out of a fire while a few others have thought that it is used for smoke (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir).

28. Regarding “nuhas” the opinion is split. The Arabs use it for “smoke that is not accompanied by flame” as well as for “copper” (Ibn Jarir, Zamakhshari, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).

29. (Alternatively, or perhaps additionally), the two: men and Jinn will not be able to help each other (Qurtubi).

30. Actually, the heavens will undergo several changes in appearance: appearing red, blue, yellow and so on in different phases of destruction (Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).

The Prophet has also informed us, as in a report preserved by Ahmad,

يُبْعَثُ النَّاسُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَالسَّمَاءُ تَطِشُّ عَلَيْهِمْ (رواه أحمد وأبو يعلى وفيه عبد الرحمن بن أبي الصهباء ذكره ابن أبي حاتم ولم يذكر فيه جرحا وبقية رجاله ثقات – الهيثمي في الزوائد)

“People will be raised on the Day of Standing while the heaven sends down a drizzle (for a little while)” – Ibn Kathir.

Haythami treated the report as somewhat trustworthy (Au.).

31. There are two opinions about “dihan.” (i) “Shining bright” and (ii), “leather” (Ibn Jarir, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).

32. That is, they will not be questioned about their sins: did you do this? Or, did you do that? But rather, they would be questioned as to why did they ever do it (Shawkani quoting Ibn Abi Hatim).

33. The angels (as well as others) will know the unbelievers from their eyes turned blue (out of fear) and faces turned dark (Ibn Jarir from the earliest commentators).

34. Suddi said that the criminals will have their heads bound together close to their feet (Kashshaf, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).

35. But what’s the favor in being bound, cast into Hell, and treated with boiling water? The answer is, it consists in mankind and Jinn being warned beforehand. The favor also consists in the virtuous ones informed that the criminals will be locked up away from them, and punished for the wrong they freely and sadistically committed upon them during the earthly life (Au.).