14:34 Ibrahim (Abraham)

{ وَآتَاكُمْ مِنْ كُلِّ مَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُ } أي: أعطاكم من كل ما تعلقت به أمانيكم وحاجتكم مما تسألونه إياه بلسان الحال، أو بلسان المقال، من أنعام، وآلات، وصناعات وغير ذلك. { وَإِنْ تَعُدُّوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَا } فضلا عن قيامكم بشكرها { إِنَّ الْإِنْسَانَ لَظَلُومٌ كَفَّارٌ } أي: هذه طبيعة الإنسان من حيث هو ظالم متجرئ على المعاصي مقصر في حقوق ربه كفَّار لنعم الله، لا يشكرها ولا يعترف بها إلا من هداه الله فشكر نعمه، وعرف حق ربه وقام به. ففي هذه الآيات من أصناف نعم الله على العباد شيء عظيم، مجمل ومفصل يدعو الله به العباد إلى القيام بشكره، وذكره ويحثهم على ذلك، ويرغبهم في سؤاله ودعائه، آناء الليل والنهار، كما أن نعمه تتكرر عليهم في جميع الأوقات.

وقوله" وآتاكم من كل ما سألتموه " يقول هيأ لكم كل ما تحتاجون إليه في جميع أحوالكم مما تسألونه بحالكم وقال بعض السلف من كل ما سألتموه وما لم تسألوه وقرأ بعضهم " وآتاكم من كل ما سألتموه وما لم تسألوه" وقوله " وإن تعدوا نعمة الله لا تحصوها " يخبر تعالى عن عجز العباد عن تعداد النعم فضلا عن القيام بشكرها كما قال طلق بن حبيب رحمه الله: إن حق الله أثقل من أن يقوم به العباد وإن نعم الله أكثر من أن يحصيها العباد ولكن أصبحوا تائبين وأمسوا تائبين وفي صحيح البخاري أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كان يقول " اللهم لك الحمد غير مكفى ولا مودع ولا مستغنى عنه ربنا " وقال الحافظ أبو بكر البزار في مسنده حدثنا إسماعيل بن أبي الحارث حدثنا داود بن المجبر حدثنا صالح المري عن جعفر بن زيد العبدي عن أنس عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال " يخرج لابن آدم يوم القيامة ثلاثة دواوين: ديوان فيه العمل الصالح وديوان فيه ذنوبه وديوان فيه النعم من الله تعالى عليه فيقول الله تعالى لأصغر نعمه - أحسبه قال - في ديوان النعم خذي ثمنك من عمله الصالح فتستوعب عمله الصالح كله ثم تنحى وتقول: وعزتك ما استوفيت وتبقى الذنوب والنعم فإذا أراد الله أن يرحمه قال يا عبدي قد ضاعفت لك حسناتك وتجاوزت لك عن سيئاتك -أحسبه قال - ووهبت لك نعمي " غريب وسنده ضعيف وقد روي في الأثر أن داود عليه السلام قال يا رب كيف أشكرك وشكري لك نعمة منك علي ؟ فقال الله تعالى الآن شكرتني يا داود أي حين اعترفت بالتقصير عن أداء شكر المنعم ; وقال الإمام الشافعي رحمه الله: الحمد لله الذي لا تؤدى شكر نعمة من نعمه إلا بنعمة حادثة توجب على مؤديها شكره بها وقال القائل في ذلك: لو كل جارحة مني لها لغــــة تثني عليك بما أوليت من حسن لكان ما زاد شكري إذ شكرت به إليك أبلغ في الإحسان والمنن

Describing Some of Allah's Tremendous Favors

Allah mentions some of the favors He has done for His creatures, such as creating the heavens as a protective ceiling and the earth as a bed. He also sends down rain from the sky and, in its aftermath brings forth a variety of vegetation, fruits and plants of different colors, shapes, tastes, scents and uses. Allah also made the ships sail on the surface of the water by His command and He made the sea able to carry these ships in order that travelers can transfer from one area to another to transport goods. Allah also created the rivers that flow through the earth from one area to another as provision for the servants which they use to drink and irrigate, and for other benefits,

وَسَخَّر لَكُمُ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ دَآئِبَينَ

(And He has made the sun and the moon, both constantly pursuing their courses), rotating by night and by day,

لاَ الشَّمْسُ يَنبَغِى لَهَآ أَن تدْرِكَ القَمَرَ وَلاَ الَّيْلُ سَابِقُ النَّهَارِ وَكُلٌّ فِى فَلَكٍ يَسْبَحُونَ

(It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor does the night outstrip the day. They all float, each in an orbit.)36:40 and,

يُغْشِى الَّيْلَ النَّهَارَ يَطْلُبُهُ حَثِيثًا وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ وَالنُّجُومَ مُسَخَّرَتٍ بِأَمْرِهِ أَلاَ لَهُ الْخَلْقُ وَالاٌّمْرُ تَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ رَبُّ الْعَـلَمِينَ

(He brings the night as a cover over the day, seeking it rapidly, and (He created) the sun, the moon, the stars subjected to His command. His is the creation and commandment. Blessed is Allah, the Lord of all that exists!) 7:54 The sun and the moon rotate in succession, and the night and the day are opposites, each taking from the length of the other or giving up some of its length,

يُولِجُ الَّيْلَ فِى النَّهَارِ وَيُولِجُ النَّهَارَ فِى الَّيْلِ

((Allah ) merges the night into day, and merges the day into night.) 35:13 and,

وَسَخَّـرَ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ كُـلٌّ يَجْرِى لاًّجَـلٍ مُّسَـمًّى أَلا هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْغَفَّارُ

(And He has subjected the sun and the moon. Each running (on a fixed course) for an appointed term. Verily, He is the Almighty, the Oft-Forgiving.) 39:5 Allah said next,

وَآتَاكُم مِّن كُلِّ مَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُ

(And He gave you of all that you asked for), He has prepared for you all that you need in all conditions, and what you ask Him to provide for you,

وَإِن تَعُدُّواْ نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ لاَ تُحْصُوهَا

(and if you try to count the blessings of Allah, never will you be able to count them.) Allah states that the servants are never able to count His blessings, let alone thank Him duly for them. In Sahih Al-Bukhari it is recorded that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to supplicate;

«اللَّهُمَّ لَكَ الْحَمْدُ غَيْرَ مَكْفِيَ وَلَا مُوَدَّعٍ وَلَا مُسْتَغْنًى عَنْهُ رَبَّنَا»

(O Allah ! All praise is due to You, without being able to sufficiently thank You, nor ever wish to be cutoff from You, nor ever feeling rich from relying on You; our Lord!) It was reported that Prophet Dawud, peace be upon him, used to say in his supplication, "O Lord! How can I ever duly thank You, when my thanking You is also a favor from You to me" Allah the Exalted answered him, "Now, you have thanked Me sufficiently, O Dawud," meaning, `when you admitted that you will never be able to duly thank Me.'

And He gives you of all that you ask of Him according to your individual best interests. And if you were to enumerate God’s graces meaning His bestowal of graces you could never number it you would not be able to count it. Lo! man the disbelieving man is verily a wrong-doer and unthankful! ever wronging his own soul through acts of disobedience and ungratefulness towards God’s grace.

Then, in the first sentence of verse 34, it was said: وَآتَاكُم مِّن كُلِّ مَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُ (And He gave you whatever you asked for) - though, what Allah Tad is pleased to give does not depend on being asked by someone for, the truth of the matter is, that we had never asked for our existence itself. This is what He gave to us in His infinite grace without the asking.

Similarly, who had raised hands of prayer that the skies, the earth, the moon, the sun and so many things other than them be created for us? The Master just gave all this to us without our asking for them. Therefore, Al-Qadi Al-Baydawi has explained the meaning of this statement by saying: 'Allah Ta’ ala given you everything which is worth asking for, even if you have not actually asked for it'. But, should it be that the meaning intended here is what the words literally suggest, still then, it poses no problem - for what man generally asks for is usually given to him anyway. However, wherever that which he asks for is not given to him in the outward form it was sought, then, in that there is some expedient consideration for the person asking or for the rest of the world, something he does not know about. But, He who is All-Knowing and All-Aware, He knows that, should that which he is asking for were to be given to him, it would become for him or for his family or for the whole world - a curse. In a situation like this, not giving what has been asked for becomes, in itself, a great blessing. But man, because of his lack of knowledge, cannot realize that, therefore, he feels disappointed.

In the next sentence of verse 34, it was said: وَإِن تَعُدُّوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّـهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَا (And if you count the bounties of Allah, you cannot count them all) that is, even if all human beings combined together were to count them, they would still remain uncountable. A human being is, as is, a little world, per se. In his or her eyes, nose, ears, hands, feet and in every joint, rather in every muscle and vein, hidden there are endless blessings through which this wonderful walking plant pulsating with hundreds of very delicate micro-machines keeps busy doing all sorts of things. Then, we have the mind-boggling range of Divine creations, up, on and down our earth, in seas and mountains which, despite the revealing research done in modern times and despite the devotion of thousands of experts who have spent their lives trying to determine such life forms, still remain undocumented or unidentified. Then, there is our own concept of Divine blessings whereby we tend to take things which are generally considered as blessings in a positive and perceptible way. In fact, blessings are not re-stricted by such a definition. If we remain safe from diseases, hardships, pain, loss and sorrows, that is a standing blessing in its own right. A person may suffer from so many diseases or discomforts of body and soul in this life and he or she could hardly be expected to keep a count of all that. From this we can guess that it is just impossible for anyone to count out the full array of the blessings, bounties and favours of Allah Ta` ala.

Justice demanded that, in return for these countless blessings, equally countless acts of obedience to Allah and equally countless demonstrations of gratitude to Him should have been made mandatory. But, Allah Ta` ala, in His infinite grace, showed leniency towards intrinsic human weakness. The option granted was: When man looks at reality and con-fesses that fulfilling the demands of the obligatory gratitude is not within his control, then, this very confession has been declared to be sufficient as the alternate of the ideal fulfillment of the obligation of gratitude - as was said by Allah Ta’ ala when Sayyidna Dawud (علیہ السلام) made a similar confession: اَلاٰنَ قد شکرت یا داؤد which means that his making this confession is sufficient to show his gratefulness.

At the end of the verse (34), it was said:إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَظَلُومٌ كَفَّارٌ‌ (Surely, man is very unjust, very ungrateful). It means that he should face hardship with patience, keep his words and feelings free from any complaint thinking that the fate he faces has come from a wise Master and that too, being in His infinite Wisdom is nothing but a blessing, and when he is blessed with what is good and comforting, let him be thankful for it from his heart both verbally and practically - as is the dictate of justice. But, common human habit works differently from this norm. A little discomfort or pain would make them lose patience and go about broadcasting their problem. And if they find some blessing or a little wealth, they would get intoxicated with it and forget all about Allah Ta’ ala, their Benefactor. Therefore, in a verse appearing earlier (5), the attribute of sincere believers has been identified as Sabbar (very patient) and Shakur (very grateful).