Surah 41: Fussilat
The Holy Qur’an with English Translation and Commentary (Five Volume Commentary)
[a]In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.[3554]
[3554] Commentary:
See 1:1.
[a] 1:1.
[b]Ha Mim.[3554A]
[3554A] Commentary:
For an explanation of the abbreviated letters حم see 40:2.
[b] 40:2; 42:2; 44:2; 45:2; 46:2.
[c]This is a revelation from the Gracious, the Merciful.[3555]
[3555] Commentary:
See 40:3.
[c] 32:3; 36:6; 40:3; 45:3; 46:3.
[d]A Book, the verses of which have been expounded in detail —the Holy Qur’an in clear, eloquent language—for a people who have knowledge,[3556]
[3556] Important Words:
عربیا (clear, eloquent language) is derived from عرب (‘ariba or ‘aruba). The root meanings of this word denote fulness, abundance and plainness coupled with chasteness. Hence all the words formed from this root express the idea of fulness, abundance and clearness. Thus the words قرآنا عربیا would mean, the Book which is most extensively and regularly read and which expresses its ideas and themes in a most clear, eloquent and comprehensive language. See also 12:3 & 20:114.
[d] 11:2.
[e]A bringer of glad tidings and a warner. But most of them turn away and they hear not.[3557]
[3557] Commentary:
The verse means to say that the most distinctive feature of this most perspicuous of all Divine Books is that it gives a message of hope and good cheer to those who accept and follow it and warns disbelievers that they would meet with a sad fate, if they persisted in disbelief.
[e] 5:20; 25:27; 35:25; 48:9.
[f]And they say: ‘Our hearts are secure under coverings against that to which thou callest us, and in our ears there is a deafness, and between us and thee there is a veil. So carry on thy work; we too are working.’[3558]
[3558] Commentary:
The verse depicts disbelievers as saying ironically and sarcastically to the Holy Prophet, "your teaching is too good for us sinners to accept and your ideals too sublime to be understood and realized by us." If the words are taken to be spoken seriously they would mean: "We are fully determined not to accept your teaching. We have closed all the avenues of our hearts, eyes and ears against it."
[f] 6:26; 17:47; 18:58.
[a]Say, ‘I am only a man like you. It is revealed to me that your God is One God; so go ye straight to Him without deviating, and ask forgiveness of Him.’ And woe to the idolaters,[3559]
[3559] Commentary:
This verse answers the sarcasm of disbelievers referred to in the previous verse. The Holy Prophet is told to say to them that he is but a man like them and no god or angel. Therefore, there is no reason why they should not be able to understand the message of which the bearer is a human being and which is meant for human beings.
[a] 14:12; 18:111; 21:109.
Who give not the Zakah, and they it is who disbelieve in the Hereafter.[3560]
[3560] Commentary:
The verse mentions two very prominent characteristics of disbelievers—they do not pay to the competent authorities, out of their hoarded wealth, the Zakah which is due from them and do not believe in the accountability for their actions in the life to come.
[b]As to those who believe and do good works, for them surely is a reward that will never end.[3561]
[3561] Important Words:
غیر ممنون (that will never end) is derived from من (manna). They say من الرجل i.e. he weakened or tired out the man. من الحبل means, he cut off or tore off the rope. من الشیء means, he diminished the thing. من علیه means, he did a favour to him; ممنون therefore means, obliged, diminished, broken or cut off; weak; strong, etc. (Aqrab).
[b] 11:12; 84:26; 95:7.
Say: ‘Do you really disbelieve in Him Who created the earth in two days? And do you set up equals to Him?’ That is the Lord of the worlds.[3562]
[3562] Commentary:
The word یوم (of which the dual is یومین) properly means, time absolutely (see 1:4; 10:4). It is in this sense that the word has been used in this and the next verse. It is not possible to surmise the length of these "two days." They may have extended over thousands of years. Even in the Holy Qur’an یوم (day) has been spoken of as equal to a thousand years (22:48) or even equal to fifty thousand years (70:5). So یوم (day) in this and the next verse does not denote the day as determined by the rising and setting of the sun. The word denotes time absolutely, or may signify an indefinite period or stage in the development of a thing.
The making of the earth in two days may signify the two stages through which the earth passed from a formless matter into a gradually evolved form after it had cooled down and become condensed.
[a]He placed therein firm mountains rising above its surface, and blessed it with abundance, and provided therein its foods in proper measure in four days—alike for all seekers.[3563]
[3563] Important Words:
اقواتھا (its foods) is the plural of قوت (qut) which is derived from قات which means, he fed, nourished or sustained or fed with what would sustain the body. أقات علی الشیء means, he had power or ability to do the thing. أقاته means, he guarded or protected him. قوت means, provision, food, sustenance, etc. (Lane & Aqrab).
Commentary:
The "two days" or stages mentioned in the previous verse through which the earth had to pass before it assumed its present form are included in the number "four days" mentioned in the present verse; the additional "two days" signifying the two stages of the placing on it of mountains, rivers, etc. and the growth on it of vegetable and animal life. See also verse 13 below.
The words, "provided its foods in proper measure," signify that the earth is fully capable of providing food for all the creatures that live on it.
The expression "alike for all seekers" may signify that the foods which God has provided in the earth are equally accessible to all seekers who try to get them according to the laws of nature. It may mean also that all the physical needs and requirements of man have been adequately met in the foods that grow out of earth. So the fear that the earth may not someday be able to grow sufficient food for the fast increasing population of the world is groundless. The world can provide food, fibre and all other agricultural requirements for 28 billion people, ten times the world’s present population (Professor Cohn Clark, Director of the Agriculture Economics Research Institute of Oxford University). Only recently the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation pointed out in its report, "The State of Food and Agriculture, 1959," that the world’s food supply grows twice as fast as its population.
[a] 13:4; 15:20; 16:16; 77:28.
Then He turned to the heaven while it was like smoke, and said to it and to the earth: ‘Come ye both of you in obedience, willingly or unwillingly.’ They said, ‘We come willingly in obedience.’[3564]
[3564] Important Words:
دخان (smoke) is infinitive-noun from دخن. They say دخنت النار i.e. the fire sent up smoke. دخان means, smoke or gaseous matter; evil or mischief, dearth, drought, sterility; hunger (Lane & Aqrab).
کرھا (unwillingly) is derived from کرہ. They say کرہ الشیء (kariha) i.e. he did not desire, disapproved, disliked, hated or loathed the thing. أکرھه علی الامر means, he compelled him to do the thing against his will. کرھا (kurhan and karhan) in both forms is infinitive-noun from کرہ, the former کرھا i.e. (kurhan) meaning, what you yourself do not like and the latter (karhan) meaning, what you are compelled to do against your will by someone else. فعله کرھا (karhan) means, he did it unwillingly (Lane & Aqrab). See also 2:217.
Commentary:
The verse signifies that everything in the universe is subject to certain laws which it obeys and according to which it works. It has no discretion. It is man alone who has been endowed with volition or discretion to obey or defy the Divine laws and it is not unoften that he uses his discretion to his detriment. This is also the meaning and significance of 33:73.