16:2 An-Nahl (The Bee)

تفسير الآيتين 1و 2:ـ يقول تعالى -مقربا لما وعد به محققا لوقوعه- { أَتَى أَمْرُ اللَّهِ فَلَا تَسْتَعْجِلُوهُ } فإنه آت، وما هو آت، فإنه قريب، { سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ } من نسبة الشريك والولد والصاحبة والكفء وغير ذلك مما نسبه إليه المشركون مما لا يليق بجلاله، أو ينافي كماله، ولما نزه نفسه عما وصفه به أعداؤه ذكر الوحي الذي ينزله على أنبيائه، مما يجب اتباعه في ذكر ما ينسب لله، من صفات الكمال فقال: { يُنَزِّلُ الْمَلَائِكَةَ بِالرُّوحِ مِنْ أَمْرِهِ } أي: بالوحي الذي به حياة الأرواح { عَلَى مَنْ يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ } ممن يعلمه صالحا، لتحمل رسالته.وزبدة دعوة الرسل كلهم ومدارها على قوله: { أَنْ أَنْذِرُوا أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنَا فاتقون } أي: على معرفة الله تعالى وتوحده في صفات العظمة التي هي صفات الألوهية وعبادته وحده لا شريك له فهي التي أنزل الله بها كتبه وأرسل رسله، وجعل الشرائع كلها تدعو إليها، وتحث وتجاهد من حاربها وقام بضدها

يقول تعالى "ينزل الملائكة بالروح" أي الوحي كقوله "وكذلك أوحينا إليك روحا من أمرنا ما كنت تدري ما الكتاب ولا الإيمان ولكن جعلناه نورا نهدي به من نشاء من عبادنا" وقوله "على من يشاء من عباده" وهم الأنبياء كما قال تعالى "الله أعلم حيث يجعل رسالته" وقال "الله يصطفي من الملائكة رسلا ومن الناس" وقال "يلقي الروح من أمره على من يشاء من عباده لينذر يوم التلاق يوم هم بارزون لا يخفى على الله منهم شيء لمن الملك اليوم لله الواحد القهار" وقوله "أن أنذروا" أي لينذروا "أنه لا إله إلا أنا فاتقون" أي فاتقوا عقوبتي لمن خالف أمري وعبد غيري.

Allah sends Whomever He wills with the Message of Tawhid

يُنَزِّلُ الْمَلَـئِكَةَ بِالْرُّوحِ

(He sends down the angels with the Ruh) refers to the revelation. This is like the Ayat:

وَكَذَلِكَ أَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَيْكَ رُوحاً مِّنْ أَمْرِنَا مَا كُنتَ تَدْرِى مَا الْكِتَـبُ وَلاَ الإِيمَـنُ وَلَـكِن جَعَلْنَـهُ نُوراً نَّهْدِى بِهِ مَن نَّشَآءُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا

(And thus We have sent to you a Ruh (revelation) by Our command. You knew not what is the Book, nor what is the faith. But We have made it a light by which We guide whomever We will among Our servants.) 43:52

عَلَى مَن يَشَآءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ

(to those servants of His whom He wills) meaning the Prophets, as Allah says:

اللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ حَيْثُ يَجْعَلُ رِسَالَتَهُ

(Allah best knows where to place His Message.) 6:124

اللَّهُ يَصْطَفِى مِنَ الْمَلَـئِكَةِ رُسُلاً وَمِنَ النَّاسِ

(Allah chooses Messengers from angels and from men.) 22:75

رَفِيعُ الدَّرَجَـتِ ذُو الْعَرْشِ يُلْقِى الرُّوحَ مِنْ أَمْرِهِ عَلَى مَن يَشَآءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ لِيُنذِرَ يَوْمَ التَّلاَقِ - يَوْمَ هُم بَـرِزُونَ لاَ يَخْفَى عَلَى اللَّهِ مِنْهُمْ شَىْءٌ لِّمَنِ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ لِلَّهِ الْوَحِدِ الْقَهَّارِ

(He sends the Ruh (revelation) by His command to whoever among His servants He wills to, that he may warn of the Day of Meeting. The Day when they will (all) come out, nothing about them will be hidden from Allah. Whose is the kingdom this Day: It is Allah's, the One, the Irresistible!) (40:15-16)

أَنْ أَنْذِرُواْ

((saying): "Warn...") meaning that they should alert them.

أَنَّهُ لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَ أَنَاْ فَاتَّقُونِ

(that none has the right to be worshipped but I, so have Taqwa of Me.) means, `fear My punishment, if you go against My commands and worship anything other than Me.'

He sends down the angels namely Gabriel with the Spirit with the Revelation of His command by His will to whomever He will of His servants and these are the prophets saying that an is explicative Warn threaten the disbelievers with chastisement and make them aware that there is no God save Me so fear Me fear Me.

The Name of the Surah

This Surah has been called Al-Nahl, that is, the honey bee because it mentions it as a unique Divine marvel. Another name for this Surah is Surah Al-Ni` am. (Qurtubi) The word Ni'am is the plural of Ni'mah (blessing) because the great blessings of Allah Ta’ ala have been particularly mentioned in this Surah.

Commentary

The Surah begins without any particular introduction with a direct, stern and awesome note of warning. The reason behind it was the saying of the polytheists that Muhammad (al-Mustafa ﷺ) keeps warning them of the day of Qiyamah and the punishment of Allah and telling them that Allah Ta’ ala has promised victory for him and punishment for his opponents. All this, they challenged, they do not see coming upon them. In reply, it was said: أَتَىٰ أَمْرُ‌ اللَّـهِ فَلَا تَسْتَعْجِلُوهُ (The command of Allah is bound to come. So, do not ask for it to come sooner - 1).

Here, the expression: أَمْرُ‌ اللَّـهِ (amrullah : the command of Allah) means the promise Allah has made to His Rasul - that his enemies will be made to surrender, and that Muslims will be blessed with victory and honour. In this verse, it is in a distinctly awesome tone that Allah Ta’ ala has said: أَتَىٰ أَمْرُ‌ اللَّـهِ (ata amrullah: translated here as 'the command of Allah is bound to come' ). Literally (the nuance of the original expression remaining untranslatable), the sense is that issued is the command of Allah, that is, it is bound to come which you will soon see.

Some commentators say that 'the command of Allah' here means the day of Qiyamah. The sense of its being 'bound to come' is that it is going to come soon. And if we were to look at it in the frame of the life of the entire world itself, its being close, or its actual coming does not remain much distant. (Al-Bahr Al-Muhit)

As for the second sentence in the first verse where it is said that Allah Ta’ ala is free of Shirk (the ascribing of partners to Him), it means that the act of these people who are belying the promise of Allah Ta’ ala is itself an act of Kufr (infidelity) and Shirk. Allah Ta’ ala is absolutely free from it. (Al-Bahr Al-Muhit)

The essential message of the first verse is to call people to believe in the Oneness of Allah (Tauhid) through a stern warning. The second verse carries an affirmation of Tauhid through a reported proof, the substance of which is that every Rasul or messenger of Allah, from Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) to the Last of the Prophets ﷺ ، who has come in different parts of the world at different times, has but preached this belief in the Oneness of Allah - though, none of them knew anything about the life and work of each other because of obvious causes. Just imagine if at least one hundred and twenty thousand blessed wise men who are born in different ages, countries and regions, and believe in and adhere to one single principle, then, one is naturally compelled to accept that their saying so cannot be false. In order to have faith, this single proof is sufficient.

The word: رُوح (ruh: spirit) as used in this verse, according to Sayyidna ibn ` Abbas ؓ ، means Wahy (revelation); and according to some commentators, it means Hidayah (guidance). (Al-Bahr Al-Muhit) After having presented the reported proof of Tauhid in the second verse, the same belief has been proved rationally by turning the focus on the blessings of Allah Ta` ala as it follows next in verses 3-8.

He sends down the angels with the spirit from His command upon whomsoever He will of His servants: “Give warning that there is no god but I, so be wary of Me.” The reality of the spirit is that within which is the life of the heart and the life of the religion. It is the beauty of the Qur'an's exaltedness, which reached MuṣṬafā from the Divine Presence with the attribute of the message by the emissary Gabriel. Give warning that there is no god but I, so be wary of Me: “Report to My servants that I am the One Lord, I am without peer in attributes, I am separate from anything's resemblance to Me, and I am loyal to My assurances. Whenever someone says these words bearing witness and places the seal of tawḤīd on his heart, he has entered into the pavilion of the submission's exaltedness.” But you should know that this pavilion of the submission is set up only on the plain of god- wariness, for He says, “There is no god but I, so be wary of Me.” The reality of godwariness is the heart's purity of everything other than the Real. Just as submission is obligatory for the world's creatures, so also godwariness is obligatory. When the foundation of the religion was put down, it was put down on godwariness, for everyone who be- came a possessor of friendship became so through godwariness. “Surely His friends are only the godwary” [8:34]. Tomorrow the friendship of the next world will be assigned to those who are called godwary: “The outcome belongs to the godwary” [7:128]. The first condition of godwariness is that you be the guardian of your own heart and do three things: You do not give yourself over to wishing, you avoid everything that is not approved, and you not be heedless of the Real for one moment. On the day when Abū Bakr was buying Bilāl, Bilāl said, “O chief of the sincerely truthful! If you are buying Bilāl for the sake of the business of this world, do not buy him. He can perform no service that you will approve, for Bilāl has dedicated himself to the business of the afterworld.” God's mercy be upon those chevaliers who do not turn away from serving the Real to serving the creatures! Every single part of each of them is busy with service, and all their moments are im- mersed in observing the rightful dues of the Real. None of their parts is free to serve the creatures, none of their moments is wasted in antagonism toward the creatures. A great man was asked, “Do you love God?” He said, “I do.” He was asked, “Do you hate his enemy Iblis?” He said, “I am too busy with love for the Real to occupy myself with enmity toward someone else.”