35:39 Faatir (The Originator)

يخبر تعالى عن كمال حكمته ورحمته بعباده، أنه قدر بقضائه السابق، أن يجعل بعضهم يخلف بعضا في الأرض، ويرسل لكل أمة من الأمم النذر، فينظر كيف يعملون، فمن كفر باللّه وبما جاءت به رسله، فإن كفره عليه، وعليه إثمه وعقوبته، ولا يحمل عنه أحد، ولا يزداد الكافر بكفره إلا مقت ربه له وبغضه إياه، وأي: عقوبة أعظم من مقت الرب الكريم؟!{ وَلَا يَزِيدُ الْكَافِرِينَ كُفْرُهُمْ إِلَّا خَسَارًا } أي: يخسرون أنفسهم وأهليهم وأعمالهم ومنازلهم في الجنة، فالكافر لا يزال في زيادة من الشقاء والخسران، والخزي عند اللّه وعند خلقه والحرمان.

ثم قال عز وجل "هو الذي جعلكم خلائف في الأرض" أي يخلف قوم لآخرين قبلهم وجيل لجيل قبلهم. كما قال تعالى: "ويجعلكم خلفاء الأرض" "فمن كفر فعليه كفره" أي فإنما يعود وبال ذلك على نفسه دون غيره "ولا يزيد الكافرين كفرهم عند ربهم إلا مقتا" أي كلما استمروا على كفرهم أبغضهم الله تعالى وكلما استمروا فيه خسروا أنفسهم وأهليهم يوم القيامة بخلاف المؤمنين فإنهم كلما طال عمر أحدهم وحسن عمله ارتفعت درجته ومنزلته في الجنة وزاد أجره وأحبه خالقه وبارئه رب العالمين.

هُوَ الَّذِى جَعَلَكُمْ خَلَـئِفَ فِى الاٌّرْضِ

(He it is Who has made you successors generations after generations in the earth,) meaning, all people succeed one another, generation after generation. This is like the Ayah:

وَيَجْعَلُكُمْ حُلَفَآءَ الاٌّرْضِ

(and makes you inheritors of the earth, generations after generations) (27:62).

فَمَن كَفَرَ فَعَلَيْهِ كُفْرُهُ

(so whosoever disbelieves, on him will be his disbelief.) means, he and no one else will have to bear the consequences of that.

وَلاَ يَزِيدُ الْكَـفِرِينَ كُفْرُهُمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ إِلاَّ مَقْتاً

(And the disbelief of the disbelievers adds nothing but hatred of their Lord.) means, the longer they persist in their disbelief, the more Allah hates them, and the longer they persist in it, the more they and their families will lose on the Day of Resurrection. This is in contrast to the believers, for the longer they live and do good deeds, the higher their status in Paradise will be, the greater their reward, and the more beloved they will be to their Creator.

It is He Who made you successors in the earth khalā’if ‘successors’ is the plural of khalīfa in other words one succeeding the other. So whoever disbelieves of you his disbelief will be to his own detriment that is the evil consequences of his disbelief will be so. And their disbelief does not increase the disbelievers with their Lord in anything except disfavour wrath. And their disbelief does not increase the disbelievers in anything except loss of the reward of the Hereafter.

Commentary

The word: خَلَائِفَ (khala'if) in verse 39: هُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَكُمْ خَلَائِفَ فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ (He is the One who has made you successors (of the past generations) in the earth.) is the plural of: خَلِیفَہ (khalifah) which means deputy or vice-regent. The general sense is that Allah Ta’ ala has let human beings have lands and houses that keep passing on from one to the other. In this phenomena, there is a great lesson - turn to Allah. Then, the statement could also be taken to have been addressed to the ummah of the Holy Prophet t saying, 'After past communities, We made you take their place with authority to make life better around you, so it is your duty that you learn your lesson from what happened to people earlier than you, and hence you, on your part, do not while away precious moments of your life in negligence.