39:5 Az-Zumar (The Groups)

يخبر تعالى أنه { خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ } أي: بالحكمة والمصلحة، وليأمر العباد وينهاهم، ويثيبهم ويعاقبهم.{ يُكَوِّرُ اللَّيْلَ عَلَى النَّهَارِ وَيُكَوِّرُ النَّهَارَ عَلَى اللَّيْلِ } أي: يدخل كلا منهما على الآخر، ويحله محله، فلا يجتمع هذا وهذا، بل إذا أتى أحدهما انعزل الآخر عن سلطانه.{ وَسَخَّرَ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ } بتسخير منظم، وسير مقنن. { كُلٌّ } من الشمس والقمر { يَجْرِي } متأثرا عن تسخيره تعالى { لِأَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى } وهو انقضاء هذه الدار وخرابها، فيخرب اللّه آلاتها وشمسها وقمرها، وينشئ الخلق نشأة جديدة ليستقروا في دار القرار، الجنة أو النار.{ أَلَا هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ } الذي لا يغالب، القاهر لكل شيء، الذي لا يستعصي عليه شيء، الذي من عزته ببأوجد هذه المخلوقات العظيمة، وسخرها تجري بأمره. { الْغَفَّارُ } لذنوب عباده التوابين المؤمنين، كما قال تعالى: { وَإِنِّي لَغَفَّارٌ لِمَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا ثُمَّ اهْتَدَى } الغفار لمن أشرك به بعد ما رأى من آياته العظيمة، ثم تاب وأناب.

يخبر تعالى أنه الخالق لما في السموات والأرض وما بين ذلك من الأشياء وبأنه مالك الملك المتصرف فيه يقلب ليله ونهاره "يكور الليل على النهار ويكور النهار على الليل" أي سخرهما يجريان متعاقبين لا يفتران كل منهما يطلب الآخر طلبا حثيثا كقوله تبارك وتعالى "يغشى الليل النهار يطلبه حثيثا" هذا معنى ما روي عن ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما ومجاهد وقتادة والسدي وغيرهم. وقوله عز وجل "وسخر الشمس والقمر كل يجري لأجل مسمى" أي إلى مدة معلومة عند الله تعالى ثم ينقضي يوم القيامة "ألا هو العزيز الغفار" أي مع عزته وعظمته وكبريائه هو غفار لمن عصاه ثم تاب وأناب إليه.

Evidence of the Power and Oneness of Allah

Allah tells us that He is the Creator of what is in the heavens and on earth, and what is between them. He is the Sovereign and Controller alternating the night and day.

يُكَوِّرُ الَّيْـلَ عَلَى النَّهَـارِ وَيُكَوِّرُ النَّـهَارَ عَلَى الَّيْلِ

(He makes the night to go in the day and makes the day to go in the night.) means, He has subjugated them and He causes them to alternate without ceasing, each seeking the other rapidly, as He says:

يُغْشِى الَّيْلَ النَّهَارَ يَطْلُبُهُ حَثِيثًا

(He brings the night as a cover over the day, seeking it rapidly) (7:54). This is the meaning of that which was narrated from Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, Mujahid, Qatadah, As-Suddi and others.

وَسَخَّرَ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ كُلٌّ يَجْرِى لأَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّـى

(And He has subjected the sun and the moon. Each running for an appointed term.) means, for a period of time that is known to Allah, then it will come to an end on the Day of Resurrection.

أَلا هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْغَفَّارُ

(Verily, He is the Almighty, the Oft-Forgiving.) means, beside His might, greatness and pride, He is Oft-Forgiving to those who disobey Him but then turn to Him in repentance.

خَلَقَكُمْ مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَحِدَةٍ

(He created you (all) from a single person;) means, He created you, with all your varied races, types, languages and colors, from a single soul, who was Adam, peace be upon him.

ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا

(then made from him his wife.) who was Hawwa', peace be upon her. This is like the Ayah:

يَـأَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُواْ رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِى خَلَقَكُمْ مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَحِدَةٍ وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالاً كَثِيراً وَنِسَآءً

(O mankind! Have Taqwa of your Lord, Who created you from a single person, and from him He created his wife, and from them both He created many men and women) (4:1).

وَأَنزَلَ لَكُمْ مِّنَ الاٌّنْعَـمِ ثَمَـنِيَةَ أَزْوَجٍ

(And He has sent down for you of cattle eight pairs.) means, He has created for you from among the cattles, eight pairs. These are the ones that are mentioned in Surat Al-An`am, eight kinds -- a pair of sheep, a pair of goats, a pair of camels and a pair of oxen.

يَخْلُقُكُمْ فِى بُطُونِ أُمَّهَـتِكُـمْ

(He creates you in the wombs of your mothers,) means, He forms you in your mothers' wombs.

خَلْقاً مِّن بَعْدِ خَلْقٍ

(creation after creation). Everyone of you is originally a Nutfah, then he becomes an `Alaqah, then he becomes a Mudghah, then he is created and becomes flesh and bones and nerves and veins, and the Ruh (soul) is breathed into him, and he becomes another type of creation.

فَتَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخَـلِقِينَ

(So Blessed is Allah, the Best of creators) (23:14).

فِى ظُلُمَـتٍ ثَلَـثٍ

(in three veils of darkness) means, in the darkness of the womb, the darkness of the placenta which blankets and protects the child, and the darkness of the belly. This was the view of Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Abu Malik, Ad-Dahhak, Qatadah, As-Suddi and Ibn Zayd.

ذَلِكُـمُ اللَّهُ رَبُّـكُمْ

(Such is Allah your Lord.) means, the One Who created the heavens and the earth and everything in between, and created you and your forefathers, is the Lord. To Him belong sovereignty and control over all of that.

لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ

(La ilaha illa Huwa.) means, no one else should be worshipped except Him alone with no partner or associate.

فَأَنَّى تُصْرَفُونَ

(How then are you turned away) means, how can you worship anything besides Him What has happened to your minds

He created the heavens and the earth with the truth bi’l-haqqi is semantically connected to khalaqa ‘He created’. He turns the night into day so that it grows and turns the day into night so that it grows and He has disposed the sun and the moon each running in its course for an appointed term until the Day of Resurrection. Verily it is He Who is the Mighty Whose way always prevails Requiter of His enemies the ever Forgiving of His friends.

In verse 5, it was said: يُكَوِّرُ‌ اللَّيْلَ عَلَى النَّهَارِ‌ (He wraps the night over the day and He wraps the day over the night,). The word: تَکوِیر (takwir) means to throw something on top of the other and thereby hide it. The Qur'an has elected to express the phenomenon of the alternation of the night and day in terms of common perception - when night comes, it is as if a curtain has been thrown against the light of the day, and when the day comes, the darkness of the night goes behind the curtain.

Both the Moon and the Sun move

Later in verse 5, it was said: كُلٌّ يَجْرِ‌ي لِأَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى (each one of them moving for an appointed term.) This tells us that both the Sun and the Moon move. Scientific researches in astronomy and geology are not the subject of the noble Qur'an, or of any other scripture. But, it is obligatory to believe in whatever appears there as a corollary in this matter. Scientific findings, old or new, keep changing all the time. Qur'anic facts are changeless. Whatever the cited verse tells us - that the Sun and the Moon are both moving - believing in it is obligatory. Now, there remains the other matter - does the rising and setting of the Sun relate to the movement of the earth, or to the movement of these very planets? The Qur'an neither confirms nor rejects it. Hence, there is no hitch in accepting what experience or experiment bears out.