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Donate & Earn Sadaqah Jariyah
DonateLit., "but with Us are its storehouses".
Lit., "and We do not send it down [i.e., "create it"] otherwise than according to a measure known [to Us]": that is, in accordance with the exigencies of God's plan as such and with the function which any particular thing or phenomenon is to have within that plan.
Khaza'in: treasures; store-houses; places where valuable things are accumulated, from which supplies are distributed from time to time as need arises.
All the wonderful gifts and forces and energies which we see in the world around us have their sources and fountain-heads with Allah, the Creator and Sustainer of the Worlds. And what we see, or perceive or imagine is just a small portion of what exists. That portion is sent out to us and to our world according to our needs or its needs from time to time as the occasion arises. It is strictly limited according to rule and plan. Its source is unlimited and inexhaustible. In the same way the forces which we see operating around us, in nature or in the spiritual world, according to laws which we can grasp and, ascertain, are mere derived forces, in the 2nd, 3rd, or nth degree. Their source and ultimate fountain head is with Allah.
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I.e., by pollination as well as by bringing rain-clouds.
Lawaqih, plural of laqih, from laqaha, to impregnate or fecundate the female date-palm by putting the pollen of the male tree on to the ovaries of the female tree. The date palm is uni-sexual. The wind performs this office for many flowers. Here, by a bold metaphor, its fecundating quality is transferred to the clouds, which by means of rain produce all kinds of fruit, grain, and vegetation. The clouds as vapour are manipulated by the winds, which set up atmospheric currents resulting in condensation and the descent of rain. Note the appropriateness of the little article "then", showing the connection of winds with rain.
Cf. the previous verse, and n. 1958. Man may store water in cisterns, tanks, lakes, and head-waters of canals. But he has no control over its original sources, which are the clouds, which by the help of the winds, act as the grand distributors of water over wide spaces of the world's surface.
This verse must be understood as furnishing an example of illustration of what is said in the last verse.
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Lit., "We are [or "shall be"] the inheritors (al-warithun)": an idiomatic metaphor based, according to the consensus of all classical commentators, on the use of the term "inheritor" or "heir" in the sense of "one who remains after his predecessor has passed away" - in this case, after all creation has perished. (Cf. the expression "the heritage of the heavens and of the earth" used, with reference to God, in 3:180 and 57:10 .)
Allah will remain eternally after all pass away.
Note how the argument has mounted up from xv. 16 onwards to xv. 23-from things most remote from man to things touching his inmost being, and each of them in its own way is a wonderful instance of Allah's glory and goodness, and the beauty, order and harmony of His creation. First, the heavens, the zodiacal Signs, the stars , and the mysterious phenomena that we see above us; then the earth, and the perfect balance of life and forces therein, with man as an important factor, but not the only factor; then, the inexhaustible sources of energy, of which Allah alone is the Provider, but which come to us in measured proportions, as needed; and lastly, Life and Death itself, which will pass away but Allah will remain. A noble passage, and a fine vindication of Allah's wisdom and providence in dealing with His creatures.
Literally, "We are the Heirs, or Inheritors," Cf. iii. 180; "To Allah belongs the heritage of the heavens and the earth." See also the latter part of n. 988 to vi. 165.
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Or: "those of you who hasten forward [towards Us], and those who lag behind". Both these interpretations are considered equally legitimate by the early commentators.
Meaning may be: "those who preceded you in point of time and those who come after you in point of time; they are all known to Allah, and He will gather them all together on the Day of Judgment."
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There are many references in the Qur'an to man's having been "created out of clay (tin)" or "out of dust (turab)", both these terms signifying man's lowly biological origins as well as the fact that his body is composed of various organic and inorganic substances existing - in other combinations or in their elementary forms - on or in the earth. The term ,salsal, occurring in three verses of this surah as well as in 55:14 , adds a further dimension to this concept. According to most of the philological authorities, it denotes "dried clay that emits a sound" (i.e., when it is struck); and since it is used in the Qur'an exclusively with reference to the creation of man, it seems to contain an allusion to the power of articulate speech which distinguishes man from all other animal species, as well as to the brittleness of his existence (cf. the expression "like pottery" in 55:14 ). As the construction of the sentence shows, this salsal is stated to have evolved (Razi) out of hama' - which, according to some authorities, is the plural of ham'ah, signifying "dark, fetid mud" or "dark slime" - while the participial adjective masnun which qualifies this noun denotes, as Razi points out, both "altered" (i.e., in its composition) and "brought into shape": hence my rendering of this expression as "transmuted", which to some extent combines both of the above meanings. To my mind, we have here a description of the primeval biological environment out of which the "sounding clay" - the matrix, as it were - of man's physical body has evolved in accordance with God's plan of creation.
Salsal.- dry clay which produces a sound, like pottery. Cf. iv. 14. Taking verses 26 and 29 together, I understand the meaning to be: that man's body was formed from wet clay moulded into shape and then dried until it could emit sound; that it was then further fashioned and completed; that into the animal form thus fashioned was breathed the spirit from Allah, which gave it a superiority over other Creation: and that the order for obeisance was then given.
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Cf. 55:15 - "out of the confusing flame of fire (marij min nar)": i.e., of non-corporeal elements. The noun al-jann, rendered by me as "the invisible beings", is in reality a singular, denoting here the kind of these particular beings or forces, similar to the use of the singular noun "man" (al-insan) which describes the collective entity "mankind". The etymology of the word jann (the plural of which is jinn) has been briefly touched upon in note [86] on 6:100 ; a more detailed discussion of its meaning is found in Appendix III.
Cf. vi. 100 and n. 929.
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This does not contradict other verses that say Adam was created out of dust and those that say he was made out of mud. Adam was created in stages: first from dust, which was later turned into mud, then clay. This is similar to saying: I made a loaf of bread out of grain, or flour, or dough.
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Cf. {2:30-34} and the corresponding notes, as well as {7:11-18}. The allegorical character of all the passages bearing on the creation of man and on God's command to the angels to prostrate themselves before him is brought out clearly in God's saying, "I am about to create mortal man...; and when I have formed him fully...", etc.: for it is obvious that, in reality, no lapse of time is required for God's completing His creation - since, "when He wills a thing to be, He but says unto it, 'Be'- and it is" (cf. 2:117 , 3:47 and {59}, 6:73 , 16:40 , 19:35 , 36:82 and 40:68 ). God's "breathing of His spirit" into man is obviously a metaphor for His endowing him with life and consciousness: that is, with a soul.
Among other passages where the creation of Adam is referred to, cf. the following; ii. 30-39; vii. 11-25. Note that here the emphasis is on three points: (1) the breathing from Allah's spirit into man i.e., the faculty of God-like knowledge and will, which, if rightly used, would give man superiority over other creatures: (2) the origin of evil in arrogance and jealousy on the part of Satan, who saw only the lower side of man (his clay) and failed to see the higher side, the faculty brought in from the spirit of Allah; (3) that this evil only touches those who yield to it, and has no power over Allah's sincere servants, purified by His grace (xv. 40, 42). Adam is not here mentioned by name, but only Man.
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See note [10] on 7:11 . For the deeper meaning of this "rebellion", see note [31] below.
See footnote for 2:34.
Cf. n. 49 to ii. 34.
Iblis: the name has in it the root-idea of desperateness or rebellion. Cf. n. 52 to ii. 36.
Apparently Iblis's arrogance had two grounds: (1) that man was made of clay while he was made of fire; (2) that he did not wish to do what others did. Both grounds were false; (1) because man had the spirit of Allah breathed into him; (2) because contempt of the angels who obeyed Allah's words showed not Iblis's superiority but his inferiority.
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Lit., "is upon thee".
After the Day of Judgment the whole constitution of the universe will be different. There will be a new world altogether, on a wholly different plane. (Cf. xxi. 104).
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What was this respite? The curse on Iblis remained, i.e. he was deprived of Allah's grace and became in the spiritual world what an outlaw is in a political kingdom. An earthly kingdom may not be able to catch and destroy an outlaw. But Allah is Omnipotent, and such power as Iblis may have can only come through the respite granted by Allah. The respite then is what is expressed in xv. 39 below. In Allah's grant of limited free-will to man is implied the faculty of choosing between good and evil, and the faculty is exercised through the temptations and allurements put forward by Satan, "the open enemy" of man. This is for the period of man's probation on this earth. Even so, no temptations have power over the sincere worshippers of Allah, who are purified by His grace.
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See surah {7}, note [11].
Agwaitani: 'thrown me out of the way, put me in the wrong': Cf. vii. 16. Satan cannot be straight or truthful even before Allah. By his own arrogance and rebellion he fell; he attributes this to Allah. Between Allah's righteous judgment and Satan's snares and temptations there cannot be the remotest comparison. Yet he presumes to put them on an equal footing. He is taking advantage of the respite.
Iblis (the Satan) is powerless against Allah. He turns therefore against man.
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Lit., "Thy sincere servants": i.e., those who are so deeply conscious of God that no "blandishment of Satan" can lead them astray. (See also note [32] below.)
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