Surah 29. Al-'Ankabut

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Verses [Section]: 1-13[1], 14-22 [2], 23-30 [3], 31-44 [4], 45-51 [5], 52-63 [6], 64-69 [7]

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Quran Text of Verse 14-22وَ لَقَدْAnd verilyاَرْسَلْنَاWe sentنُوْحًاNuhاِلٰیtoقَوْمِهٖhis peopleفَلَبِثَand he remainedفِیْهِمْamong themاَلْفَa thousandسَنَةٍyear(s)اِلَّاsaveخَمْسِیْنَfiftyعَامًا ؕyear(s)فَاَخَذَهُمُthen seized themالطُّوْفَانُthe floodوَ هُمْwhile theyظٰلِمُوْنَ (were) wrongdoers 29. Al-'Ankabut Page 398فَاَنْجَیْنٰهُBut We saved himوَ اَصْحٰبَand (the) peopleالسَّفِیْنَةِ(of) the shipوَ جَعَلْنٰهَاۤand We made itاٰیَةًa Signلِّلْعٰلَمِیْنَ for the worlds وَ اِبْرٰهِیْمَAnd Ibrahimاِذْwhenقَالَhe saidلِقَوْمِهِto his peopleاعْبُدُواWorshipاللّٰهَAllahوَ اتَّقُوْهُ ؕand fear HimذٰلِكُمْThatخَیْرٌ(is) betterلَّكُمْfor youاِنْifكُنْتُمْyouتَعْلَمُوْنَ know اِنَّمَاOnlyتَعْبُدُوْنَyou worshipمِنْbesidesدُوْنِbesidesاللّٰهِAllahاَوْثَانًاidolsوَّ تَخْلُقُوْنَand you createاِفْكًا ؕfalsehoodاِنَّIndeedالَّذِیْنَthose whomتَعْبُدُوْنَyou worshipمِنْbesidesدُوْنِbesidesاللّٰهِAllahلَا(do) notیَمْلِكُوْنَpossessلَكُمْfor youرِزْقًاprovisionفَابْتَغُوْاSo seek anyعِنْدَfromاللّٰهِAllahالرِّزْقَthe provisionوَ اعْبُدُوْهُand worship Himوَ اشْكُرُوْاand be gratefulلَهٗ ؕto HimاِلَیْهِTo Himتُرْجَعُوْنَ you will be returned وَ اِنْAnd ifتُكَذِّبُوْاyou denyفَقَدْthen verilyكَذَّبَdeniedاُمَمٌ(the) nationsمِّنْbefore youقَبْلِكُمْ ؕbefore youوَ مَاAnd notعَلَی(is) onالرَّسُوْلِthe Messengerاِلَّاexceptالْبَلٰغُthe conveyanceالْمُبِیْنُ clear اَوَ لَمْDo notیَرَوْاthey seeكَیْفَhowیُبْدِئُAllah originatesاللّٰهُAllah originatesالْخَلْقَthe creationثُمَّthenیُعِیْدُهٗ ؕrepeats itاِنَّIndeedذٰلِكَthatعَلَیforاللّٰهِAllahیَسِیْرٌ (is) easy قُلْSayسِیْرُوْاTravelفِیinالْاَرْضِthe earthفَانْظُرُوْاand seeكَیْفَhowبَدَاَHe originatedالْخَلْقَthe creationثُمَّThenاللّٰهُAllahیُنْشِئُwill produceالنَّشْاَةَthe creationالْاٰخِرَةَ ؕthe lastاِنَّIndeedاللّٰهَAllahعَلٰیonكُلِّeveryشَیْءٍthingقَدِیْرٌۚ(is) All-Powerful یُعَذِّبُHe punishesمَنْwhomیَّشَآءُHe willsوَ یَرْحَمُand has mercyمَنْ(on) whomیَّشَآءُ ۚHe willsوَ اِلَیْهِand to Himتُقْلَبُوْنَ you will be returned وَ مَاۤAnd notاَنْتُمْyouبِمُعْجِزِیْنَcan escapeفِیinالْاَرْضِthe earthوَ لَاand notفِیinالسَّمَآءِ ؗthe heavenوَ مَاAnd notلَكُمْfor youمِّنْbesidesدُوْنِbesidesاللّٰهِAllahمِنْanyوَّلِیٍّprotectorوَّ لَاand notنَصِیْرٍ۠a helper

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Translation of Verse 14-22

(29:14) We did indeed send Noah to his people²¹ and he lived among them a thousand years save fifty.²² Eventually the Flood overtook them while they were engaged in wrongdoing.²³

(29:15) Then We rescued Noah together with the people in the Ark²⁴ and made it (that is, the Ark) a lesson for all people.²⁵

(29:16) We sent Abraham²⁶ and he said to his people: “Serve Allah and fear Him.²⁷This is better for you if you only knew.

(29:17) Those that you worship instead of Allah are merely idols, and you are simply inventing lies (about them).²⁸ Indeed those whom you worship beside Allah have no power to provide you with any sustenance. So seek your sustenance from Allah and serve only Him and give thanks to Him alone. It is to Him that you will be sent back.²⁹

(29:18) And if you give the lie (to the Messenger), then many nations before you also gave the lie³⁰ (to their Messengers). The Messenger is charged with no other duty than to deliver the Message in clear terms.”

(29:19) Have³¹ they never observed how Allah creates for the first time and then repeats it? Indeed (to repeat the creation of a thing) is even easier for Allah³² (than creating it for the first time).

(29:20) Say: “Go about the earth and see how He created for the first time, and then Allah will recreate life.” Surely, Allah has power over everything.³³

(29:21) He chastises whom He will and forgives whom He will. To Him all of you will be sent back.

(29:22) You cannot overpower Allah, neither on the earth nor in the heaven.³⁴ None can protect you from Allah³⁵ nor come to your aid against Him.

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Commentary

21. For further details regarding the Prophet Noah’s story see Al Imran 3:33-34; al-Nisa’ 4:163; al-An ‘am 6:84; al-A raf 7:59-64; Yunus 10:71- 73; Hud 11:25-48; al-Anbiya’ 21:76-77; al-Mu'minun 23:23-30; al-Furqan 25:37; al-Shu ‘ara’ 26:105-123; al-Saffat 37:75-82; al-Qamar 54:9-15; al-Haqqah 69:11-12 and Nuh 71:1-28.

These stories about the Prophets may be better appreciated if they are read against the backdrop of the opening verses of this surah. On the one hand, they apprise Muslims that the believers of yore had also been subjected to similar tests and trials. On the other hand, they warn the wrong-doing unbelievers that they should not entertain the illusion that they will ever get the better of God or elude His grasp. This history of ancient nations and of their Messengers is narrated to press home these truths.

22. This does not mean that the Prophet Noah (peace be on him) was 950 years old. What the Qur’an specifically states are that commencing from his designation as a Prophet until the Flood, Noah strove for a period of 950 years to reform his evil and wayward nation. Although he endured their excesses for such a long time, he did not lose heart. This truth is stated here in order to impress upon the early Makkan Muslims, who faced opposition and persecution, that they had only been exposed to such adamancies and obstinacy for a few years. They were reminded of Noah’s undaunting resolve, courage and perseverance for he put up with severe hardships for a full 950 years.

The Biblical and Qur’anic versions of Noah’s story are at variance with one another. The Bible puts Noah’s age at 950 years. Further, it states that he was 600 years old when the Flood struck his people and that he lived for 350 years after the Flood, (Genesis 7:6;.9:28-29). However, if one takes into account Qur’anic statements about Noah, one would think that he must have lived for at least a thousand years. This because he spent 950 years calling his people to the Truth after assuming the office of Prophet hood. It. goes without saying that he must have been appointed to this august office at a reasonably mature age and that he must also have lived at least for some time after the Flood.

Noah’s extraordinarily long age appears to some people as incredible.

However, there is no dearth of wonders in God’s creation. No matter in which direction one looks, one will observe wonders that are quite out of the ordinary. The appearance of a phenomenon as a matter of routine does not mean that it cannot appear in some other extraordinary form. Indeed, a long list of events points to extraordinary and exceptional happenings in every part of the Universe and among all species of creation. Anyone who clearly knows that God has and exercises absolute power cannot be troubled by the statement that He granted someone the age of a thousand years. Since He is God of both life and death, He may grant anyone a span of age He wills. The fact is that a man cannot live even for one moment merely because he so desires. However, if God so wills, He can grant him a very, very long life.

23. The Flood overtook Noah’s people while they were engrossed in -wrong-doing. Had they given up their wrong-doing before the Flood, God would not have afflicted them with that scourge.

24. This refers to those who had professed faith in the Prophet Noah (peace be on him) and whom God had allowed to board the Ark. This is evident from the following passage: Thus it was until Our command came to pass and the oven boiled over. We said: “Take into the Ark, a pair of every species; and take your own family except those who have already been declared (as unworthy); and also take everyone who believes.” But those who, along with him, had believed were indeed just a few. (Hid 11:40)

25. This could also mean that this horrendous calamity or this great event was made a Sign for coming generations to derive a lesson from.

However, the wording of this verse and of verses 13-15 of al-Qamar suggest that Noah’s Ark itself, which remained anchored on the mountain top for centuries, was the Sign demonstrating to people that it was stationed there as a result of the Flood. This Ark is also mentioned elsewhere in the Qur’an in the following words: And We bore Noah on the Ark built of planks and nails, which sailed on under Our supervision: a reward for him who had been shown ingratitude. And We left the Ark as a Sign. Is there, then, any who will take heed? (al-Qamar 54:13-15): Explaining these verses, Ibn Jarir al-Tabari reports on the authority of Qatadah, that when the Muslims reached al-Jazirah in the time of the Companions, they saw the Ark perched on Mount Judi; and according to another tradition, near a town called Baqirwa. (Cf. Tabari, Tafsir, comments on al-Qamar 54:15 —Ed.) In our own times, too, reports occasionally appear about expeditions dispatched to trace the Ark. This because, while flying over Mount Ararat, an object resembling the Ark was sighted. (For further details see Towards Understanding the Qur'an, Vol. IIL, al-A ‘raf7:n. 47, pp- 37-38 and Vol. IV, Hud 11: n. 46, pp. 102-104.)

26. Cf. al-Bagarah 2:122-141; Al ‘Imran 3:64-71; al-An am 6:71-82; Hid {1:69-83; Ibrahim 14:35-41,; al-Hijr 15:45-60; Maryam 19:41-50; al-Anbiya’ 21:51-75; al-Shu ‘ara’ 26:69-104; al-Saffat 37:75-113; al-Zukhruf 43:26-35 and al-Dhariyat 51:22-46.

27. They were exhorted to fear God and give up associating others with Him in His Divinity. They were to eschew disobedience of God.

28. When they set up idols, they were in fact guilty of inventing falsehoods. This, because the idols themselves were an embodiment of falsehood. The same applies to the baseless notions they cherished about these idols: that they were gods or goddesses, God’s incarnations, His offspring or favorites, or that they had the power to intercede with God, to heal the sick, or grant people a livelihood. The unbelievers and polytheists fabricated these notions: in other words, they resorted to conjecture. The only truth about them was that they were idols — lifeless, powerless, and resource less.

29. These few sentences of the Prophet Abraham (peace be on him) enshrine a great number of cogent arguments against idolatry. It goes without saying that there must be a convincing reason to take someone as one’s Lord. One such reason could be that He is intrinsically worthy of worship. The second reason could be that He is man’s Creator to whom he owes his existence. A third reason could be that He is man’s Sustainer and provides him with the means to exist: A fourth reason could be that He exercises control over man’s destiny and, out of fear, man worships Him lest he incur His displeasure and thus ruin his future.

The Prophet Abraham (peace be on him), however, contends that none of these considerations support idolatry; rather, all four provide reasons for devotion to the One True God. Abraham’s plain statement that the - objects of idolaters’ worship are “merely idols” demolished the first of the four possible reasons to regard them as deities. Moreover, by saying that ‘the idols were their own inventions further-highlighted why idols could not be considered worthy of man’s worship. Thus, the second possible basis for regarding them as deities was destroyed. The third possible basis for their godhead is dismissed by saying that idols do not provide man’s sustenance. Then, last of all, it was stated that man is ultimately destined to return to God rather than to any idol. Hence idols have no role in making or marring man’s prospects in the Hereafter, which will, in any case, be decided by God alone. Hence every basis for associating others with the One True God in His Divinity was refuted and Abraham established overwhelmingly that there was no reason for man to hold anyone other than the One True God as his deity.

30. If Abraham’s people rejected his call to monotheism and his warning that eventually they will return to God and if they regarded the very idea of His reckoning as ‘false, there was nothing novel about this. For earlier Prophets, such as Noah, Hud and Salih (peace be on them), had expounded the same message to their respective peoples but it was rejected and the Prophets labelled as liars. It is now for Abraham's people to decide whether these earlier nations, by giving the lie to God’s Prophets, had caused any harm to those Prophets or brought destruction upon themselves.

31. The Qur’anic passage under study (vv. 19- 23) constitutes a parenthetical statement, marking a break from the Prophet Abraham’s story. This is directly addressed to the unbelieving Makkans. The reason why it is directed specifically at them is that they were guilty of committing two major errors: one, polytheism and idolatry and two, denial of the Hereafter. The evil consequences of the former were graphically recounted in the above discourse to do with the Prophet Abraham (peace be on him).

As for denial of the Hereafter, God adds a few words in its refutation here so that both errors stand refuted at one and the same time.

32. It is a common spectacle that countless objects are continually being created out of nothing. Likewise, one also observes that as all sorts of people disappear, others of the same kind come into being, replacing the former ones. The polytheists conceded that this spectacle was related to God’s creative power. In other words, they did not deny that God was the Creator. In this respect, they did not essentially differ from present-day polytheists. Thus, an argument is developed on the basis of a premise which they themselves recognized. It is pointed out here that they themselves accept that God is constantly creating objects ex nihilo before their very eyes. In view of this, what makes them believe that God cannot resurrect human beings after they die? (For further discussion see Towards Understanding the Qur'an, Vol. VIL, al-Naml 27, - n. 80, pp. 174-176.)

33. Since they witness God’s creative power in His initial creation of everything, they should have no difficulty in believing that He can create them again after they die. It is quite evidently within His power to do so.

34. Man cannot flee to some far-away place, whether it be the deepest recesses of the earth or the greatest heights of the sky, to escape God's wrath. He will be seized wherever he might be and will be made to stand before Him for reckoning: A similar challenge is thrown to the jinn and human beings elsewhere in the Qur’an in the following words: O company of jinn and men, if you have the power to go beyond the bounds of heaven and the earth, go beyond them! Yet you will be unable to go beyond them for that requires infinite power.

(al-Rahman 55:33)

35. The believers are plainly told that they neither have the power to elude God’s grasp, nor will any powerful patron or guardian protect them against God or enable them to escape His punishment. No one in the entire Universe has any authority to protect those who committed unbelief and polytheism, refused to obey God’s commands, audaciously defied God and spread injustice and corruption on earth. No one has the power to prevent the enforcement of God’s punishment against them.

Nor will anyone dare plead with God for forgiveness on their behalf.