45:3 Al-Jaathiya (Crouching)

ثم أيد ذلك بما ذكره من الآيات الأفقية والنفسية من خلق السماوات والأرض

يرشد تعالى خلقه إلى التفكر في آلائه ونعمه وقدرته العظيمة التي خلق بهما السموات الأرض.

Which was revealed in Makkah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

A Directive to contemplate over Allah's Ayat

Allah directs His servants to contemplate His favors and gifts, as well as His great power that is demonstrated by His creating the heavens and the earth and the various types and categories of creatures in them. There are the angels, Jinns, humans, animals, birds, beasts, carnivores, insects and various kinds of sea creatures. The night and day alternate, each follows the other in succession, never ceasing to come, as decreed. One brings darkness and one brings light. Allah the Exalted also sends down the rain from the clouds when it is most needed. He is calling the rain, `provision', because it is the resource that produces various provisions,

فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الاٌّرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا

(and revives therewith the earth after its death,) after it was dry and had no vegetation or life of any kind. Allah said next,

وَتَصْرِيفِ الرِّيَـحِ

(and in the turning about of the winds,) sometimes towards the south and sometimes towards the north. Some are easterly winds and some are westerly winds, some bringing sea breezes and some blow from the land, some coming at night and some by day. Some winds bring rain, some cause pollination and some winds just revive the soul, while some others bear no benefit. Allah said first.

لاّيَـتٍ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

(are signs for the believers), then

يُوقِنُونَ

(who have faith with certainty), then

يَعْقِلُونَ

(who understand), thus ascending from one honorable stage to what is more honorable and higher in grade. These Ayat are similar to an Ayah in Surat Al-Baqarah

إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ وَاخْتِلَـفِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَالْفُلْكِ الَّتِى تَجْرِى فِى الْبَحْرِ بِمَا يَنفَعُ النَّاسَ وَمَآ أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ مِنَ السَّمَآءِ مِن مَّآءٍ فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الاٌّرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ دَآبَّةٍ وَتَصْرِيفِ الرِّيَـحِ وَالسَّحَابِ الْمُسَخَّرِ بَيْنَ السَّمَآءِ وَالأَرْضِ لآيَـتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ

(Verily, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, and the ships which sail through the sea with that which is of use to mankind, and the water which Allah sends down from the sky and makes the earth alive therewith after its death, and the moving creatures of all kinds that He has spread therein, and in the veering of winds and clouds which are held between the sky and the earth, are indeed signs for people of understanding.) (2:164)

Truly in the heavens and the earth that is to say in their creation there are signs indicating the power of God and His Oneness exalted be He for believers.

إِنَّ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْ‌ضِ لَآيَاتٍ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ("Surely in the heavens and the earth, there are signs for those who have faith.. ..45:3) " The purpose of this verse, and similar other verses, is to affirm the Oneness of Allah. Similar verses are available in [ 2:164] إِنَّ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْ‌ضِ ("Surely, in the creation of heavens and earth..." ) where their detailed commentary will be found. How the two verses prove the Oneness of Allah is also explained on that occasion. In the two places, there is a slight difference in the argumentation: Scholars interested might find the finer points of the difference discussed by Imam Razi in his Tafsir Kabir rather interesting. It is worth noting that in all these verses reference is made to the various signs in nature and a concluding statement is made on each occasion: Here it concludes: ` there are signs for those who have faith', in another place it concludes: ` there are signs for those who believe' and in a third place it concludes: ` there are signs for those who understand'. In all these cases, there are stylistic variations, but in addition the current verse points to the fact that only those people will be able to benefit who have faith. In the second case, it will be beneficial to those people who might not immediately embrace the Faith, but they do develop certainty in their hearts, in that these signs do point to the Oneness of Allah. Possibly this certainty one day or the other will turn into ` Faith'. In the third case, it could benefit those who may not be immediate believers or firm in belief, but they do have sound heart to understand. If they search into the signs with deep insight, they will inevitably end up with faith and firm belief. However, people devoid of sound intellect or unwilling to use it will remain unconvinced, even if thousands of evidence or arguments are put forward to them.

Surely in the heavens and the earth are signs for the faithful. In this verse He shows to the creatures the perfection of His power in creating heaven and earth.