29:19 Al-Ankaboot (The Spider)

{ أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا كَيْفَ يُبْدِئُ اللَّهُ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُ } يوم القيامة { إِنَّ ذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ } كما قال تعالى: { وَهُوَ الَّذِي يَبْدَأُ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُ وَهُوَ أَهْوَنُ عَلَيْهِ }

يقول تعالى مخبرا عن الخليل عليه السلام أنه أرشدهم إلى إثبات المعاد الذي ينكرونه بما يشاهدونه في أنفسهم من خلق الله إياهم بعد أن لم يكونوا شيئا مذكورا ثم وجدوا وصاروا أناسا سامعين مبصرين فالذي بدأ هذا قادر على إعادته فإنه سهل عليه يسير لديه ثم أرشدهم إلى الاعتبار بما في الآفاق من الآيات المشاهدة من خلق الله الأشياء: السموات وما فيها من الكواكب النيرة الثوابت والسيارات والأرضين وما فيها من مهاد وجبال وأودية وبراري وقفار و أشجار وأنهار وثمار وبحار كل ذلك دال على حدوثها في أنفسها وعلى وجود صانعها الفاعل المختار الذي يقول للشيء كن فيكون ولهذا قال: "أولم يروا كيف يبدىء الله الخلق ثم يعيده إن ذلك على الله يسير" كقوله تعالى: "وهو الذي يبدأ الخلق ثم يعيده وهو أهون عليه".

The Evidence for Life after Death

Allah tells us that Ibrahim, peace be upon him, showed them the proof of life after death, which they denied, in their souls. For Allah created them after they had been nothing at all, then they came into existence and became people who could hear and see. The One Who originated this is able to repeat it, it is very easy for Him. Then he taught them to contemplate the visible signs on the horizons and the things that Allah has created: the heavens with their stars and planets, moving and stationary, the earth with its plains and mountains, its valleys, deserts and wildernesses, trees and rivers, fruits and oceans. All of that indicates that these are themselves created things, and that there must be a Creator Who does as He chooses, Who merely says to a thing "Be!" and it is. Allah says:

أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْاْ كَيْفَ يُبْدِىءُ اللَّهُ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُ إِنَّ ذلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ

(See they not how Allah originates the creation, then repeats it. Verily, that is easy for Allah.) This is like the Ayah:

وَهُوَ الَّذِى يَبْدَأُ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُ وَهُوَ أَهْوَنُ عَلَيْهِ

(And He it is Who originates the creation, then He will repeat it; and this is easier for Him) (30:27). Then Allah says:

قُلْ سِيرُواْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ فَانظُرُواْ كَيْفَ بَدَأَ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ اللَّهُ يُنشِىءُ النَّشْأَةَ الاٌّخِرَةَ

(Say: "Travel in the land and see how He originated the creation, and then Allah will bring forth the creation of the Hereafter.") meaning, the Day of Resurrection.

إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

(Verily, Allah is able to do all things.)

يُعَذِّبُ مَن يَشَآءُ وَيَرْحَمُ مَن يَشَآءُ

(He punishes whom He wills, and shows mercy to whom He wills;) He is the Ruler Who is in control, Who does as He wishes and judges as He wants, and there is none who can put back His judgement. None can question Him about what He does; rather it is they who will be questioned, for His is the power to create and to command, and whatever He decides is fair and just, for He is the sovereign who cannot be unjust in the slightest. According to a Hadith recorded by the Sunan compilers:

«إِنَّ اللهَ لَوْ عَذَّبَ أَهْلَ سَمَاوَاتِهِ وَأَهْلَ أَرْضِهِ لَعَذَّبَهُمْ وَهُوَ غَيْرُ ظَالِم لَهُم»

(If Allah willed to punish the dwellers of His heavens and His earth, He would do so, while He would not be unjust to them.) Allah says:

يُعَذِّبُ مَن يَشَآءُ وَيَرْحَمُ مَن يَشَآءُ وَإِلَيْهِ تُقْلَبُونَ

(He punishes whom He wills, and shows mercy to whom He wills; and to Him you will be returned.) You will return to Him on the Day of Resurrection.

وَمَآ أَنتُمْ بِمُعْجِزِينَ فِى الاٌّرْضِ وَلاَ فِى السَّمَآءِ

(And you cannot escape on the earth or in the heaven. ) No one in heaven or on earth can flee from Him, for He is the Subduer Who is above His servants, and everything fears Him and is in need of Him, while He is the One Who is Independent of all else.

وَمَا لَكُمْ مِّن دُونِ اللَّهِ مِن وَلِىٍّ وَلاَ نَصِيرٍوَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ بِـَايَـتِ اللَّهِ وَلِقَآئِهِ

(And besides Allah you have neither any protector nor any helper. And those who disbelieve in the Ayat of Allah and the meeting with Him,) Those who disbelieved in the signs of Allah and denied the Resurrection,

أُوْلَـئِكَ يَئِسُواْ مِن رَّحْمَتِى

(such have no hope of My mercy) they will have no share in it,

وَأُوْلَـئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ

(and for such there is a painful torment.) meaning, extremely painful, in this world and the next.

Have they not seen yaraw or taraw ‘have you not seen?’ observed how God originates creation yubdi’u from 4th form abda’a; a variant reading has yabda‘u from 1st form bada’a both with the same meaning ‘He creates them originally’ then He restores it namely creation just as He originated them? Surely that which is mentioned of the first and the second acts of creation is easy for God so how can they deny the second one?

Commentary

The infidels of Makkah believed that it is Allah who has created the whole universe, but they deemed it impossible that the people will be resurrected after they once die. The present verses have described the fallacy of their view. It is stated that repeating the process of creation is much easier than its origination. It is strange that these infidels do believe that Allah has originated the creation, but they deny His power to do it again, while the latter is easier than the former. Then verse 20 has induced them to look around them to appreciate the splendors of the creation, so that they may apprehend that the One who has originated this marvelous creation can easily repeat the process. After establishing the Resurrection, the last three verses describe the punishment for those who deny it.

Have they not seen how God originates creation, then makes it return? In terms of the outwardness, originating creation and making it return are this world and the next world. In terms of the inwardness, these allude to the changing of the moments and the recurrence of states for the possessors of hearts. Sometimes they are in contraction, sometimes expansion, sometimes awe, sometimes intimacy. For a time absence dominates over them, for a time pres- ence; for a time intoxication, for a time sobriety; for a time subsistence, for a time annihilation. When the servant is in contraction and awe, he manifests servanthood by craving forgiveness and fearing punishment, just as the Exalted Lord said: “They were supplicating Us in eagerness and dread” [21:90]. Then, when he steps into the world of expansion, he sees the marks bearing witness to intimacy. He is freed from his own power and strength and disengaged from his own desires and aims. He lives in the opening of disengagement and his aspiration's goal and kiblah becomes desiring His face [6:52]. In this state his soul will be like what Shiblī said because of drunkenness and selflessness: “At the resurrection, everyone will have an antagonist, and I will be Adam's. Why did he make my road steep so that I was held back by the mud?” When he was in expansion he spoke like that, and when he was in contraction he used to say, “My abasement suspends the abasement of the Jews.” Once again he would be given over to expansion and intimacy such that he said, “Where are the heavens and the earths that I may carry them on one of my eyelashes?” This then is the meaning of the recurrence of the states alluded to by originating and making return. The proof text of this in the exalted Qur'an is His words, “You shall surely ride stage after stage” [84:19], that is, state after state. Part of the conduct and traveling of MuṣṬafā was that one day he would say, “I am the master of Adam's children.” Then in the state of contraction he would say, “I do not know what He will do with me or with you. Would that MuḤammad's Lord had not created MuḤammad!” Again, in the state of intimacy, he would say, “I am not like any of you-I spend the night at my Lord; He gives me to eat and drink.