16:15 An-Nahl (The Bee)

تفسير الآيتين 15 و 16 :ـ أي: { وَأَلْقَى } الله تعالى لأجل عباده { فِي الْأَرْضِ رَوَاسِيَ } وهي: الجبال العظام لئلا تميد بهم وتضطرب بالخلق فيتمكنون من حرث الأرض والبناء والسير عليها، ومن رحمته تعالى أن جعل فيها أنهارا، يسوقها من أرض بعيدة إلى أرض مضطرة إليها لسقيهم وسقي مواشيهم وحروثهم، أنهارا على وجه الأرض، وأنهارا في بطنها يستخرجونها بحفرها، حتى يصلوا إليها فيستخرجونها بما سخر الله لهم من الدوالي والآلات ونحوها، ومن رحمته أن جعل في الأرض سبلا، أي: طرقا توصل إلى الديار المتنائية { لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ } السبيل إليها حتى إنك تجد أرضا مشتبكة بالجبال مسلسلة فيها وقد جعل الله فيما بينها منافذ ومسالك للسالكين.

ثم ذكر تعالى الأرض وما ألقى فيها من الرواسي الشامخات والجبال الراسيات لتقر الأرض ولا تميد أي تضطرب بما عليها من الحيوانات فلا يهنأ لهم عيش بسبب ذلك ولهذا قال "والجبال أرساها" وقال عبدالرزاق: أنبأنا معمر عن قتادة سمعت الحسن يقول: لما خلقت الأرض كانت تميد فقالوا ما هذه بمقرة على ظهرها أحدا فأصبحوا وقد خلقت الجبال فلم تدر الملائكة مم خلقت الجبال" وقال سعيد عن قتادة عن الحسن عن قيس بن عبادة أن الله لما خلق الأرض جعلت تمور فقالت الملائكة: ما هذه بمقرة على ظهرها أحدا فأصبحت صبحا وفيها رواسيها. وقال ابن جرير: حدثني المثنى حدثني حجاج بن منهال حدثنا حماد عن عطاء بن السائب عن عبدالله بن حبيب عن علي بن أبي طالب رضي الله عنه قال لما خلق الله الأرض فمضت وقالت أي رب تجعل علي بني آدم يعملون الخطايا ويجعلون علي الخبث؟ قال فأرسى الله فيها من الجبال ما ترون وما لا ترون فكان إقرارها كاللحم يترجرج. وقوله "وأنهارا وسبلا" أي جعل فيها أنهارا تجري من مكان إلى مكان آخر رزقا للعباد ينبع في موضع وهو رزق لأهل موضع آخر فيقطع البقاع والبراري والقفار ويخترق الجبال والآكام فيصل إلى البلد الذي سخر لأهله وهي سائرة في الأرض يمنة ويسرة وجنوبا وشمالا وشرقا وغربا ما بين صغار وكبار وأودية تجري حينا وتنقطع في وقت وما بين نبع وجميع وقوي السير وبطئه بحسب ما أراد وقدر وسخر ويسر فلا إله إلا هو ولا رب سواه. وكذلك جعل فيها سبلا أي طرقا يسلك فيها من بلاد إلى بلاد حتى أنه تعالى ليقطع الجبل حتى يكون ما بينهما ممرا ومسلكا كما قال تعالى "وجعلنا فيها فجاجا سبلا" الآية.

Signs in the Oceans, Mountains, Rivers, Roads and Stars

Allah tells us how He has subjected the seas, with their waves lapping the shores, and how He blesses His servants by subjecting the seas for them so that they may travel on them, and by putting fish and whales in them, by making their flesh permissible to eat - whether they are caught alive or dead - at all times, including when people are in a state of Ihram. He has created pearls and precious jewels in the oceans, and made it easy for His servants to recover ornaments that they can wear from the ocean floor. He made the sea such that it carries the ships which plow through it. He is the One Who taught mankind to make ships, which is the inheritance of their forefather Nuh. He was the first one to travel by ship, he was taught how to make them, then people took this knowledge from him and passed it down from generation to generation through the centuries, so that they could travel from country to country and from place to place, bringing goods from here to there and from there to here. Thus Allah says:

وَلِتَبْتَغُواْ مِن فَضْلِهِ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ

(that you may seek from His bounty and that you may perhaps be grateful.) - for His bounty and blessings. Then Allah mentions the earth and how He placed in it mountains standing firm, which make it stable and keep it from shaking in such a manner that the creatures dwelling on it would not be able to live. Hence Allah says,

وَالْجِبَالَ أَرْسَـهَا

(And the mountains He has fixed firmly.) (79: 32).

وَأَنْهَـراً وَسُبُلاً

(and rivers and roads) meaning He has made rivers which flow from one place to another, bringing provision for His servants. The rivers arise in one place, and bring provision to people living in another place. They flow through lands and fields and wildernesses, through mountains and hills, until they reach the land whose people they are meant to benefit. They meander across the land, left and right, north and south, east and west - rivers great and small - flowing sometimes and ceasing sometimes, flowing from their sources to the places where the water gathers, flowing rapidly or moving slowly, as decreed by Allah. There is no god besides Him and no Lord except Him. He also made roads or routes along which people travel from one land or city to another, and He even made gaps in the mountains so that there would be routes between them, as He says:

وَجَعَلْنَا فِيهَا فِجَاجاً سُبُلاً

(And We placed broad highways for them to pass through.) 21:31

وَعَلامَـتٍ

(And landmarks) meaning, signs like great mountains and small hills, and so on, things that land and sea travelers use to find their way if they get lost.

وَبِالنَّجْمِ هُمْ يَهْتَدُونَ

(and by the stars (during the night), they (mankind) guide themselves.) meaning, in the darkness of the night. This was the opinion of Ibn `Abbas.

Worship is Allah's Right

Then Allah tells us of His greatness, and that worship should be directed to Him alone, not to any of the idols which do not create but are rather themselves created. Thus He says

أَفَمَن يَخْلُقُ كَمَن لاَّ يَخْلُقُ أَفَلا تَذَكَّرُونَ

(Is then He, Who creates, the same as one who does not create Will you not then reflect)(16:17). Then He shows His servants some of the many blessings He granted for them, and the many kinds of things that He has done for them. He says;

وَإِن تَعُدُّواْ نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ لاَ تُحْصُوهَآ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَغَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

(And if you would try to count the favors of Allah, you would never be able to count them. Truly, Allah is Forgiving, Most Merciful.) (16:18) meaning that He pardons and forgives them. If He were to ask you to thank Him for all of His blessings, you would not be able to do so, and if He were to command you to do so, you would be incapable of it. If He punishes you, He is never unjust in His punishment, but He is Forgiving and Most Merciful, He forgives much and rewards for little. Ibn Jarir said: "It means that Allah is Forgiving when you fail to thank Him properly, if you repent and turn to Him in obedience, and strive to do that which pleases Him. He is Merciful to you and does not punish you if you turn to Him and repent."

And He cast into the earth firm mountains lest it should shake move with you and He made therein rivers such as the Nile and ways roads so that you might be guided to your destinations

In Verse 16, it was said: وَأَلْقَىٰ فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ رَ‌وَاسِيَ أَن تَمِيدَ بِكُمْ (And He placed mountains on the earth, lest it should shake with you). The word: رَ‌وَاسِيَ (rawasiya) is the plural of رَاسیۃ (rasiyah) which denotes a huge mountain. The word: تَمِیدَ (tamida) is a derivation from the verbal noun: مِيدَ (mayd) which means to shake or swing or sway from side to side (due to loss of balance).

The sense of the verse is that Allah Ta’ ala has not made the sphere of the Earth from components which are not solid and balanced, therefore, it is heavier on one side and lighter on some other. Its necessary outcome was that the Earth was to be taken as stationary, as commonly held by early thinkers; or, taken to be orbitally moving, as determined by some early and most modern scientists. Under both these views, this phenomenon would have caused terrestrial turbulence which is identified as shaking, swinging or swaying from side to side. To stop this turbulence and to provide a balance for the terrestrial composition, Allah Ta` ala placed on the Earth the weight of mountains so that it would not shake. As for its orbital movement like all planets which is the commonly held view from Pythagoras to modern scientists made more explicit through contemporary experiments, it is something which the Holy Qur’ an neither affirms nor rejects. In fact, this possible turbulence which has been stopped through the use of mountains should be more conducive to this orbital movement which is credited to the Earth like other planets. Allah knows best.