Tafsir of Surah Fatir - Verse 4

Consolation in the fact that the previous Messengers were denied, and a reminder of the Resurrection

Allah says: `Even if these idolators who associate others with Allah disbelieve in you, O Muhammad, and go against the Message of Tawhid that you have brought, you have an example in the Messengers who came before you.' They also brought a clear Message to their people and told them to worship Allah alone, but their people denied them and went against them.

وَإِلَى اللَّهِ تُرْجَعُ الأُمُورُ

(And to Allah return all matters (for decision).) means, `We will requite them for that in full.' Then Allah says:

يأَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّ وَعْدَ اللَّهِ حَقٌّ

(O mankind! Verily, the promise of Allah is true.) meaning the Resurrection will undoubtedy come to pass.

فَلاَ تَغُرَّنَّكُمُ الْحَيَوةُ الدُّنْيَا

(So, let not this present life deceive you,) means, `this life is as nothing in compare to the great good that Allah has promised to His close friends and the followers of His Messengers, so do not let these transient attractions distract you from that which is lasting.'

وَلاَ يَغُرَّنَّكُم بِاللَّهِ الْغَرُورُ

(and let not the chief deceiver deceive you about Allah.) This refers to Shaytan, as stated by Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him. Meaning, do not let the Shaytan tempt you and divert you away from following the Messengers of Allah ﷺ and believing what they say, for he is the chief deceiver and arch-liar. This Ayah is like the Ayah that appears at the end of Surah Luqman:

فَلاَ تَغُرَّنَّكُمُ الْحَيَوةُ الدُّنْيَا وَلاَ يَغُرَّنَّكُم بِاللَّهِ الْغَرُورُ

(let not then this (worldly) present life deceive you, nor let the chief deceiver deceive you about Allah) (31:33). Then Allah tells us of the enmity of Iblis towards the sons of Adam:

إِنَّ الشَّيْطَـنَ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ فَاتَّخِذُوهُ عَدُوّاً

(Surely, Shaytan is an enemy to you, so take (treat) him as an enemy.) meaning, `he has declared his enmity towards you, so be even more hostile towards him, oppose him and do not believe the things with which he tries to tempt you.'

إِنَّمَا يَدْعُو حِزْبَهُ لِيَكُونُواْ مِنْ أَصْحَـبِ السَّعِيرِ

(He only invites his followers that they may become the dwellers of the blazing Fire.) means, `he only wants to misguide you so that you will enter the blazing Fire with him.' This is a manifest enemy, and we ask Allah, the All-Powerful and Almighty to make us enemies of Shaytan and to make us followers of the Book of Allah and of the way of His Messengers. For He is able to do whatever He wills and He will respond to all supplication. This is like the Ayah:

وَإِذَا قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَـئِكَةِ اسْجُدُواْ لآِدَمَ فَسَجَدُواْ إِلاَّ إِبْلِيسَ كَانَ مِنَ الْجِنِّ فَفَسَقَ عَنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِ أَفَتَتَّخِذُونَهُ وَذُرِّيَّتَهُ أَوْلِيَآءَ مِن دُونِى وَهُمْ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ بِئْسَ لِلظَّـلِمِينَ بَدَلاً

(And (remember) when We said to the angels: "Prostrate yourselves unto Adam." So they prostrated themselves except Iblis. He was one of the Jinn; he disobeyed the command of his Lord. Will you then take him (Iblis) and his offspring as protectors and helpers rather than Me while they are enemies to you What an evil is the exchange for the wrongdoers.) (18:50)

The word: رَّ‌حْمَةٍ (rahmah: mercy) appearing in verse 2: مَّا يَفْتَحِ اللَّـهُ لِلنَّاسِ مِن رَّ‌حْمَةٍ فَلَا مُمْسِكَ لَهَا (Whatever blessing Allah opens for the people, there is none to hold it back,) is general at this place. It includes blessings of one's religion in this world along with those of the Hereafter, such as, faith, knowledge, rightly guided conduct as well as the mission of a prophet and the station of a Waliyy or man of Allah. And it also includes material blessings in the present world, such as, provisions, means, comfort, health, wealth, property, recognition and things like that. The meaning of the verse is quite obvious. It is being said here that the person for whom Allah Ta’ ala intends to open the doors of His mercy, there is no one who can stop it.

Similarly, the second sentence: وَمَا يُمْسِكْ (wa ma yumsik: there is none to hold it back) is general, meaning: what Allah Ta’ ala holds back cannot he released by anyone. This includes hardships and sorrows of the world. Y or example, when Allah intends to shield some servant of His from these, then, there is no one who can dare harass or harm him. And included here is the matter of mercy as well in the sense that, should Allah Ta’ ala decide to deprive a person of His mercy due to some wise consideration of His, then, there is no one who can dare pass it on to him. (Abu Hayyan) Related to this very subject of the verse, there is a Hadith that reports that Sayyidna Mu'awiyah ؓ wrote to Sayyidna Mughirah Ibn Shu'abah ؓ ، his governor at Kufah, asking him to send back to him in writing some Hadith he had personally heard from the Holy Prophet ﷺ . Sayyidna Mughirah ؓ called Rawwad, his chief scribe, in his office and dictated his report as: 'I heard from the Holy Prophet ﷺ ", soon after he finished his salah his recitation of the words: اَللَّھُمَّ لَا مَانِعَ لِمَا اَعطَیتَ وَ لَا مُعطیَ لِمَا مَنَعتَ وَ لَا یَنفَعُ ذَا الجَدِّ مِنکَ الجَدُّ (0 Allah, for that which You give, there is no one to stop, and for that which you hold back, there is no one to give it out, and no efforts by any maker of effort1 works against Your will' ). (Ibn Kathir from Musnad of Ahmad)

And according to a narration of Sayyidna Abu Said al-Khudri ؓ عنہ in Sahih of Muslim, he said these words at the time he raised his head from the (bending) position of ruku' before another sentence: اَحَقُ مَا قَالَ العَبدُ وَ کُلُّنا لَکَ (that is, these words, out of all that a servant of Allah can say, are the most true, incumbent and superior).

Trust in Allah delivers from all hardships

The lesson taught by the cited verse (2) to all human beings is that one should not hope any benefit or fear any harm from anyone other than Allah, instead, one should keep his or her sight trained towards Allah alone. This is the master prescription for a better life in this world as well as in the life to come. This simple antidote delivers one from thousands of anxieties and sorrows. (Ruh-ul-Ma’ ani)

Sayyidna ` Amir Ibn ` Abd Qays ؓ said: Once I get to recite four verses of the noble Qur'an in the morning, I stop worrying about what would happen in the morning and what would happen in the evening. These verses are as follows. The first one is this very verse under study: مَّا يَفْتَحِ اللَّـهُ لِلنَّاسِ مِن رَّ‌حْمَةٍ فَلَا مُمْسِكَ لَهَا وَمَا يُمْسِكْ فَلَا مُرْ‌سِلَ لَهُ مِن بَعْدِهِ (Whatever blessing Allah opens for the people, there is none to hold it back, and whatever He holds back, there is none to release it thereafter - 35:2). The second verse having the same sense appears in Surah al-An'am, 6:17: وَإِن يَمْسَسْكَ اللَّـهُ بِضُرٍّ‌ فَلَا كَاشِفَ لَهُ إِلَّا هُوَ وَإِن يُرِ‌دْكَ بِخَيْرٍ‌ فَلَا رَ‌ادَّ لِفَضْلِهِ (And if Allah causes you some harm, no one is there to remove it except He Himself; and if He causes you some good, then He is powerful over everything - 6:17). The third verse is from Surah At-Talaq, 65:7: سَيَجْعَلُ اللَّـهُ بَعْدَ عُسْرٍ‌ يُسْرً‌ا (Allah will soon bring ease after a difficulty). The fourth verse is from Surah Hud, 11:6: وَمَا مِن دَابَّةٍ فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ إِلَّا عَلَى اللَّـهِ رِ‌زْقُهَا (And there is no creature on earth whose sustenance is not on Allah - 11:6). (Narrated by Ibn al-Mundhir, as in Ruh ul-Ma'ani)

And when Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ saw rain falling, he used to say: مُطِرنَا بنوء الفَتحِ (The rain has come upon us through the rise of fath: (the opening) and would, then, recite the verse: مَّا يَفْتَحِ اللَّـهُ لِلنَّاسِ مِن رَّ‌حْمَةٍ (Whatever blessing Allah opens for the people, there is none to hold it back,- 34:2). This term of 'rise of fath' used by him was in rebuttal of the false notion prevailing among Arabs of those days who used to attribute the coming of rains to the rise of particular stars and said that the rains had come upon them through the rise of such and such star. Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ countered it by saying that (the mercy of) rains came to him through (the statement in) the verse of fath or opening. By this, he meant this very verse quoted above. He used to recite it particularly on such occasions. (Reported by Imam Malik in al-Mu'watta)

[ 1] This translation is based on one way of reading this prayer, that is, jidd (with kasrah on the letter jim, but if it is read as jadd, then the correct translation would be: 'no high status of a person may benefit him against Your decree. (Muhammad Taqi Usmani)

Man is in need of innumerable things to sustain his life, for example, light, water, air, food, minerals, etc. Each of these elements require the combined and concerted actions of universal forces to come into existence. Who else except the one God is capable of bringing about such a big event? When the Creator and Organiser of all these things is the One God, then how could it be reasonable for people to worship any entity other than Him? It is a peculiar historical experience that those who accord a position of greatness to things other than God are intractable when it comes to re-assigning that greatness to God, even though the call for this may be made by a prophet in person. The reason for this is that people find it easy to continue with previously accepted notions; whereas accepting a new prophet would mean putting one’s faith in something different. For the individual to acquire this type of ‘iman’ (faith), he must activate his own thinking powers; he should discover the Truth through his own insight. Undoubtedly, this has always been the most difficult task for a man to perform.