35:44 Faatir (The Originator)

يحض تعالى على السير في الأرض، في القلوب والأبدان، للاعتبار، لا لمجرد النظر والغفلة، وأن ينظروا إلى عاقبة الذين من قبلهم ممن كذبوا الرسل، وكانوا أكثر منهم أموالا وأولادا وأشد قوة، وعمروا الأرض أكثر مما عمرها هؤلاء، فلما جاءهم العذاب، لم تنفعهم قوتهم، ولم تغن عنهم أموالهم ولا أولادهم من اللّه شيئا، ونفذت فيهم قدرة اللّه ومشيئته.{ وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيُعْجِزَهُ مِنْ شَيْءٍ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَلَا فِي الْأَرْضِ } لكمال علمه وقدرته { إِنَّهُ كَانَ عَلِيمًا قَدِيرًا }

يقول تعالى قل يا محمد لهؤلاء المكذبين بما جئتهم به من الرسالة سيروا في الأرض فانظروا كيف كان عاقبة الذين كذبوا الرسل كيف دمر الله عليهم وللكافرين أمثالها فخلت منهم منازلهم وسلبوا ما كانوا فيه من النعيم بعد كمال القوة وكثرة العدد والعدة وكثرة الأموال والأولاد فما أغنى ذلك شيئا ولا دفع عنهم من عذاب الله من شيء لما جاء أمر ربك لأنه تعالى لا يعجزه شيء إذا أراد كونه في السموات والأرض "إنه كان عليما قديرا" أي عليم بجميع الكائنات قدير على مجموعها.

Remember the Bad Consequences of disbelieving in the Prophets

Allah says: `say, O Muhammad, to these people who disbelieve the Message you have brought: travel in the land and see what was the punishment of those who disbelieved the Messengers, how Allah destroyed them completely, and a similar (end awaits) the disbelievers. See how their homes were emptied of them and how they lost everything after living in luxury and being so numerous and so well equipped, and having so much wealth and so many children. All of that was of no avail to them and could not protect them in the slightest from the punishment of Allah when the command of the Lord came. Nothing is impossible for Him when He wants it to happen in the heavens or on earth.'

إِنَّهُ كَانَ عَلِيماً قَدِيراً

(Verily, He is All-Knowing, All-Able.) means, He knows all that exists and is able to do all things.

The Wisdom behind delaying the Punishment Then Allah says:

وَلَوْ يُؤَاخِذُ اللَّهُ النَّاسَ بِمَا كَسَبُواْ مَا تَرَكَ عَلَى ظَهْرِهَا مِن دَآبَّةٍ

(And if Allah were to punish men for that which they earned, He would not leave a moving creature on the surface of the earth;) meaning, if He were to punish them for all of their sins, He would destroy all the people of the earth and all that they own of livestock and crops. Sa`id bin Jubayr and As-Suddi commented on the Ayah:

مَا تَرَكَ عَلَى ظَهْرِهَا مِن دَآبَّةٍ

(He would not leave a moving creature on the surface of the earth;) "This means, He would have stopped sending rain to them, and all the animals would have died as a result."

وَلكِن يُؤَخِّرُهُمْ إلَى أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى

(but He gives them respite to an appointed term,) means, but He is delaying until the Day of Resurrection, when He will bring them to account and will reward or punish each one according to his deeds: He will reward those who obeyed Him and will punish those who disobeyed Him. He says:

فَإِذَا جَآءَ أَجَلُهُمْ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ بِعِبَادِهِ بَصِيراً

(and when their term comes, then verily, Allah is Ever All-Seer of His servants.) This is the end of the Tafsir of Surah Fatir. All praise and gratitude is due to Allah.

Have they not travelled in the land and seen the nature of the consequence for those who were before them — and they were mightier than these in power? but still God destroyed them for their denial of the messengers. And God is not such that anything in the heavens or in the earth can escape Him pre-empt Him or elude Him. Truly He is ever Knower of all things Omnipotent.

Commentary

The word: لَا يَحِيقُ (la yahiq) in verse 43: وَلَا يَحِيقُ الْمَكْرُ‌ السَّيِّئُ إِلَّا بِأَهْلِهِ (And the evil plot envelops none but its own people ( who make it) carries the sense of: لَا یُحِیطُ (la yuhit: does not surround) or: لَا یُصیبُ (la usib: does not afflict). Thus, it comes to mean that the curse of making an evil plan falls on none but the one who makes it. In other words, a person who wishes evil for others, he himself falls a victim to it.

A doubt may arise at this point. It is commonly seen in this worldly life that someone with an evil plan gets away with it and the loss intended for anyone stands inflicted on him. The answer to this has been given by Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanavi (رح) by saying that the pain or loss inflicted on such a person was a loss limited to this mortal world, while the loss to be the fate of the maker of such evil plan in the Hereafter was not only heavier, but was more lasting too. So, if compared, his worldly loss amounts to nothing.

There is another answer given by some elders who say that there are occasions when the curse of contriving against someone innocent or inflicting injustice on him, more than often, falls on the person causing it, right here in this world as well. Muhammad Ibn Ka` b al-Qurazi said: There are three things the doer of which does not remain safe against its curse and punishment even in this world. These are: (1) Causing harm or pain to some innocent person by engineering evil against him. (2) Inflicting any injustice. (3) Breaking of pledge. (Ibn Kathir) Particularly so, when things like that are done against a person who is helpless or does not have the power to avenge or elects to endure despite having that power. Experience bears out that no one who does things like that has ever remained unaffected by the curse of injustice thus inflicted even in this world. Hence, the outcome will be that the element of restriction (Hasr) visible here appears in terms of a majority rule and not in any absolute sense. Allah knows best.

Alhamdulillah

The Commentary on

Surah Fatir

Ends here