14:2 Ibrahim (Abraham)

وليدل ذلك على أن صراط الله من أكبر الأدلة على ما لله من صفات الكمال، ونعوت الجلال، وأن الذي نصبه لعباده، عزيز السلطان، حميد في أقواله وأفعاله وأحكامه، وأنه مألوه معبود بالعبادات التي هي منازل الصراط المستقيم، وأنه كما أن له ملك السماوات والأرض خلقا ورزقا وتدبيرا، فله الحكم على عباده بأحكامه الدينية، لأنهم ملكه، ولا يليق به أن يتركهم سدى، فلما بيَّن الدليل والبرهان توعد من لم ينقد لذلك، فقال: { وَوَيْلٌ لِلْكَافِرِينَ مِنْ عَذَابٍ شَدِيدٍ } لا يقدر قدره، ولا يوصف أمره

وقوله " الله الذي له ما في السموات وما في الأرض " قرأ بعضهم مستأنفا مرفوعا وقرأ آخرون على الاتباع صفة للجلالة كقوله تعالى " قل يا أيها الناس إني رسول الله إليكم جميعا الذي له ملك السموات والأرض " الآية وقوله " وويل للكافرين من عذاب شديد " أي ويل لهم يوم القيامة إذ خالفوك يا محمد وكذبوك.

Which was revealed in Makkah

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ )

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Describing the Qur'an and warning Those Who defy it

Previously we discussed the meaning of the separate letters that appear in the beginnings of some Surahs.

كِتَابٌ أَنزَلْنَـهُ إِلَيْكَ

((This is) a Book which We have revealed unto you...) Allah says, `This is a Book that We have revealed to you, O Muhammad. This `Book', is the Glorious Qur'an, the most honored Book, that Allah sent down from heaven to the most honored Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent to all the people of the earth, Arabs and non-Arabs alike,

لِتُخْرِجَ النَّاسَ مِنَ الظُّلُمَـتِ إِلَى النُّورِ

(in order that you might lead mankind out of darkness into light) We sent you, O Muhammad, with this Book in order that you might lead mankind away from misguidance and crookedness to guidance and the right way,'

اللَّهُ وَلِيُّ الَّذِينَ ءامَنُواْ يُخْرِجُهُم مِّنَ الظُّلُمَـتِ إِلَى النُّورِ وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ أَوْلِيَآؤُهُمُ الطَّـغُوتُ يُخْرِجُونَهُم مِّنَ النُّورِ إِلَى الظُّلُمَـتِ

(Allah is the Wali (Protector or Guardian) of those who believe. He brings them out from darkness into light. But as for those who disbelieve, their Awliya (supporters and helpers) are Taghut (false deities), they bring them out from light into darkness.) 2:257, and,

هُوَ الَّذِى يُنَزِّلُ عَلَى عَبْدِهِ ءَايَـتٍ بَيِّنَـتٍ لِّيُخْرِجَكُمْ مِّنَ الظُّلُمَـتِ إِلَى النُّورِ

(It is He Who sends down manifest Ayat to His servant that He may bring you out from darkness into light. ) 57:9 Allah said next,

بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِمْ

(by their Lord's leave), He guides those whom He destined to be guided by the hand of His Messenger , whom He sent to guide them by His command,

إِلَى صِرَاطِ الْعَزِيزِ

(to the path of the All-Mighty,) Who can never be resisted or overpowered. Rather, Allah is Irresistible above everything and everyone else,

الْحَمِيدِ

(the Praised.) Who is glorified and praised in all His actions, statements, legislation, commandments and prohibitions and Who only says the truth in the information He conveys. Allah's statement,

اللَّهِ الَّذِى لَهُ مَا فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَمَا فِى الاٌّرْضِ

(Allah to Whom belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth!), is similar to,

قُلْ يَأَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنِّى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ إِلَيْكُمْ جَمِيعًا الَّذِى لَهُ مُلْكُ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ

(Say: "O mankind! Verily, I am sent to you all as the Messenger of Allah - to Whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth.) 7:158 Allah's statement,

وَوَيْلٌ لِّلْكَـفِرِينَ مِنْ عَذَابٍ شَدِيدٍ

(And woe unto the disbelievers from a severe torment. ) means, `woe to them on the Day of Judgment because they defied you, O Muhammad, and rejected you.' Allah described the disbelievers as preferring the life of the present world to the Hereafter, coveting the former life and working hard for its sake. They have forgotten the Hereafter and abandoned it behind their backs,

وَيَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ

(and hinder (men) from the path of Allah), from following the Messengers,

وَيَبْغُونَهَا عِوَجًا

(and seek crookedness therein) they seek to make Allah's path crooked, even though it is straight itself and does not deviate on account of those who defy or betray it. When the disbelievers do this, they become engulfed in ignorance and misguidance far away from truth, and therefore, there is no hope that they will gain guidance and correctness while on this state.

God Allāhi read in the genitive as a substitution or an explicative supplement with what follows being an adjectival qualification; or read as Allāhu in the nominative as a subject the predicate of which is what follows to Whom belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth as possessions creatures and servants. And woe to the disbelievers from a terrible chastisement

After having mentioned these two attributes of Allah Ta’ ala earlier, it was said: اللَّـهِ الَّذِي لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ (Allah, the One to whom be-longs what is in the heavens and what is in the earth). In other words, Allah is that particular Being who is the Creator of everything in the heavens and the earth and He is the absolute Sovereign having no partners or associates.

Said in the concluding sentence of verse 2 was: وَوَيْلٌ لِّلْكَافِرِ‌ينَ مِنْ عَذَابٍ شَدِيدٍ (Woe is to the disbelievers from a severe punishment). The word: وَيْلٌ (waiyl : woe to) is used in the sense of severe punishment and fatal consequence. The verse means that those who dismiss and deny this blessing of the Qur’ an, and prefer to go on living in a multiplicity of darkness, should know that there is for them the darkest of destruction, and the severe punishment which is about to visit them.

The Meaning in Summation

The gist of the verse is that the Qur'an has been revealed so that it rescues all human beings from darkness and brings them into the light of the way of Allah. But, certainly unfortunate are those who reject the Qur'an itself - they, by doing so, are bringing punishment on themselves with their own hands. So, those who deny from the very outset that the Qur’ an is the Divine Word, are the targets of this warning of punishment obviously. But, those who, despite their belief in the Holy Qur'an, have abandoned it in their practical life, in the sense that they never re-cite it, nor try to understand it, nor act upon its teachings, they too can-not be considered totally free and safe from becoming targets of this warning.

God is He to whom belongs everything in the heavens and everything in the earth. WāsiṬī said, “The realm of being all belongs to Him. When someone seeks the realm of being, He is the Being-Bestower. When someone seeks the Real, he will find that He has subjected the realm of being to him along with everything within it.” Whenever someone gives himself over to the Being-Bestower and his heart busies itself with His companionship, the engendered beings and the newly arrived things will busy themselves entirely with serving him. He is saying, “My servant, the seven heavens, the seven earths, and all that is within them are My property and kingdom. All are My servants and servitors. If you bind your waist in loyalty to My covenant and, like serving-boys, bring your head into the collar of obedience, We will put the ring of serving you in the ear of all things and subject them to you. If you turn your head away from the circle of the command or busy your heart with others, We will set them all on their feet in antagonism toward you and We will make your standing place your prison. One day Solomon the prophet, with his high level and rank, was sitting on the throne of the kingdom. The carpet of the realm was spread and the jinn, mankind, and birds were lined up in ranks. He placed the crown of messengerhood on the head of his prophethood, and it occurred to his mind that today no one surpassed David's son in rank and elevation. Immediately the wind was commanded to take away the mantle from his head. Solomon's face darkened and he said to the wind in his anger, “Return my mantle to me!” The wind answered, “'Return to your heart!' O Solomon, bring your heart back to yourself so that I may bring your mantle back to you.”