Tafsir of Surah An-Naml - Verse 64

إِنَّ بَطْشَ رَبِّكَ لَشَدِيدٌ - إِنَّهُ هُوَ يُبْدِىءُ وَيُعِيدُ

(Verily, the punishment of your Lord is severe and painful. Verily, He it is Who begins and repeats.) (85:12-13)

وَهُوَ الَّذِى يَبْدَأُ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُ وَهُوَ أَهْوَنُ عَلَيْهِ

(And He it is Who originates the creation, then He will repeat it; and this is easier for Him.) (30:27)

وَمَن يَرْزُقُكُم مِّنَ السَّمَآءِ والاٌّرْضِ

(and Who provides for you from heaven and earth) with the rain He sends down from the sky causing the blessings of the earth to grow, as He says elsewhere:

وَالسَّمَآءِ ذَاتِ الرَّجْعِ - وَالاّرْضِ ذَاتِ الصَّدْعِ

(By the sky which gives rain, again and again. And the earth which splits.) (86:11-12)

يَعْلَمُ مَا يَلْجُ فِى الاٌّرْضِ وَمَا يَخْرُجُ مِنْهَا وَمَا يَنزِلُ مِنَ السَّمَآءِ وَمَا يَعْرُجُ فِيهَا

(He knows that which goes into the earth and that which comes forth from it, and that which descends from the heaven and that which ascends to it) (34:2). Allah, may He be blessed and exalted, sends down water from the sky as a blessing, and causes it to penetrate the earth, and then come forth as springs. After that, by means of the water He brings forth all kinds of crops, fruits and flowers, in all their different forms and colors.

كُلُواْ وَارْعَوْا أَنْعَـمَكُمْ إِنَّ فِى ذلِكَ لأيَـتٍ لاٌّوْلِى النُّهَى

(Eat and pasture your cattle; verily, in this are signs for men of understanding) (20:54). Allah says:

أَإِلَـهٌ مَّعَ اللَّهِ

(Is there any god with Allah) meaning, who did this Or, according to another interpretation: after this (who could be worth worship)

قُلْ هَاتُواْ بُرْهَـنَكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـدِقِينَ

(Say: "Bring forth your proofs, if you are truthful.") Produce the evidence of that. But it is known that they have no proof or evidence, as Allah says:

وَمَن يَدْعُ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَـهَا ءَاخَرَ لاَ بُرْهَانَ لَهُ بِهِ فَإِنَّمَا حِسَابُهُ عِندَ رَبِّهِ إِنَّهُ لاَ يُفْلِحُ الْكَـفِرُونَ

(And whoever invokes besides Allah, any other god, of whom he has no proof; then his reckoning is only with his Lord. Surely, the disbelievers will not be successful.) (23:117)

Commentary

قُل لَّا يَعْلَمُ مَن فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْ‌ضِ الْغَيْبَ إِلَّا اللَّـهُ

Say, "No one in the heavens and the earth has the knowledge of Unseen except Allah." - 27:65

The Holy Prophet ﷺ was instructed to tell people that all the creatures that live in the heavens, like angels, and all the creatures that live in this world, like humans and jinns, none of them have any knowledge of the unseen (ghayb) except Allah. In the above-referred verse it has been stated very clearly that it is an exclusive attribute of Allah Ta` ala, and no one else, not even an angel or a prophet, could share this attribute. This subject has been dealt with in detail under verse No. 59 of Surah al-'am on page No.360 in the 3rd volume. In addition to that, I have written a separate treatise on the subject under the title (کشف الریب عن علم الغیب) which has been published in my book Ahkam-ul Qur'an in arabic. Those who are interested in this subject can refer to that.

The needs of man are fulfilled as a result of the perfect co-ordination between all the factors in the Universe. We must ask who, other than Almighty God, can assemble all the favourable factors on such a large scale? Similarly, the displacement of a nation or race and another nation taking its place, the sailing of a ship, and in the modern age the flying of an aeroplane in darkness as well as in daylight by taking advantage of technological advances, the rising of water vapour from the sea and its subsequent descent in the shape of rain. The creation of things out of nothing and their resurrection, the provision of all kinds for man on a large scale—all these result solely from the instrumentality of Almighty God. This is true of all of the world’s events. Here, to cause a single event to take place, it is necessary to activate innumerable factors, and this can be done only by that Being who has control of the whole universe. In this context, how foolish it is to make anybody other than God the centre of adoration and worship!