• Verses of the Qur’an described

• Signs of God in Nature

• The Earth and its produce for those who understand

• Apostle Muhammad a Warner and a Guide unto all nations, i.e., Humanity as a whole

Ar-Ra’d (The Thunder) Verses 1 – 7

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the name of God the Beneficent the Merciful

المر تِلْكَ آيَاتُ الْكِتَابِ وَالَّذِي أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِنْ رَبِّكَ الْحَقُّ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ

Alif, Lam, Mim, Ra (A. L. M. R.), These are the verses of the Book, and that which hath been sent down unto thee from thy Lord is the Truth, but most people believe it not. (13:1)

اللَّهُ الَّذِي رَفَعَ السَّمَاوَاتِ بِغَيْرِ عَمَدٍ تَرَوْنَهَا ثُمَّ اسْتَوَىٰ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ وَسَخَّرَ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ كُلٌّ يَجْرِي لِأَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى يُدَبِّرُ الْأَمْرَ يُفَصِّلُ الْآيَاتِ لَعَلَّكُمْ بِلِقَاءِ رَبِّكُمْ تُوقِنُونَ

God, it is Who raised the heavens without any pillars that ye see, then firmly established Himself on the Throne (of Absolute authority) 1, and made subservient the sun and the moon (to His Will); each one to run its course to a time appointed (for it); 2Regulateth He the affair, explaineth He the signs (in detail) so that about the meeting with your Lord ye may be certain. (13:2)3

وَهُوَ الَّذِي مَدَّ الْأَرْضَ وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا رَوَاسِيَ وَأَنْهَارًا وَمِنْ كُلِّ الثَّمَرَاتِ جَعَلَ فِيهَا زَوْجَيْنِ اثْنَيْنِ يُغْشِي اللَّيْلَ النَّهَارَ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

And He it is who spread out the earth and made in it firm mountains and (the flowing) rivers; and of all fruits He hath made in it pairs two (male and female) kinds; He causeth the night to enshroud4the day; Verily in this5there are signs for a people who reflect. (13:3)6

وَفِي الْأَرْضِ قِطَعٌ مُتَجَاوِرَاتٌ وَجَنَّاتٌ مِنْ أَعْنَابٍ وَزَرْعٌ وَنَخِيلٌ صِنْوَانٌ وَغَيْرُ صِنْوَانٍ يُسْقَىٰ بِمَاءٍ وَاحِدٍ وَنُفَضِّلُ بَعْضَهَا عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ فِي الْأُكُلِ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ

And in the earth are tracts, side by side, and gardens of vine, and corn fields, and palm trees having one root and (others) having many (although) they are (all ) watered with water one (and the same); And yet some We make more excellent than others in fruits; Verily in this there are signs for people who understand. (13:4)7

وَإِنْ تَعْجَبْ فَعَجَبٌ قَوْلُهُمْ أَإِذَا كُنَّا تُرَابًا أَإِنَّا لَفِي خَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِرَبِّهِمْ وَأُولَٰئِكَ الْأَغْلَالُ فِي أَعْنَاقِهِمْ وَأُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ

And if thou wouldst wonder, then wondrous is their saying; “What!8when we are dust would we then surely be (returned) in a new creation?” These are they who disbelieve in their Lord; and these shall have collars (of servitude) in their necks; And they are the companions of the (Hell) Fire; In it shall they abide. (13:5)9

وَيَسْتَعْجِلُونَكَ بِالسَّيِّئَةِ قَبْلَ الْحَسَنَةِ وَقَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمُ الْمَثُلَاتُ وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَذُو مَغْفِرَةٍ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَىٰ ظُلْمِهِمْ وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَشَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ

And they ask thou to hasten on the evil (the chastisement) before the good, and (although) indeed hath come to pass before them exemplary punishments; And verily thy Lord is indeed the Lord of forgiveness unto people despite their injustice; and verily thy Lord is severe in requital. (13:6)10

وَيَقُولُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَوْلَا أُنْزِلَ عَلَيْهِ آيَةٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِ إِنَّمَا أَنْتَ مُنْذِرٌ وَلِكُلِّ قَوْمٍ هَادٍ

And say those who disbelieve: “Why hath not a sign been sent down unto him (Muhammad) from his Lord?” Verily thou art a Warner and a guide unto every11people. (13:7)12

Commentary

Verse 1

Alif, Lam, Mim, Ra (A. L. M. R.)

Some say the meaning of these letter-symbols is: ‘I am God the All-Knowing’13 Another version says: ‘I am God the Giver of Life and the Sustainer.’ 14 All are conjectures.

Verse 2

It is asserted here that the administration of the Universe is solely God’s who has created it.15 The object of all such Verses is to prove that God is the Sole Authority over the universe be that in the realm of creation, legislative or administrative, and there is no bifurcation of power whatsoever in any realm. (A.P.).

(a) The unseen pillars are either the law of gravitation or of equation. (A.P.).

Verse 3

(a) Qur’an here and in verses 36:36, 51:47-50 and 55:52 asserts that all created beings in general and the plants and the animals in particular are created in pairs of male and female - owing their existence to each other. In verse 51:49 after asserting the dependency of the creatures on each other as pairs reminds man that none is independent to be resorted to, thereafter fly to God, and there is no refuge from Him but unto Him.16

This disclosure of the hidden secrets until very recently unknown to the scientists of natural science is itself a proof positive of the divine source of the Holy Prophet, and the point worthy of note here is that a person born in the land of date palms at the age of fifty who asserts the existence of sex in the world of plants and the necessity of the fertilisation therein, can never be imagined to be ignorant of the necessity of fertilisation of the female date palm, which was already practised throughout the land of his own nativity. Such fabricated traditions have been taken as the basis for the view held by certain schools of thought that the Holy Prophet sometime would follow his personal discretion and not revelation and thus would sometime commit errors, whereas the clear assertion of the Holy Prophet through the Holy Qur’an is

“I follow not but what hath been revealed to me.” (10:15)17 (A.P.).

Verse 4

Abdur Rahman bin Hammad a great Sunni authority reports that Jabir Ibn Abdullah heard the Holy Prophet addressing Ali saying, “O’ Ali! all the others of the mankind are of different trees and I and thou are of one and the same” This declaration of the Holy Prophet testifies further the fact announced through his saying “I and Ali are of one and the same Light.”

Verse 5

A taunt was expressed on behalf of the disbelievers in Chapter 36:

“And he hath coined for us a similitude, and had forgotten the fact of his creation, saying: Who will revive these hones when they have rotted away?” (36:78).

“Say: He will revive them who produced them at the first, for He is Knower of every creation” (36:79).

After giving the brief account of the process of creation and development, man is expected to be amazed, but more amusing is the saying of those who witness the process leading to new stages of creation and yet deny the possibility of their own transfer to a new state of life. (A.P.).

Verse 6

The testimony of the evil mentioned here refers to the disbelievers demanding the chastisement they were threatened with, to be brought upon them, and the good stand for the respite given to them. God says: there had already been the instances of the people having been chastised for their disbelief why should not they draw lesson from the events that had already taken place viz. The blowing of the violent wind of ‘Ad and Thamud, the Shower of stones on the people of Lot. The Deluge caused for the people of Noah, the Pestilence and the Drowning of the people of Pharaoh (of Moses’ times).

Verse 7

The people demanded miracles - in reply it is said that the Holy Prophet is only a Warner to mankind inviting their attention to what has already happened to the wicked in the past and a guide for every nation. The last words of this verse have a double meaning. Firstly, the Holy Prophet being a universal guide for all nations of the world for all times. Secondly, the declaration of the Divine merciful law that for every nation there had been and there would also be a guide. The guides preceding the Holy Prophet Muhammad and the guides to mankind thereafter would be the Holy Imams (the Twelve Divinely commissioned Guides).

People either totally faithless or without the proper knowledge of it, question about the Last one of the Holy Imams viz, Muhammad Ibn Hasan al-Mahdi who at God’s Will is hidden as in the case of Jesus and the angels. They say, ‘How could the one out of sight be a guide?’ In the first place such a childish question does not befit the intelligent minds, for God Himself is hidden from the sight and yet every kind of guidance is only from Him; and where is the wonder if the guidance is being effected through a similar phenomenon. Secondly, such a question is automatically answered by another factor that when the apostleship of the Holy Prophet Muhammad was undoubtedly for mankind as a whole in all parts of the world18 but he lived only at Mecca in Arabia, and yet he was the Prophet for the people in the far and distant parts of the earth? It is also a fact that the apostleship of the Holy Prophet was for all times.

The apostleship is considered to be current when the apostle has already passed away. The question has to be answered in the light of these facts. The last unavoidable resort was the Imam of the age. Even the first four Caliphs, particularly ‘Umar Ibn Khattab, depended so much upon the guidance of Ali Ibn Abi Talib that he openly declared “Had not Ali been there ‘Umar would have perished” and ‘Umar even prayed saying, “O’ God spare me from any problem for which Abul Hasan (i.e., Ali) be not present to solve”

It is reported by the following great and reputed Sunni authorities that when this verse was revealed, the Holy Prophet placing his hand upon his breast (pointing to himself) said, ‘I am the Warner’ and placing his hand on the shoulder of Ali Ibn Abi Talib said: “O’ Ali, thou art the Guide and after thee thy issues shall be the ones those guided aright.” Vide the following Sunni authorities.19

The fact is that that envy and the lust for unearned power and undue position in the people who could wield their political influence, tried its best to hide the personal excellence and the actual rightful position of the Holy Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt, but as God’s plan is always done, even those hostile to the Holy ones could not resist helplessly disclosing the truth about them, for Truth always by itself gets manifest and does not depend upon any one to do it, and it gets declared even in spite of suppression (This is the Will of the Lord).20

“They desire to put out the Light of God with their mouths, but God will perfect His Light though the disbelievers may be averse.” (9:32; 61:8)

Some commentators interpret this verse in different ways:

1. As given in the text, Thou art a Warner and Guide for every nation.

2. Thou art a Warner and every nation had a guide.

3. Thou art a Warner and every nation has a guide.

In the last sense the guide is God or somebody else. However, without giving any preference to any of these views here, we refer to a tradition in this connection - Haakim Abul Qasim-e-Haskani in his Book Shawahidut-Tanzeel narrates through Ibrahim Ibn Hakam from the well-known companion of the Holy Prophet Abi-Bardeh Aslami. “He said that once the Holy Prophet called for water to take ablution and Ali was present there. After finishing the ablution he took hold of Ali’s hand and placing it on his chest said: ‘Thou art a Warner’ and returned Ali’s hand to Ali’s chest and said ‘A guide unto every nation’ and then said: ‘Thou art the Tower of Light for people’ - ‘Thou art the destination of Guidance’ and ‘The Commander of the Towns’ and ‘I bear witness to this and certainly thou art as such’.” This tradition agrees with the first and the last interpretation because Ali’s guidance is subordinate and derived from the Holy Prophet. (A.P.).

• 1. Arabic: ‘Arsh’ The Throne of Absolute Divinity, Authority Knowledge & Power. This is an invitation to man to reflect in the Creation of the Universe. Refer to verse 55:2.
• 2. Administration.
• 3. Refer to verses 2:29, 10:3, 41:11, 7:54, 36:38, 55:5, 21:33, 7:44 & 28:68.
• 4. One overtaking the other. Enshrouding is a figurative expression & Overtaking in the inter relation. Refer to verse 25:62.
• 5. In the harmonious working.
• 6. Refer to verses 41:10, 50:7, 78:7, 55:52, 36:36, 51:48, 51:49 & 15:22.
• 7. This is to prove the unity in variety and the variety in unity as the proof of the Absolute Unity of Originator or the Creator of the whole Universe.
• 8. This taunt or wonder is what the disbelievers expressed. Refer to verses 36:78 & 36:79.
• 9. Refer to verses 17:49, 23:82, 37:16–17, 50:3, 45:26.
• 10. Being frustrated against the obvious Signs and being unable to argue, they ask for the destructive Signs which overtook the previous people. Refer to verse 42:18.
• 11. Mankind as a whole.
• 12. Refer to verses 50:48, 10:47 & 35:24.
• 13. Minhaj as-Sadiqin (Tafsir) Persian.
• 14. (U.M.), Maulvi Farman Ali’s Translation (F.A.), Umdat al-Bayan (U.B.).
• 15. Refer to verses 7:44 & 28:68.
• 16. Refer to verse 9:118.
• 17. Refer to verse 10:15.
• 18. See verses 2:213; 10:19.
• 19. Ibn-Mardwaih, Ibn-Hatim, Tabarani, Ibn-Asakir, Jalaluddin as-Suyyuti, Musnad, Imam Ahmad Hambal, Tafsire-Kabir of Fakhruddin Razi, Hulyat al-Auliya of Hafiz Abu Nayeem.
• 20. See verses 9:32, 61:8 & 17:81.