Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 6 Al-An'am, Ayat 1-10

اَلۡحَمۡدُ لِلّٰهِ الَّذِىۡ خَلَقَ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالۡاَرۡضَ وَجَعَلَ الظُّلُمٰتِ وَالنُّوۡرَ  ؕ ثُمَّ الَّذِيۡنَ كَفَرُوۡا بِرَبِّهِمۡ يَعۡدِلُوۡنَ‏ ﴿6:1﴾ هُوَ الَّذِىۡ خَلَقَكُمۡ مِّنۡ طِيۡنٍ ثُمَّ قَضٰۤى اَجَلًا  ؕ وَاَجَلٌ مُّسَمًّى عِنۡدَهٗ​ ثُمَّ اَنۡـتُمۡ تَمۡتَرُوۡنَ‏ ﴿6:2﴾ وَهُوَ اللّٰهُ فِى السَّمٰوٰتِ وَفِى الۡاَرۡضِ​ؕ يَعۡلَمُ سِرَّكُمۡ وَ جَهۡرَكُمۡ وَيَعۡلَمُ مَا تَكۡسِبُوۡنَ‏ ﴿6:3﴾ وَمَا تَاۡتِيۡهِمۡ مِّنۡ اٰيَةٍ مِّنۡ اٰيٰتِ رَبِّهِمۡ اِلَّا كَانُوۡا عَنۡهَا مُعۡرِضِيۡنَ‏ ﴿6:4﴾ فَقَدۡ كَذَّبُوۡا بِالۡحَـقِّ لَـمَّا جَآءَهُمۡ​ؕ فَسَوۡفَ يَاۡتِيۡهِمۡ اَنۢۡـبٰٓـؤُا مَا كَانُوۡا بِهٖ يَسۡتَهۡزِءُوۡنَ‏ ﴿6:5﴾ اَلَمۡ يَرَوۡا كَمۡ اَهۡلَـكۡنَا مِنۡ قَبۡلِهِمۡ مِّنۡ قَرۡنٍ مَّكَّنّٰهُمۡ فِى الۡاَرۡضِ مَا لَمۡ نُمَكِّنۡ لَّـكُمۡ وَاَرۡسَلۡنَا السَّمَآءَ عَلَيۡهِمۡ مِّدۡرَارًا وَّجَعَلۡنَا الۡاَنۡهٰرَ تَجۡرِىۡ مِنۡ تَحۡتِهِمۡ فَاَهۡلَكۡنٰهُمۡ بِذُنُوۡبِهِمۡ وَاَنۡشَاۡنَا مِنۡۢ بَعۡدِهِمۡ قَرۡنًا اٰخَرِيۡنَ‏ ﴿6:6﴾ وَلَوۡ نَزَّلۡنَا عَلَيۡكَ كِتٰبًا فِىۡ قِرۡطَاسٍ فَلَمَسُوۡهُ بِاَيۡدِيۡهِمۡ لَقَالَ الَّذِيۡنَ كَفَرُوۡۤا اِنۡ هٰذَاۤ اِلَّا سِحۡرٌ مُّبِيۡنٌ‏ ﴿6:7﴾ وَقَالُوۡا لَوۡلَاۤ اُنۡزِلَ عَلَيۡهِ مَلَكٌ​ ؕ وَلَوۡ اَنۡزَلۡـنَا مَلَـكًا لَّـقُضِىَ الۡاَمۡرُ ثُمَّ لَا يُنۡظَرُوۡنَ‏ ﴿6:8﴾ وَلَوۡ جَعَلۡنٰهُ مَلَـكًا لَّـجَـعَلۡنٰهُ رَجُلًا وَّلَـلَبَسۡنَا عَلَيۡهِمۡ مَّا يَلۡبِسُوۡنَ‏ ﴿6:9﴾ وَلَـقَدِ اسۡتُهۡزِئَ بِرُسُلٍ مِّنۡ قَبۡلِكَ فَحَاقَ بِالَّذِيۡنَ سَخِرُوۡا مِنۡهُمۡ مَّا كَانُوۡا بِهٖ يَسۡتَهۡزِءُوۡنَ‏ ﴿6:10﴾

(6:1) All praise is for Allah alone, Who created the heavens and the earth, and brought into being light and darkness, and yet those who have rejected the call of the Truth ascribe others to be equals to their Lord.1 (6:2) He it is Who has created you out of clay,2 and then decreed a term (of life), and has also appointed another term, a term determined with Him.3 Yet you are in doubt! (6:3) And He it is Who is One True God in the heavens and in the earth. He knows your deeds - both secret and open - and knows fully whatever you earn. (6:4) Yet every time a sign of their Lord comes to them, they turn away from it, (6:5) and thus they gave the lie to the Truth that has now come to them. Soon they will come upon some news concerning what they had mocked at.4 (6:6) Have they not seen how many a people We have destroyed before them? People whom We had made more powerful in the earth than you are and upon them We showered from the heavens abundant rains, and at whose feet We caused the rivers to flow? And then (when they behaved ungratefully) We destroyed them for their sins, and raised other peoples in their place. (6:7) (O Messenger!) Had We sent down to you a book incribed on parchment, and had they even touched it with their own hands, the unbelievers would still have said: 'This is nothing but plain magic.' (6:8) They also say: 'Why has no angel been sent down to this Prophet?'5 Had We sent down an angel, the matter would surely have long been decided and no respite would have been granted them.6 (6:9) Had We appointed an angel, We would have sent him down in the form of a man - and thus We would have caused them the same doubt which they now entertain.7 (6:10) And indeed before your time (O Muhammad!) many a Messenger has been scoffed at; but those who mocked at them were encompassed by the Truth they had scoffed at.

Notes

1. Remember that, although polytheists, the Arabs to whom these verses are addressed did acknowledge God as the Creator of the heavens and the earth, Who causes day to alternate with night, and Who has brought into existence the sun and the moon. None of them attributed any of these acts to either al-LAt, al-Hubal, al-'UzzA or any other deities. Why, then,'should they prostrate themselves before others beside the Creator? Why should they offer their prayers and supplicatiom to any but God? (See Towards Understanding the Qur'an, vol. I, (Surah 1, n.2), and (Surah 2, n.163) The actual word that has been used in the original text for 'darkness' is in the plural. The contrast with the singular 'light' is significant: whereas light is one, there can be innumerable degrees of darkness, which is the absence of light.

2. The elements composing the human organism are all, without exception, derived from the earth. Hence it is said that man has been created out of clay.

3. This alludes to the Hour of Judgement when human beings, regardless of the age in which they lived, will be broought back to life and summoned to render an account before their Lord.

4. The allusion is to the Migration (Hijrah) and the numerous victories destined to follow it in quick succession. When this allusion was made, the unbelievers could not have guessed what kind of news they would receive, and even the Muslims could not have imagined those developments. Infact, the Prophet himself (peace be on him) was not fully aware of the posibilities which lay in store.

5. The unbelievers were saying that if Muhammed (peace be on him) had indeed been endowed with prophethood, an angel should have been sent down from heaven to announce that he was the Messenger of God, and that that people would be punished if they did not follow his directives. It was atonishing to these ignorant objectors that the Creator of the heavens and the earth should appoint someone as His Messenger and then leave him without protection against the physical hurts and insults that were flung at him. They would have expected the envoy of a Sovereign as great as the Creator of the universe to be accomplied by at least some heavenly constable, if not a large retinue, to protect him!

6. The unbelievers' objection is refuted by this remark. it warns them that the time available for accepting the true faith and bringing about the required reform in their lives will last only as long as Ultimate Reality remains concealed from human perception by the wheel of the Unseen. Once that wheel is removed, there will be no more respite: the summons to God's rekoning will have come. This earthly life is a test of whether a man is able to recognize the Ultimate Reality - even though it lies hidden from his sence perception - by the correct excecise of his reason and intelect and of whether, having once recognized it, he is able to behave in conformity with that Reality by exercising control over his animal self and its lusts. This test necessarily requires that the Reality should remain concealed. Thereafter man will be confronted with the result of the test rather than by any further test. Until God has decided to bring the term of their test to a close, it is not possible to respond to such requests by sending angels to them in their true form. (See also Towards Understanding the Qur'an, vol. I, (Surah 2, n.228.)

7. This is the second point in response to the unbelievers' objection. One possible form in which the angel could have appeared is in its true, non-terrestrial form. It has already been pointed out that the time for this has not arrived. Alternatively, angels could have come down in human form. But this would have left the unbelievers facing the same difficulty as they faced with regard to whether the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) had been designated by God or not.