Mu'jam Kabir Tabarani 10548 — to Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas

Sa'id bin Jubayr (may Allah have mercy on him) said to Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): O Ibn Abbas! I find things in the Qur'an that seem to me to contradict one another, and this has been troubling my heart. Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "Is it (a doubt of) denial?" The man said: It is not denial, but contradiction. Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "Then bring out what is in your heart." The man said: I hear Allah say: "Then there will be no ties of kinship between them on that Day, nor will they ask about one another" [Surah al-Mu'minun: 101], and in another verse He said: "And they will turn to one another, questioning each other" [Surah al-Saffat: 27]; and in another verse He said: "They will not conceal any statement from Allah" [Surah al-Nisa': 42], and in another verse He said: "By Allah, our Lord, we were not polytheists" [Surah al-An'am: 23], so in this verse they concealed. And in His saying: "The heaven, He built it, raised its ceiling and proportioned it, darkened its night and brought forth its morning light, and after that He spread out the earth" [Surah al-Nazi'at: 27-30], the creation of the heavens is mentioned before the creation of the earth. Then in another verse He said: "Do you indeed disbelieve in the One who created the earth in two days, and set up equals to Him? That is the Lord of the worlds. And He placed in it firm mountains from above it, blessed it, and determined its provisions in four days, equal for those who ask. Then He turned to the heaven while it was smoke, and said to it and to the earth: Come, willingly or unwillingly. They said: We come willingly" [Surah Fussilat: 9-11]; so in this verse the creation of the earth is mentioned before the creation of the heaven. And: "And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful" [Surah al-Nisa': 96], "And Allah is Mighty, Wise" [Surah al-Nisa': 158], "And Allah is Hearing, Seeing" [Surah al-Nisa': 134]; so it is as though He was (so) and then that passed? Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "Bring out what is in your heart." The questioner said: If you answer me this, it will be enough for me. So Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "His saying: Then there will be no ties of kinship between them on that Day, nor will they ask about one another [Surah al-Mu'minun: 101], this is at the first blowing. When the Trumpet is blown, whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth will fall unconscious, except whom Allah wills; at that time there will be no ties of kinship between them, nor will they ask about one another. Then, when the second blowing takes place, they will stand up and they will turn to one another, questioning each other [Surah al-Saffat: 50]. As for His saying: By Allah, our Lord, we were not polytheists [Surah al-An'am: 23], and His saying: They will not conceal any statement from Allah [Surah al-Nisa': 42], Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, will forgive the people of sincerity their sins on the Day of Resurrection, and no sin is too great for Him to forgive, but He will not forgive polytheism (shirk). When the polytheists see that, they will say: Our Lord forgives sins but does not forgive polytheism. So they will say: We will say that we were only sinners and were not polytheists. Then Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, will say: Since you have concealed your polytheism, seal their mouths. So their mouths will be sealed, and their hands will speak and their feet will testify to what they used to earn. At that time the polytheists will know that nothing can be concealed from Allah. At that time: On that Day those who disbelieved and disobeyed the Messenger will wish that the earth were levelled over them, and they will not be able to conceal any statement from Allah [Surah al-Nisa': 42]. As for His saying: The heaven, He built it, raised its ceiling and proportioned it, darkened its night and brought forth its morning light, and after that He spread out the earth [Surah al-Nazi'at: 27-30], He created the earth in two days before creating the heaven, then He turned to the heaven and proportioned it in two further days, then He descended to the earth and spread it out. Its spreading out means that He brought forth from it water and pasture, made rivers flow in it, made paths in it, and created the mountains, the sands, the hillocks and whatever is between them in two further days. That is His saying: And after that He spread out the earth [Surah al-Nazi'at: 30]. And His saying: Do you indeed disbelieve in the One who created the earth in two days, and set up equals to Him? That is the Lord of the worlds. And He placed in it firm mountains from above it, blessed it, and determined its provisions in four days, equal for those who ask [Surah Fussilat: 9]; so the earth and all that is in it was made in four days, and the heavens were made in two days. As for His saying: And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful, and Allah is Mighty, Wise, and Allah is Hearing, Seeing, Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, gave Himself these names and did not give them to anyone else, and 'Kana Allah' (Allah was) means: He has always been so." Then he said to the man: "Remember what I have told you, and know that the things in the Qur'an that seemed contradictory to you are precisely the matters I have explained to you. Indeed, Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, has revealed nothing except that it fulfils the purpose He intended, but people do not know. So let it (the Qur'an) not seem contradictory to you, for all of it is from Allah."