The Light of the Holy Qur'an Interpretation of (sura An-nur)
Section 6 : Everything in the Heavens and the Earth Glorifies Allah Commentary : Verse 41.42
Everything in the heavens and in the earth knows its mode of prayers to Allah, and glorifying Him - Every living creature has been created by Allah - Allah guides towards the Right Path whomever He pleases - Allah or His Apostle deal not with any one unjustly but people themselves are unjust to themselves
أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ يُسَبّـِحُ لَهُ مَن فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالاَرْضِ وَالطَّيْرُ صَافَّاتٍ كُلٌّ قَدْ عَلِمَ صَلاَتَهُ وَتَسْبِيحَهُ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِمَا يَفْعَلُونَ
وَلِلَّهِ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَإِلَي اللَّهِ الْمَصِيرُ
"Have you not seen that unto Allah glorifies whosoever is in the heavens and the earth, and the birds with wings outspread (in their flight)? Each one knows its own (mode of) prayer and praise. And Allah is Aware of what they do."
"And unto Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and unto Allah is the ultimate return (of all)."
Commentary:
In the previous verses, Allah's light, the light of guidance and faith, the dense darkness of disbelief and ignorance were mentioned, while the concerned verses mention the reasons of monotheism, which are the signs of Divine lights and means of guidance.
First the holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.) is addressed when it says:
"Have you not seen that unto Allah glorifies whosoever is in the heavens and the earth, and the birds with wings outspread (in their flight)? Each one knows its own (mode of) prayer and praise. And Allah is Aware of what they do."
Since this general praise of creatures is a reason for the creative power of Allah, and His creative power is the reason of His ownership of the whole world of existence, and it is also the reason of the fact that all creatures return to Him, in the next verse the Qur'an adds:
"And unto Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and unto Allah is the ultimate return (of all)."
Another possibility in the relation of this verse with the pervious verse is that in the last sentence of the pervious verse, Allah's awareness of deeds of all men and the glorification of creatures is mentioned, and this holy verse refers to His justice court in the next world, Allah's ownership of the heavens and the earth and His right to judge.
Notes:
First: The meaning of the Qur'anic sentence /'alam tara/ means as it is translated, but it is probable that the subject of the Arabic verb /'alima/ (to be aware) is Allah, not creatures. In this case the translation of the verse will be in this way: "... Of each He knows verily the worship and the praise; ..."
Second: Many times the Qur'an has explicitly stated the praise, prayer, and prostration of creatures, and sometimes has said: "...but you do not understand their glorification;..."[^1] It is understood from these verses that knowledge and intelligence is not limited to men. Though some consider the glorification of the creatures of existence as genetic glorification and nonverbal language of creation,the apparent of the verses does not say this.
Third: in this noble verse, man is indirectly warned by Allah: 1) creatures of heavens and earth and birds are praising Allah, why is man neglectful of it? 2) Creatures' praise is done consciously, why does not man have presence of heart? 3) Birds glorify Allah and are praying when they are flying, but some men bombard others when they are in airplane and are in negligence and unawareness.
Forth: A tradition indicates that when Imam Sadiq (a.s.) heard the sound of a sparrow, he said: "This bird is busy praising and praying."[^2]
Fifth: Why does the above verse put emphasis on only the praise of birds, while their wings are extended at the time of flying, and does not mention other creatures? The answer is that in addition to a lot of variety that birds have, they enjoy characteristics that attract every wise man. These heavy things fly fast in the air and break the force of gravity, especially when their wings are extended fully and they do not move them and they ride waves of air. They go everywhere and turn every side without causing themselves any difficulty.
Their knowledge of anemometry issues, their profound knowing of geographical position of the earth at the time of traveling and migrating from a continent to another continent and even from the north polar areas to the south polar parts,
[^1] Sura Isra', No. 17, verse 44
[^2] The Commentary Fakhr-i-Razi and Ruh ul-Bayan
and a strange system that guides them in this long journey, even when the sky is cloudy, are of surprising issues and of the obvious reasons of monotheism.
The special radar that, some birds have, helps them to find their way in the darkness of night, and even the fact that a kind of them targets a prey in the depth of water and can catch it very swiftly is the very surprising characteristic of these birds.
Anyway, there are secrets in birds that because of them Qur'an has specially put emphasis on them.
Sixth: What is the purpose of/salat/ (prayer)?
Some commentators of the Qur'an, such as the Late Tabarsi in "Majma'-ul-Bayan" and 'Alusi in "Ruh-ul-Bayan", have interpreted the word 'Salat', mentioned here, as supplication, which is its main concept in dictionary. Thus, the creatures of heaven and earth pray Allah with gestures or with their own verbal language and ask Him grace and He, Who is absolutely gracious, bestows it on them, according to their potentialities, as they deserve.
But they primitively know what they need and what they must ask for and what kind of supplication they ought to pray.
Moreover, according to aforementioned verses, they are humble before His magnificent court and yield to the rules of creation. On the other hand they declare Allah's attributes of perfection with their whole entity and negate any shortcoming about Him. Thus, their four worships are completed by: praising, glorification, prayer, and prostration.
Commentary : Verse 43
أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ يُزْجِي سَحَاباً ثُمَّ يُؤَلّـِفُ بَيْنَهُ ثُمَّ يَجْعَلُهُ رُكَاماً فَتَرَي الْوَدْقَ يَخْرُجُ مِنْ خِلاَلِهِ وَيُنَزِّلُ مِنَ السَّمَآءِ مِن جِبَالٍ فِيهَا مِن بَرَدٍ فَيُصِيبُ بِهِ مَن يَشَآءُ وَيَصْرِفُهُ عَن مَّن يَشَآءُ يَكَادُ سَنَابَرْقِهِ يَذْهَبُ بِالاَبْصَارِ
"Have you not seen that Allah drives gently the clouds, then joins them together, then converts them into a mass, and you see the rain coming forth from the midst of thema And He sends down from the heaven from the (clouds like) mountains wherein is hail, afflicting therewith whom He pleases, and turning it away from whom He pleases. The flash of its lightning well-nigh blinds the sight."
Commentary:
To study creation is the best way for knowing Allah which causes to have His love. All movements in the universe are done with Divine will and power and also for a wise aim. Therefore, in this verse, we face a little part of the wonders of creation, and the science, wisdom and magnificence that are behind them. All of them are reasons of His Pure Essence and monotheism. So the Qur'an, addressing the Prophet (p.b.u.h.), says:
"Have you not seen that Allah drives gently the clouds, then joins them together, then converts them into a mass, and you see the rain coming forth from the midst of thema..."
The Arabic word /yuzji/ is derived from the word /'izja'/ which means 'to drive softly'. It is the driving that is used for arranging the scattered creatures, and this word is exactly true about clouds. Every piece of clouds come from a place of the seas and then Allah drives them towards each other, links and condenses them.
The Arabic word /rukam/ means objects and things that are piled up.
The Qur'anic word /wadq/, as many commentators believe, means: 'drops of rain that come from clouds.' But, in Mufradat, Raqib says that it has another meaning and that is the tiny bits of water that are scattered in the air at the time of raining. But, the first meaning is more proper here, for what shows Allah's magnificence more is those enlivening drops of rain, not those dust-like bits of rain. Moreover, wherever the holy Qur'an mentions clouds and descending of favours, it refers to the issue of rain.
Yes, it is the rain that enlivens dead grounds and the earth, basically and covers trees with life dress and waters both men and animals.
Then another wonderful phenomenon of sky and clouds is referred to. It says:
"... And He sends down from the heaven from the (clouds like) mountains wherein is hail, afflicting therewith whom He pleases, and turning it away from whom He pleases...."
When hail falls, the blossoms of trees, fruits, the products of farms, even some animals and men are usually not safe from its harm.
Yes, it is Allah Who sometimes sends down enlivening rain from cloud and sometimes with a little change in it, He converts it into harmful and even deadly hail. This shows the ultimate of His power and grandeur, where He sets harm and benefit, as well as death and life of men beside each other and even He has interwoven them.
In the end of the verse, another heavenly phenomenon, that is the sign of monotheism, is mentioned:
"... The flash of its lightning well, nigh blinds the sight."
These clouds which are, in fact, made of water bits which emit such a fire when they become full of electricity that their lightning rivets eyes and their thunder sometimes shakes everything. Such great power that is among this delicate vapor is verily wonderful.
The only question that remains here is that: From which mountain of heaven do these hails fall and come down? Here, commentators have different opinions:
Some say that the Arabic word /jibal/ (mountains) here has got ironical aspect, as we say 'mountain of trouble' or 'mountain of food'. Therefore, a huge amount or mountain of hail is created by clouds in the sky and part of it descends on cities, some on deserts, and even some of it may hit some individuals.
Some have said that the purpose of 'mountains' is huge masses of cloud that are dimensionally like mountains.
The writer of the commentary of Fi Zilal, (Vol. 6, P. 109), says something else which seems more proper. He says that masses of cloud in the sky are truly like mountains. Though when we look at them from the earth, we see them even, while those who fly with aircraft above them see that clouds seem like mountains and valleys that are on the earth In other words, looking from the above, the surface of clouds is never even and like the surface of the earth has got a lot of unevenness. So, from this point of view, calling 'clouds like mountain' is proper.
Besides the above clear statement, the explanation of some scientists can be added here:
Hail is precipitation of balls or pieces of ice with a diameter of 5 mm to 10 cm (about 0.2 to 4 inches). Small hail (also called sleet, or ice pellets) has a diameter of less than 5 mm. Because the formation of hail usually requires cumulonimbus or other convective clouds with strong updrafts, it often accompanies thunderstorms. Large hailstones are often characterized by alternating layers of clear and opaque ice, caused by irregular rates of freezing. In areas where the temperature is not far below 0° C (32° F), freezing occurs slowly,
allowing trapped air to escape and producing clear ice. When the hailstone then moves into a much colder area, freezing occurs quickly, trapping air and producing a layer of white ice. Hail is extremely destructive to buildings and crops; if large enough, it may be dangerous to animals exposed to it. Hailstones about 15 cm (6 inches) in diameter have fallen during thunderstorms in the Middle Western United States. Hailstorms are most common in the middle latitudes and usually last around 15 minutes. They ordinarily occur in middle to late afternoon.[^1]
Regarding this matter, the scientific point that exists will be clearer, for huge hails are formed only when masses of cloud get very dense so that when storm throws frozen balls of hail into them, they absorb more water. And this is when masses of cloud are upwardly located like mountain and they will be a considerable source for forming hail.
There is another analysis by other writers, the summary of which is as follows: "In the concerning verses, lofty clouds explicitly refer to mountains of ice, or, in other words, mountains in which there is a kind of ice, and this is very interesting.For after invention of aircraft and the possibility of
[^1] Frpm Encyclopedia Britannica
high flight, man's knowledge was developed and scientists found clouds that consist of icy pillars and so the appellation 'mountains of ice' is truly applied to them. And it is again surprising that one of Russian scientists has used the phrase 'mountains of cloud' or 'mountains of snow' in describing stormy raining clouds. Thus, it is now obvious that there are really mountains of ice in the heaven. This is the miracle of the holy Qur'an that, 14 centuries before, it said: "... And He sends down from the heaven from the (clouds like) mountains wherein is hail..."