Surah Al-Ahqaf (46) — Ayah 33

(Ayah 33) ➊ By {اَوَ لَمْ يَرَوْا اَنَّ اللّٰهَ الَّذِيْ … : ’’ اَوَ لَمْ يَرَوْا ‘‘} is meant {’’أَوَ لَمْ يَعْلَمُوْا‘‘}, that is, “Do they not know?” because they did not see Allah creating the heavens and the earth, rather, they knew this fact. This is stated because it was accepted among them that the Creator of the heavens and the earth is Allah. At the beginning of the surah, along with the oneness of Allah, the mention of the Resurrection is also stated by saying: « مَا خَلَقْنَا السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضَ وَ مَا بَيْنَهُمَاۤ اِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ وَ اَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى وَ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوْا عَمَّاۤ اُنْذِرُوْا مُعْرِضُوْنَ » [ الأحقاف : ۳ ] “We did not create the heavens and the earth and what is between them except in truth and for a specified term. But those who disbelieve, from that of which they are warned, are turning away.” In the middle of the surah, this subject is also mentioned: «وَ الَّذِيْ قَالَ لِوَالِدَيْهِ اُفٍّ لَّكُمَاۤ اَتَعِدٰنِنِيْۤ اَنْ اُخْرَجَ وَ قَدْ خَلَتِ الْقُرُوْنُ مِنْ قَبْلِيْ وَ هُمَا يَسْتَغِيْثٰنِ اللّٰهَ وَيْلَكَ اٰمِنْ اِنَّ وَعْدَ اللّٰهِ حَقٌّ فَيَقُوْلُ مَا هٰذَاۤ اِلَّاۤ اَسَاطِيْرُ الْاَوَّلِيْنَ» [ الأحقاف : ۱۷ ] “And he who says to his parents, ‘Uff to you both! Do you threaten me that I will be brought out (from the grave), when many generations have passed before me?’ While they both call to Allah for help (and say), ‘Woe to you! Believe, indeed the promise of Allah is true.’ But he says, ‘This is nothing but tales of the former people.’” After the arguments for the oneness of Allah along with prophethood, the descent of Allah’s punishment upon the deniers, and the mention of the jinn believing, at the end again the truth of the Resurrection and a powerful proof of it is mentioned. That is, these disbelievers who consider the resurrection of man impossible, do they not know that Allah, who created the heavens and the earth, is also able to resurrect the dead? Allah has mentioned the creation of the heavens and the earth as proof of recreating man at many places, as He said: « ءَاَنْتُمْ اَشَدُّ خَلْقًا اَمِ السَّمَآءُ بَنٰىهَا (27) رَفَعَ سَمْكَهَا فَسَوّٰىهَا (28) وَ اَغْطَشَ لَيْلَهَا وَ اَخْرَجَ ضُحٰىهَا (29) وَ الْاَرْضَ بَعْدَ ذٰلِكَ دَحٰىهَا (30) اَخْرَجَ مِنْهَا مَآءَهَا وَ مَرْعٰىهَا (31) وَ الْجِبَالَ اَرْسٰىهَا (32) مَتَاعًا لَّكُمْ وَ لِاَنْعَامِكُمْ» [ النازعات : ۲۷ تا ۳۳ ] “Are you a more difficult creation or is the heaven? He constructed it. He raised its ceiling and proportioned it. And He darkened its night and brought forth its daylight. And the earth, after that, He spread it. He brought forth from it its water and its pasture. And the mountains, He set them firmly. For your benefit and your livestock.” And He said: «لَخَلْقُ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضِ اَكْبَرُ مِنْ خَلْقِ النَّاسِ وَ لٰكِنَّ اَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُوْنَ » [ المؤمن : ۵۷ ] “Surely the creation of the heavens and the earth is greater than the creation of mankind, but most of the people do not know.”

➋ { وَ لَمْ يَعْيَ بِخَلْقِهِنَّ:} In the second book of the Torah, the revealed book of the Jews and Christians, “Exodus,” it is mentioned: “In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.” [ خروج، باب : ۳۱، فقرہ : ۱۷ ] Refreshed is one who is tired, and tiredness is based on a deficiency in power. Since there is no deficiency in Allah, therefore, to correct this statement of the Torah and to express the error in the belief of the Jews and Christians, it is stated in this verse of the Qur’an: «وَ لَمْ يَعْيَ بِخَلْقِهِنَّ» Allah did not become tired after creating the heavens and the earth; this is your mistaken notion. (Tafsir Thanai) Elsewhere it is stated: «وَ لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضَ وَ مَا بَيْنَهُمَا فِيْ سِتَّةِ اَيَّامٍ وَّ مَا مَسَّنَا مِنْ لُّغُوْبٍ » [ قٓ : ۳۸ ] “And We did certainly create the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them in six days, and no fatigue touched Us.”

➌ Ibn Hisham has given a very fine explanation for the use of “ba” in {’’ بِقٰدِرٍ ‘‘}. He says: “Sometimes a thing is given the ruling of something similar to it in meaning or in wording, or in both. There are several forms of the first, among which is the entry of ‘ba’ on the predicate of {’’ اَنَّ ‘‘} in Allah’s statement {’’ اَوَ لَمْ يَرَوْا اَنَّ اللّٰهَ الَّذِيْ خَلَقَ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضَ وَ لَمْ يَعْيَ بِخَلْقِهِنَّ بِقٰدِرٍ ‘‘}, because it is in the meaning of {’’ أَوَ لَيْسَ اللّٰهُ بِقَادِرٍ‘‘}. This ‘ba’ is used because there is a great distance between the subject and the predicate of {’’ اَنَّ ‘‘}. That is why in another verse: « اَوَ لَمْ يَرَوْا اَنَّ اللّٰهَ الَّذِيْ خَلَقَ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضَ قَادِرٌ عَلٰۤى اَنْ يَّخْلُقَ مِثْلَهُمْ » [ بني إسرائیل : ۹۹ ], ‘ba’ is not used on {’’ قَادِرٌ ‘‘}. A similar example is {’’ وَ كَفٰى بِاللّٰهِ شَهِيْدًا ‘‘}, because it contains the meaning of {’’ اِكْتَفِ بِاللّٰهِ شَهِيْدًا ‘‘}.” (I’rab al-Qur’an by Darwish)

The reason for the coming of {’’ بَلٰۤى ‘‘} in response to {’’ اَوَ لَمْ يَرَوْا اَنَّ اللّٰهَ …‘‘} is also the same, that it is in the meaning of {’’أَوَ لَيْسَ اللّٰهُ بِقَادِرٍ‘‘}, because {’’ بَلٰۤى ‘‘} is brought to refute a previous negation, while {’’نَعَمْ‘‘} is brought to emphasize the first negation.