Surah Ghafir (40) — Ayah 13

(Ayah 13) ➊ { هُوَ الَّذِيْ يُرِيْكُمْ اٰيٰتِهٖ:} That is, it is Allah alone who shows you countless signs of His existence and His oneness, which existed even when the deities you have made did not even exist. Even now, no giver or helper claims, nor can claim, that he has created all this, or that he has any share in its creation. In the Noble Qur’an, Allah has mentioned many of these signs; these signs are both in the horizons (the universe) and within the human self. See Surah Yunus (6), Ha Mim As-Sajdah (53), Ar-Rum (20 to 27), Al-Baqarah (164), Al-Jathiyah (35), and Surah Al-Mu’min (79, 80). By Allah’s signs are meant the miracles granted to the Prophets (peace be upon them) as well as the strange and wondrous events and incidents that indicate His power, which from time to time appear before mankind, as Allah said regarding the miracles of Musa (peace be upon him): «وَ لَقَدْ اَرَيْنٰهُ اٰيٰتِنَا كُلَّهَا فَكَذَّبَ وَ اَبٰى » [ طٰہٰ : ۵۶ ] “And indeed, We showed him (Pharaoh) all Our signs, but he denied and refused.”

➋ { وَ يُنَزِّلُ لَكُمْ مِّنَ السَّمَآءِ رِزْقًا:} After saying that He alone is the One who shows you His signs, He mentioned one of His great signs. By {’’ رِزْقًا ‘‘} is meant rain here, because it is the cause of human sustenance. All plants grow from it, which are eaten by all those animals that are human food or serve him in other ways. See Surah Al-Baqarah (22), Al-Jathiyah (5), Ibrahim (32), Qaf (9 to 11), and Surah An-Nahl (10, 11).

➌ {وَ مَا يَتَذَكَّرُ اِلَّا مَنْ يُّنِيْبُ:} That is, the signs of Allah’s power and oneness are countless, but only those who turn back (to Him) take heed from them. If a person only considers his own sustenance and observes which elements of power are at work to provide it, and how they are working in harmony with each other, he would never dare to commit shirk, because the One who made and runs all these things is One. If He were not One, the universe could not remain for even a moment. But the person who turns away from Allah and does not pay attention to His signs, even if he sees the greatest sign, cannot take any lesson from it, because the veils of blind following of forefathers, prejudice, and stubbornness are covering his eyes.

13. 1. That is, the water which is the cause of your sustenance. Here, Allah Almighty has combined the manifestation of signs with the sending down of sustenance, because the manifestation of signs of power is the foundation of religions, and sustenance is the foundation of bodies. Thus, both foundations have been combined. (Fath al-Qadeer)

13. 1. Towards the obedience of Allah, through which fear of the Hereafter is created in their hearts, and they adhere to the commands and obligations of Allah.

13. He is the One Who shows you His signs and sends down provision [16] for you from the sky. But none takes heed except those who turn to Him.

[16]
The Signs of Allah in the System of Rain:

That is, He sends down rain from the sky, which becomes the source of earthly produce and your sustenance. If one reflects upon this entire system—what forces are at work in this universe as a result of which rain falls, and then, until sustenance is obtained from this rain, what cosmic and earthly forces remain engaged in the process. How, by the heat of the sun, water vapors rise from the surface of the sea; then how the winds carry them on their shoulders and take them wherever Allah commands. Then how these water vapors are transformed again into drops of rain. Then, when rain falls upon a region of land, who nurtures the seed in the darkness of the earth, and how does the extremely soft and delicate sprout of the plant pierce through the surface of the earth and emerge outside. In short, there are countless wonders of power in this system. Then, from the mutual cooperation of these forces, the positive results that are produced make it self-evident that there can be only one Being controlling all these forces. If the god of the winds were separate, the sun’s were separate, the rain’s were separate, and the earth’s were separate, then such mutual harmony among them would have been impossible, so that only positive results could always be obtained from these forces. But these matters can only be understood by those who reflect upon these signs of Allah.