قُلْ Say اَىِٕنَّكُمْ Do you indeed لَتَكْفُرُوْنَ [surely] disbelieve بِالَّذِیْ in the One Who خَلَقَ created الْاَرْضَ the earth فِیْ in یَوْمَیْنِ two periods وَ تَجْعَلُوْنَ and you set up لَهٗۤ with Him اَنْدَادًا ؕ rivals ذٰلِكَ That رَبُّ (is the) Lord الْعٰلَمِیْنَۚ (of) the worlds وَ جَعَلَ And He placed فِیْهَا therein رَوَاسِیَ firmly-set mountains مِنْ above it فَوْقِهَا above it وَ بٰرَكَ and He blessed فِیْهَا therein وَ قَدَّرَ and determined فِیْهَاۤ therein اَقْوَاتَهَا its sustenance فِیْۤ in اَرْبَعَةِ four اَیَّامٍ ؕ periods سَوَآءً equal لِّلسَّآىِٕلِیْنَ for those who ask ثُمَّ Then اسْتَوٰۤی He directed (Himself) اِلَی towards السَّمَآءِ the heaven وَ هِیَ while it (was) دُخَانٌ smoke فَقَالَ and He said لَهَا to it وَ لِلْاَرْضِ and to the earth ائْتِیَا Come both of you طَوْعًا willingly اَوْ or كَرْهًا ؕ unwillingly قَالَتَاۤ They both said اَتَیْنَا We come طَآىِٕعِیْنَ willingly 41. Fussilat Page 478 فَقَضٰىهُنَّ Then He completed them سَبْعَ (as) seven سَمٰوَاتٍ heavens فِیْ in یَوْمَیْنِ two periods وَ اَوْحٰی and He revealed فِیْ in كُلِّ each سَمَآءٍ heaven اَمْرَهَا ؕ its affair وَ زَیَّنَّا And We adorned السَّمَآءَ the heaven الدُّنْیَا the nearest بِمَصَابِیْحَ ۖۗ with lamps وَ حِفْظًا ؕ and (to) guard ذٰلِكَ That تَقْدِیْرُ (is the) Decree الْعَزِیْزِ (of) the All-Mighty الْعَلِیْمِ the All-Knower فَاِنْ But if اَعْرَضُوْا they turn away فَقُلْ then say اَنْذَرْتُكُمْ I have warned you صٰعِقَةً (of) a thunderbolt مِّثْلَ like صٰعِقَةِ (the) thunderbolt عَادٍ (of) Aad وَّ ثَمُوْدَؕ and Thamud اِذْ When جَآءَتْهُمُ came to them الرُّسُلُ the Messengers مِنْۢ from before them بَیْنِ from before them اَیْدِیْهِمْ from before them وَ مِنْ and from خَلْفِهِمْ behind them اَلَّا (saying) Do not تَعْبُدُوْۤا worship اِلَّا but اللّٰهَ ؕ Allah قَالُوْا They said لَوْ If شَآءَ (had) willed رَبُّنَا our Lord لَاَنْزَلَ surely, He (would have) sent down مَلٰٓىِٕكَةً Angels فَاِنَّا So indeed, we بِمَاۤ in what اُرْسِلْتُمْ you have been sent بِهٖ with كٰفِرُوْنَ (are) disbelievers فَاَمَّا Then as for عَادٌ Aad فَاسْتَكْبَرُوْا they were arrogant فِی in الْاَرْضِ the earth بِغَیْرِ without الْحَقِّ [the] right وَ قَالُوْا and they said مَنْ Who اَشَدُّ (is) mightier مِنَّا than us قُوَّةً ؕ (in) strength اَوَ لَمْ Do not یَرَوْا they see اَنَّ that اللّٰهَ Allah الَّذِیْ the One Who خَلَقَهُمْ created them هُوَ He اَشَدُّ (is) Mightier مِنْهُمْ than them قُوَّةً ؕ (in) strength وَ كَانُوْا But they used (to) بِاٰیٰتِنَا in Our Signs یَجْحَدُوْنَ deny فَاَرْسَلْنَا So We sent عَلَیْهِمْ upon them رِیْحًا a wind صَرْصَرًا furious فِیْۤ in اَیَّامٍ (the) days نَّحِسَاتٍ (of) misfortune لِّنُذِیْقَهُمْ that We may make them taste عَذَابَ (the) punishment الْخِزْیِ (of) disgrace فِی in الْحَیٰوةِ the life الدُّنْیَا ؕ (of) the world وَ لَعَذَابُ And surely, (the) punishment الْاٰخِرَةِ (of) the Hereafter اَخْزٰی (is) more disgracing وَ هُمْ and they لَا will not be helped یُنْصَرُوْنَ will not be helped وَ اَمَّا And as for ثَمُوْدُ Thamud فَهَدَیْنٰهُمْ We guided them فَاسْتَحَبُّوا but they preferred الْعَمٰی [the] blindness عَلَی over الْهُدٰی the guidance فَاَخَذَتْهُمْ so seized them صٰعِقَةُ a thunderbolt الْعَذَابِ (of) the punishment الْهُوْنِ humiliating بِمَا for what كَانُوْا they used (to) یَكْسِبُوْنَۚ earn وَ نَجَّیْنَا And We saved الَّذِیْنَ those who اٰمَنُوْا believed وَ كَانُوْا and used (to) یَتَّقُوْنَ۠ fear (Allah)
(41:9) Tell them, (O Prophet): “Do you indeed disbelieve in Him and assign compeers to Him Who created the earth in two days? He is the Lord of all beings of the Universe.
(41:10) (After creating the earth) He set up firm mountains on it, blessed it,11 and provided it with sustenance in proportion to the needs of all who seek (sustenance). 12 All this was done in four days.13
(41:11) Then He turned to the heaven while it was all smoke.14 He said to the heaven and the earth: “Come (into being), willingly or unwillingly.” They said: “Here we come (into being) in willing obeisance.”15
(41:12) Then He made them seven heavens in two days and revealed to each heaven its law. And We adorned the lower heaven with lamps, and firmly secured it.16 All this is the firm plan of the All-Mighty, the All-Knowing.
(41:13) But if they turn away,17 tell them: “I warn you against a sudden scourge like that which struck Ad and Thamud.”
(41:14) When the Messengers (of Allah) came to them from the front and from the rear,18 saying: “Do not serve any but Allah”; they said: “Had our Lord so willed, He would have sent down angels. So we deny the Message you have brought.”19
(41:15) As for Ad, they waxed proud in the land without justification and said: “Who is greater than we in strength?” Did they not see that Allah, Who created them, is greater in strength than they? They continued to deny Our Signs,
(41:16) whereupon We sent upon them a fierce wind on inauspicious days20 that We might make them taste a degrading chastisement in the life of this world.21 And surely the chastisement of the Hereafter is even more degrading. There will be none to help them there.
(41:17) As for Thamud, We bestowed guidance upon them, but they preferred to remain blind rather than be guided. At last a humiliating scourge overtook them on account of their misdeeds.
(41:18) Yet We delivered those who believed and were God-fearing.22
11. (After creating the earth), He set up firm mountains in it, blessed it, and provided it with sustenance in proportion to the need of all.' Blessing the earth refers to the vast reservoir of provision that has supported the needs of billions of creatures, ranging from microscopic insects to human beings. One of the greatest blessings is air because of which plant, animal and human life on earth became possible.
12. Qur’anic scholars differ in their interpretations of the words: provided it with sustenance in proportion to the needs of all who seek (sustenance).' Some take it to mean that the sustenance needed by the earth's inhabitants was placed there in the right proportion in exactly four days. (Tabari, Tafsir, comments on Surah Ha Mim al-Sajdah 41: 10.) However, Ibn ‘Abbas, Qatadah and al-Suddi offer the following explanation of the verse: ‘In four days’ sustenance was placed on earth. This answers the question of those who asked it.’ (Tabari, Tafsir, comments on Surah Ha Mim al-Sajdah 41: 10.) In other words, if someone asks about the time duration in which this arrangement was made, the answer is that the task was completed in four days.
Ibn Zayd, however, believes that the verse means that sustenance was placed in the earth for its inhabitants in four days, in perfect measure, and in accord with the requirements of all of the inhabitants. (Tabari, Tafsir, comments on Surah Ha Mim al-Sajdah 41: 10.) As to the textual construction of the verse under study, it admits all the above three meanings. In our opinion, however, the first two interpretations do not take the readers anywhere. In the context of the verse it is unimportant whether the completion of the task took exactly four days or a few hours less or a few hours more. What would be left wanting in the consummate perfection of God’s power, or of His sustenance or His wisdom which requires that the task be completed in exactly four days, neither more nor less. Thus, this interpretation too is not very persuasive. Likewise, the interpretation that the verse means that all what people seek was revealed in order to answer someone’s query about the precise duration in which this task was accomplished, and that by mentioning four days as the duration that duly answered the question. Therefore, we prefer Ibn Zayd’s interpretation. To the best of our understanding, the thrust of the verse is that God has placed in the earth every kind of sustenance needed by all those creatures who will ever live on it from the beginning of time until its end. Needless to add that countless varieties of plant life on both land and in the water require myriad types of sustenance. God has created immeasurable species of creatures with their habitats on land and in water. Each species has its own unique food habits which are different from those of others. Above all, there is the human being who stands out distinct from all other creatures. Humans need food not only for nourishing their bodies but also to cater for their varying tastes with which they are endowed. Only God knew how much sustenance would be required by all of His creatures from the beginning until the end of time. His scheme of creation, thus, envisaged the food requirements of all His creatures over an extremely long period of time.
Those who are swayed in our own times by Marxist ideas and have had the audacity to superimpose an Islamized version of these ideas which they call ‘Qur’ani Nizam-i Rububiyat, insist that God has provided sustenance for everyone in equal measure. (Ghulam Ahmad Parvaiz, Nizam-i Rububiyat, Karachi: Idarah-’i Tulu’-i Islam, 1954, p. 131.) Therefore, they argue, that the state must ensure equal distribution of food and this ‘cannot be achieved in a system that admits private ownership.
In making such outrageous assertions they disregard the important truth that the verse is not specific to man. Rather, it refers to all creatures who stand in need of food to be able to live. As itis, God has not laid down equality among all creatures’ need for sustenance. To say contrary to this is not supported by natural or by the actual workings of the universe. In both the plant and animal kingdoms, God has not implanted any mechanism by means of which equal food rations might be made available to plants and animals, or even to all members of the same species. This evidently cannot be regarded as an injustice on God’s part. Let us also clarify that the Qur’anic account also includes cattle and poultry, i.e. the creatures under man’s care for his sustenance. If a state were ever established with the purpose of providing equal sustenance to all, would it ensure equality between human beings and the animals under his care?
13. Some Qur’anic scholars find the number of days mentioned here somewhat problematic. If it took two days to create the earth and four days to place mountains on it and provide the means of sustenance for earth’s inhabitants and another two days for the creation of the heavens, then the total number of days would be eight. (Razi, al-Tafsir al-Kabir, comments on Surah Ha Mim al-Sajdah 41: 10.) This poses a difficulty insofar as the Qur’an specifically mentions on several occasions that the earth and the heavens were created in six days. (See al-A’raf7: 54, Yunus 10: 3, Hud 11:7.
and al-Furqan 25: 59.) Therefore, Qur’anic commentators are unanimously § of the opinion that the four days mentioned here also include the two days devoted to the earth’s creation. (Razi, al-Tafsir al-Kabir, comments on Surah Ha Mim al-Sajdah 41: 10.) In other words, it took two days for the creation '.
of the other things that are mentioned. The earth was, thus, brought into 4; working order in four days. However, this is contrary to the Qur’an’s wording. Moreover, the problem which these scholars tried to resolve was an imaginary one. The fact is that the earth was created in two days and it was in this time span that the whole universe was created. Consider the other verses which mention the creation of the heavens and the earth together. It is also stated that God created the seven firmaments in two days. (Surah Ha Mim al-Sajdah 41: 12.) This signifies the creation of the entire universe of which the earth is a part. Once the earth was created along with other planets, God placed in it all the means of sustenance in four days, to which reference is made in this verse. God has not said anything about His dispensation as being applicable to other stars and planets. It is evident that mention of anything in that regard would be hard to grasp even today, which only highlights how very difficult it would have been to understand them fourteen hundred years ago.
14. Here three points merit explanation: (i) The word ‘heaven’ in this instance signifies the universe, as will be clear by the verses that follow.
In other words, ‘then He turned to the heaven’ means that God turned His attention to the creation of the universe. (ii) The word ‘smoke’ stands for the initial form of matter in which it appeared before the universe took any distinct shape. At that stage matter lay diffused in space, shapeless and dust-like. Scientists today brand this as nebula. They are of the opinion that prior to creation, the matter out of which this universe was made, lay diffused in a smoke-like nebulous form. (iii) To say that God then turned to the heaven does not indicate any time sequence. It should not, therefore, be taken to mean that God first created the earth, then placed mountains on it, and then devised an elaborate system to provide sustenance to all His creatures, and then finally turned to the act of creating the universe. This misconception is removed by the very next verse which states: ‘He said to the heaven and the earth: “Come (into being), willingly or unwillingly.” They said: “Here we come (into being) in willing obeisance.”’ (verse 11). It is clear from the context that this happened at a time when the heavens and the earth did not exist. Rather, it dates back to an era when creation was only in the offing. The Qur’anic expression thumma (then), as employed in the verse, is, therefore, not a marker of time sequence. (See, for instance, al-Zumar 39, n. 12 above.) Classical Qur’anic scholars have debated for long as to which was created first — the heavens or the earth. On the basis of this verse and Surah al-Baqarah 2: 29 some argue that the first to be created was the earth. Others recite al-Nazi‘at 79: 27-33 in order to stress that the heavens were created first. For them, this passage also clarifies that the creation of the earth followed the creation of the heavens. (Razi, al-Tafsir al-Kabir, comments on Surah Ha Mim al-Sajdah 41: 11.) Let us remind ourselves here that at no point does the Qur’an discuss the phenomenon of creation with reference to physics-or astronomy. Rather, it mentions the creation of the universe as one of the many signs for reflection while inviting people to believe in monotheism and the Afterlife. Accordingly, the Qur’an altogether disregards the question: what was created first, the earth or the heavens? What is rather important is that both the heavens and the earth point to God’s Oneness and that this whole universe was not created in vain as though it were a child’s plaything. At times, the Qur’an speaks first of the earth and at others of the heavens. Wherever the Qur’an seeks to remind man of God’s blessings, it speaks first of the earth insofar as it is closer to him in terms of space. In those instances, in which the purpose of the Qur’an is to press home the glory and creative wonders of God, it talks of the heavens. For it is this spectacle which fills man’s heart with awe.
15. The manner in which God has laid bare the process of His creation here makes it stand out from human workmanship. When man wants to do something, he first draws a blueprint of the task in his mind, collects the requisite materials to execute the task, and then proceeds to make that thing according to his design. However, he has to struggle constantly in adapting those materials to his scheme. At times, he fails in his plan while at others he succeeds. Take the analogy of a shirt sewn by a tailor. First, he conceives a mental image of the shirt’s design. Then he procures the necessary materials and tries his best to prepare the shirt according to that design. While trying to do so, he is likely to face some difficulties. Sometimes he is not at all successful in preparing the shirt the way he intended to, whereas in other instances he accomplishes the task satisfactorily.
Let us now see how God created the universe. There was matter which existed in the form of smoke. God decided to give shape to the universe out of it. Unlike humans, He did not have to erect the earth, the sun, the moon and other stars and planets. He simply decreed that they take the form in accordance with what He desired. The smoke assumed the form of galaxies, stars and planets which He intended to create. Within no time, His command was executed. Within two days the entire universe, including the earth, was ready. God’s act of creation is also described in the following passages of the Qur’an: al-Baqarah 2: 117 and Al ‘Imran 3: 47 and 59, Towards Understanding the Qur’an, vol. I, pp. 104 and 252-60; al-Nahl 16: 40, vol. IV, pp. 329-30; Maryam 19: 35, n. 22, p. 157, Ya Sin 36: | 82, and al-Mu’min 40: 68.
16. For a better understanding of this verse, see al-Baqarah 2: 29, n. 34, Towards Understanding the Qur'an, vol. I, p. 58; al-Ra‘d 13: 2 and al-Hijr 15, nn. 16-19, nn. 8-12, vol. IV, pp. 219-20 and 284-6; al-Anbiya’ 21: 30-3, nn. 34-5; al-Hajj 22: 65, vol. V, p. 265; al-Mu’minun 23, n. 15, vol. VI, p. 89: Ya Sin 36, n. 37 and al-Saffat 37, nn. 5-6, vol. IX, pp. 261-2 and 282.
17. The unbelievers are guilty of refusing to believe that God alone, Who created the earth and the entire universe, has the right to be worshipped. They persist in their false beliefs, taking others as His partners and crediting them with God’s attributes and authority.
18. This admits of more than one meaning: (i) That many Messengers appeared successively among those people. (ii) That the Messengers tried to convince them in every possible manner, sparing no effort to direct them to the Right Way. (iii) That the Messengers were raised in their own respective countries, be it Arabia or other neighboring countries.
19. They argued that had God disapproved of their faith and sent a Messenger to keep them away from such false faith, He would have sent down an angel for that purpose. Since the Prophet (peace be on him) is only a human being like themselves and not an an angel, their refusal to believe that he had been sent by God so that people might abandon their ancestral faith and adopt some new faith in its place was justified.
They sarcastically asserted ‘so we deny the Message you have brought’ (verse 14.) The same attitude had earlier been displayed by Pharaoh when he disdainfully introduced the Prophet Moses (peace be on him) to his courtiers: ‘This Messenger of yours who has been sent to you is simply mad’ (al-Shu‘ara’ 26: 27). (For further details, see Ya Sin 36, n. 11; Towards Understanding the Qur’an, vol. IX, pp. 247-9.)
20. The expression ‘inauspicious days’ in the verse does not mean that the days on which fierce winds blew were inauspicious as such.
Rather, it is because God’s scourge overtook the ‘Ad during those days that they are referred to as inauspicious. The verse does not suggest that some days are inauspicious and others are not. Had the day’s themselves been inauspicious the scourge would have struck all nations, far and near. But since it is the ‘Ad who were destroyed by the storm, those days were inauspicious for that nation. This fact, however, cannot be made a basis for declaring some days to be inherently inauspicious and others as auspicious.
Here the words (‘fierce winds’) have been used for tempestuous winds. Lexicographers disagree as to what this expression precisely means. Some consider it to be a fiercely hot wind while others consider it to mean a fiercely cold wind. There are still others who consider it to mean a fiercely noisy wind. All agree, however, that it denotes a fierce windstorm. (Ibn ‘Atiyah, al-Muharrar al-Wajiz, comments Surah Ha Mim al-Sajdah 41:16.).
The details of the windstorm that struck the ‘Ad are mentioned at other places in the Qur’an. It has, for instance, been said that this fierce windstorm continually raged over them for seven nights and eight days (al-Haqqah 69: 7.) It was a devastating storm, one that killed everyone, destroying them just as if they were the ‘uprooted trunks of hollowed palm trees’ (al-Haqqah 69: 7.) ‘Such was this wind that it left nothing that it came upon without reducing it to rubble’, (al-Dhariyat 51: 41-2.) When people saw that this fierce wind was approaching them in the form of a cloud, they were jubilant and mirthful: ‘When they saw the scourge approaching their valleys, they said: This is a cloud which will bring much rain to us’. ‘By no means; it is what you had sought to hasten - a windstorm bearing a grievous chastisement’, (al-Ahqaf 46: 24-5.)
21. This degrading chastisement was in response to their arrogance because of which they boastfully proclaimed: ‘Who is greater than we in strength?’ (verse 15.) God, however, disgraced them; a great many of them were killed and their civilization was effaced. As for those who survived, they became subject to the domination of other communities and were oppressed by them. These were the same communities that they had earlier oppressed. (For details of the story of the People of ‘Ad, see al-A‘raf 7, nn. 51-6, Towards Understanding the Qur’an, vol. Ill, pp. 42-5; Hiid 11, n. 54-65, vol. IV, pp. 108-11; al-Mu’minun 23, nn. 34-36a, vol. VI, pp. 96-9; al-Shu‘ara’ 26, nn. 88-94; vol. VIL, pp. 91-4, and al-‘Ankabut 29, n. 65, vol. VIII, p. 36.)
22. For details about the Thamud’s story, see al-A’raf7: 73-79, Towards Understanding the Qur’an, vol. III, pp. 45-9; Hud 11: nn. 66-74, and al-Hijr, 15: nn. 42-6, vol. IV, pp. 112-16 and pp. 300-1; al-Shu ‘ara’ 26: nn. 95-6.