6:1 Al-An'aam (The Cattle)

هذا إخبار عن حمده والثناء عليه بصفات الكمال، ونعوت العظمة والجلال عموما، وعلى هذه المذكورات خصوصا. فحمد نفسه على خلقه السماوات والأرض، الدالة على كمال قدرته، وسعة علمه ورحمته، وعموم حكمته، وانفراده بالخلق والتدبير، وعلى جعله الظلمات والنور، وذلك شامل للحسي من ذلك، كالليل والنهار، والشمس والقمر. والمعنوي، كظلمات الجهل، والشك، والشرك، والمعصية، والغفلة، ونور العلم والإيمان، واليقين، والطاعة، وهذا كله، يدل دلالة قاطعة أنه تعالى، هو المستحق للعبادة، وإخلاص الدين له، ومع هذا الدليل ووضوح البرهان { ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِرَبِّهِمْ يَعْدِلُونَ } أي يعدلون به سواه، يسوونهم به في العبادة والتعظيم، مع أنهم لم يساووا الله في شيء من الكمال، وهم فقراء عاجزون ناقصون من كل وجه.

اسورة الأنعام قال العوفي وعكرمة وعطاء عن ابن عباس أنزلت سورة الأنعام بمكة. وقال الطبراني: حدثنا علي بن عبدالعزيز حدثنا حجاج بن منهال حدثنا حماد بن سلمة عن علي بن زيد عن يوسف بن مهران عن ابن عباس قال: نزلت الأنعام بمكة ليلا جملة واحدة حولها سبعون ألف ملك يجأرون حولها بالتسبيح وقال سفيان الثوري عن ليث عن شهر بن حوشب عن أسماء بنت يزيد قالت: نزلت سورة الأنعام على النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم جملة وأنا آخذة بزمام ناقة النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم إن كادت من ثقلها لتكسر عظام الناقة. وقال شريك عن ليث عن شهر عن أسماء قالت: نزلت سورة الأنعام على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وهو في مسير في زجل من الملائكة وقد طبقوا ما بين السماء والأرض. وقال السدي عن مرة عن عبدالله قال: نزلت سورة الأنعام يشيعها سبعون ألفا من الملائكة وروي نحوه من وجه آخر عن ابن مسعود. وقال الحاكم في مستدركه: حدثنا أبو عبدالله محمد بن يعقوب الحافظ وأبو الفضل الحسن بن يعقوب العدل قالا: حدثنا محمد بن عبدالوهاب العبدي أخبرنا جعفر بن عون حدثنا إسماعيل بن عبدالرحمن السدي حدثنا محمد بن المنكدر عن جابر قال: لما نزلت سورة الأنعام سبح رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ثم قال "لقد شيع هذه السورة من الملائكة ما سد الأفق" ثم قال صحيح على شرط مسلم. وقال أبو بكر بن مردوية: حدثنا محمد بن عمر حدثنا إبراهيم بن دستوريه الفارسي حدثنا أبو بكر بن أحمد بن محمد بن سالم حدثنا ابن أبي فديك حدثني عمر بن طلحة الرقاشي عن نافع بن مالك بن أبي سهيل عن أنس بن مالك قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم "نزلت سورة الأنعام معها موكب من الملائكة سد ما بين الخافقين لهم زجل بالتسبيح والأرض بهم ترتج" ورسول الله يقول "سبحان الله العظيم سبحان الله العظيم" ثم روى ابن مردوية عن الطبراني عن إبراهيم بن نائلة عن إسماعيل بن عمر عن يوسف بن عطية عن ابن عون عن نافع عن ابن عمر قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم "نزلت علي سورة الأنعام جملة واحدة وشيعها سبعون ألفا من الملائكة لهم زجل بالتسبيح والتحميد". يقول الله تعالى مادحا نفسه الكريمة وحامدا لها على خلقه السموات والأرض قرارا لعباده. وجعل الظلمات والنور منفعة لعباده في ليلهم ونهارهم فجمع لفظ الظلمات ووحد لفظ النور لكونه أشرف كقوله تعالى "عن اليمين والشمائل" وكما قال في آخر هذه السورة "وأن هذا صراطي مستقيما فاتبعوه ولا تتبعوا السبل فتفرق بكم عن سبيله" ثم قال تعالى "ثم الذين كفروا بربهم يعدلون" أي ومع هذا كله كفر به بعض عباده وجعلوا له شريكا وعدلا واتخذوا له صاحبة وولدا تعالى الله عز وجل عن ذلك علوا كبيرا.

Which was revealed in Makkah

The Virtue of Surat Al-An`am and When it Was Revealed

Al-`Awfi, `Ikrimah and `Ata' said that Ibn `Abbas said, "Surat Al-An`am was revealed in Makkah" At-Tabarani recorded that Ibn `Abbas said, "All of Surat Al-An`am was revealed in Makkah at night, accompanied by seventy thousand angels, raising their voices in glorification of Allah" As-Suddi said that Murrah said that `Abdullah said, "Surat Al-An`am was revealed in the company of seventy thousand angels."

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

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

All Praise is Due to Allah for His Glorious Ability and Great Power

Allah praises and glorifies His Most Honorable Self for creating the heavens and earth, as a dwelling for His servants, and for making the darkness and the light to benefit them in the night and the day. In this Ayah, Allah describes darkness in the plural, Zulumat where Zulmah is singular for darkness, while describing the light in the singular, An-Nur, because An-Nur is more honored. In other Ayat, Allah said,

ظِلَـلُهُ عَنِ الْيَمِينِ

(To the right and to the lefts.) 16:48 Near the end of this Surah (chapter 6), Allah also said;

وَأَنَّ هَـذَا صِرَطِي مُسْتَقِيمًا فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَلاَ تَتَّبِعُواْ السُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِكُمْ عَن سَبِيلِهِ

(And verily, this is my straight path, so follow it, and follow no (other) ways, for they will separate you away from His way.) 6:153 Allah said next,

ثْمَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ بِرَبِّهِمْ يَعْدِلُونَ

(Yet those who disbelieve hold others as equal with their Lord.) meaning, in spite of all this, some of Allah's servants disbelieve in Him and hold others as partners and rivals with Him. Some of Allah's servants claimed a wife and a son for Allah, hallowed be He far above what they attribute to Him. Allah's statement,

هُوَ الَّذِى خَلَقَكُمْ مِّن طِينٍ

(He it is Who has created you from clay,) refers to the father of mankind, Adam, from whom mankind originated, multiplied in numbers and spread about, east and west. Allah said,

ثُمَّ قَضَى أَجَلاً وَأَجَلٌ مُّسمًّى عِندَهُ

(Then has decreed a stated term. And there is with Him another determined term...) His saying;

ثُمَّ قَضَى أَجَلاً

(Then has decreed a stated term,) refers to death, while,

وَأَجَلٌ مُّسمًّى عِندَهُ

(And there is with Him another determined term...) refers to the Hereafter, according to Sa`id bin Jubayr who reported this from Ibn `Abbas. Similar statements were narrated from Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, Ad-Dahhak, Zayd bin Aslam, `Atiyyah, As-Suddi, Muqatil bin Hayyan and others. Ibn `Abbas and Mujahid said that,

ثُمَّ قَضَى أَجَلاً

(And then has decreed a stated term,) is the term of this earthly life, while,

وَأَجَلٌ مُّسمًّى عِندَهُ

(And there is with Him another determined term) refers to man's extent of life until he dies as mentioned in Allah's statement;

وَهُوَ الَّذِى يَتَوَفَّـكُم بِالَّيْلِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا جَرَحْتُم بِالنَّهَارِ

(It is He, Who takes your souls by night (when you are asleep), and has knowledge of all that you have done by day, then He raises (wakes) you up again that a term appointed (life) be fulfilled.) 6:60 The meaning of Allah's statement,

عِندَهُ

(With Him) is that none but Him knows when it will occur. Allah said in other Ayat,

إِنَّمَا عِلْمُهَا عِنْدَ رَبِّي لاَ يُجَلِّيهَا لِوَقْتِهَآ إِلاَّ هُوَ

(The knowledge thereof is with my Lord. None can reveal its time but He.) 7:187, and,

يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ السَّاعَةِ أَيَّانَ مُرْسَـهَا - فِيمَ أَنتَ مِن ذِكْرَاهَا - إِلَى رَبِّكَ مُنتَهَـهَآ

(They ask you about the Hour -- when will be its appointed time You have no knowledge to say anything about it. To your Lord belongs (the knowledge of) the term thereof.) 79:42-44 Allah said,

ثُمَّ أَنتُمْ تَمْتَرُونَ

(Yet you doubt.) the coming of the (last) Hour, according to As-Suddi. Allah said next,

وَهُوَ اللَّهُ فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَفِى الاٌّرْضِ يَعْلَمُ سِرَّكُمْ وَجَهْرَكُمْ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تَكْسِبُونَ

(And He is Allah in the heavens and the earth, He knows what you conceal and what you reveal, and He knows what you earn.) Meaning, it is He Who is called Allah, throughout the heavens and the earth, that is, it is He who is worshipped, singled out, whose divinity is believed in by the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth. They call Him Allah, and they supplicate to Him in fear and hope, except those who disbelieve among the Jinns and mankind. In another Ayah, Allah said;

وَهُوَ الَّذِى فِى السَّمآءِ إِلَـهٌ وَفِى الاٌّرْضِ إِلَـهٌ

(It is He Who is God in the heavens and the earth.)43:84 meaning, He is the God of those in heaven and those on earth, and He knows all affairs, public and secret.

وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تَكْسِبُونَ

(And He knows what you earn) all the good and bad deeds that you perform.

Praise which means to describe in beautiful terms be ever established to God is this meant to be informative so that one believes in it? Or is it meant as a eulogy or both? These are three possibilities the most likely of which is the last as the Shaykh Jalāl al-Dīn al-Mahallī states in his commentary on sūrat al-Kahf Q. 181; Who created the heavens and the earth — He singles out these two for mention because for the observer they constitute the most awesome visible creation; and He appointed He created darknesses and light that is every darkness zulma and every light the use of the plural only in the case of the former is because it darkness has many causes; and this is one of the proofs of His Oneness; then those who disbelieve despite the existence of this proof ascribe equals to their Lord they worship others equally.

Commentary

Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ has said that one of the distinctions of Surah Al-An'am is that the whole of it, except some 'Ayat, was revealed at one time in Makkah with the complement of seventy thousand angels following it with recitation of the name of Allah. Early Tafsir authorities Mujahid, al-Kalbi, Qatadah and others have said more or less the same thing.

Abu Ishaq Al-Asfra'ini has said that this Surah consists of all principles and subsidiaries of Tauhid (Oneness of Allah). This Surah has been prefaced with الْحَمْدُ لِلَّـهِ (Al-Hamdulillah) whereby people have been told that all praises belong to Allah. The purpose is to educate and help people get the right perspective - that Allah needs no praise from anyone, whether or not anyone praises Him, He is, in terms of His own intrinsic perfection, by Himself, the Praised One. By bringing in the sentence which follows immediately, which mentions the creation of the heavens and the earth and the darkness and the light, given there is the very proof of His being the Praised One. Isn't it that the Being which holds such Power and Wisdom would have to be the One deserving of all praise?

In this verse, ` samawat' (heavens) has been mentioned in the plural while 'ard (earth), in the singular - though, in another verse (65:12), earth has been identified as being seven like the heavens. Perhaps, it is indicative of the mutual distinction the seven heavens have in terms of their form and attributes while the seven earths are like each other, therefore, they were taken as one in number. (Mazhari)

Similarly, by mentioning ` zulumat' (darkness, or layers of darkness) in the plural, and 'nur' (light) in the singular, the indication given may be that nur or light signifies the correct way and the straight path - and that is just one, while zulumat, or many layers of darkness, signifies the path of error - and their number runs in thousands. (Mazharl al-Bahr al-Muhit)

Also noticeable here is that the origination of the heavens and the earth has been expressed through the word, 'khalaqa' (created) while that of darkness and light with the word, ja‘ala' (made). The hint implied is that darkness and light are not independent and self-existent like the heavens and the earth, instead, they are contingents and attributes. And zulumat (darkness) has been given precedence over nur (light) perhaps because zulumat is basic to this world while nur is associated with particulars - when they are there, there is light; and when they are not there, there is darkness.

By pointing out to the reality of Tauhid (Oneness of Allah) and its open proof in this verse the purpose is to warn all those peoples who do not simply believe in Tauhid, or have forsaken the reality of Tauhid despite professing it.

The Magians (Majus) believe in two creators, Yazdan and Ahriman (or Ahraman). Yazdan, according to them, is the creator of good and Ahriman, the creator of evil. They also identify these as (the principles of) light and darkness.

The polytheists in India take an incredibly high number of gods as partners in the divinity of God. The Arya Samajists, despite acknowledging Tauhid, take spirit and matter to be infinitely pre-existent, and independent of the power and creation of God, whereby they have moved way away from the reality of Tauhid. Similarly, the Christians who, despite professing the creed of Tauhid, started taking Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and his blessed mother as partners in the divinity of God - and then, in order to prop their belief in one God, they to rely on the irrational theory of Unity in Trinity. As for the disbelievers and polytheists of Arabia, they demonstrated such philanthropy in dishing out Godhood that, according to them, every piece of rock on a hill could be good enough to become an object of worship for the whole human-kind! Thus, the wonderful human being whom Allah had made to be the noblest of His creation, someone whom the whole universe was to serve, went so astray from the right path that he took - not just the moon, the sun, the stars, but the fire, water, trees and rocks too - even crawling insects as objects of prostration and worship, providers of needs and resolvers of problems.

By saying in this verse of the Holy Qur'an that Allah Ta` ala is the Creator of the heavens and the earth and He is the Maker of darkness and light, all such false notions have been refuted - when He is the sole Creator and Maker of everything, ascribing partners to His Divinity makes no sense.

Praise belongs to God who created the heavens and the earth and made the darknesses and the light. He begins by lauding Himself, thereby praising Himself with His own beginningless laudation and reporting of His own self-sufficient brilliance and unitary elevation. This is praise of the tremendous Lord, the wise Enactor. He is subsistent through His own subsistence, transcendent through His own attributes, magnificent through His own magnificence. His elevation is everlasting, His brilliance self-standing, His existence unitary, His being self- sufficient, His face majestic, His power perfect-Glory be to Him! And God is the One, the All- Subjugating [39:4], the exalted, the all-compeller, the great, the transcendent. One of the great ones of the religion and leaders of the Tariqah said, “Who is worthy of praise other than He whose power created the heavens and the earth and made the darknesses and the light?” Who is fitting and who is worthy to be praised for purity and named for greatness other than He who created heaven and earth, created day and night, set up heaven like a roof, adorned earth like a cradle, readied the day for your livelihood, and made the night your time of rest? It has also been said that heaven is an allusion to the heaven of recognition, which is the hearts of the recognizers. Earth is an allusion to the earth of service, which is the souls of the worshipers. He decorated heaven with the form of the stars, adorned it with sun and moon, and made it the gaz- ing place of the earth-dwellers. In the same way, He adorned the heaven of recognition with the sun of knowledge, the moon of tawḤīd, and the stars of thoughts, and then He made it the gazing- place of the heaven-dwellers. Whenever the satans aim to listen stealthily, they are subjugated from the heaven of exaltedness by the stoning of stars. This is why the Exalted Lord said, “We have made them stonings for the satans” [67:5]. In the same way, whenever Satan aims to instill disquiet, a lightning flashes in the heart of the faithful servant from the heaven of recognition and burns Satan. This is why He says, “Surely the godwary, when a visitation from Satan touches them, remember, and then see clearly” [7:201]. On the expanse of the earth there are seven seas in which are benefits and livelihood for creatures.