Tafsir of Surah Al-An'am - Verse 165

Allah Made Mankind Dwellers on the earth, Generation After Generation, of Various Grades, in order to Test Them

Allah said,

وَهُوَ الَّذِى جَعَلَكُمْ خَلَـئِفَ الاٌّرْضِ

(And it is He Who has made you generations coming after generations, replacing each other on the earth.) meaning, He made you dwell on the earth generation after generation, century after century and offspring after forefathers, according to Ibn Zayd and others. Allah also said,

وَلَوْ نَشَآءُ لَجَعَلْنَا مِنكُمْ مَّلَـئِكَةً فِى الاٌّرْضِ يَخْلُفُونَ

(And if it were Our will, We would have made angels to replace you on the earth) 43:60, and,

وَيَجْعَلُكُمْ حُلَفَآءَ الاٌّرْضِ

(And makes you inheritors of the Earth, generations after generations.) 27:62, and

إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِى الأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً

(Verily, I am going to place (mankind) generations after generations on earth.) 2:30, and,

عَسَى رَبُّكُمْ أَن يُهْلِكَ عَدُوَّكُمْ وَيَسْتَخْلِفَكُمْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ فَيَنظُرَ كَيْفَ تَعْمَلُونَ

(It may be that your Lord will destroy your enemy and make you successors on the earth, so that He may see how you act.) 7:129 Allah's statement,

وَرَفَعَ بَعْضَكُمْ فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ دَرَجَـتٍ

(And He has raised you in ranks, some above others,) means, He has made you different from each other with regards to provision, conduct, qualities, evilness, shapes, color of skin, and so forth, and He has the perfect wisdom in all this. Allah said in other Ayat,

نَحْنُ قَسَمْنَا بَيْنَهُمْ مَّعِيشَتَهُمْ فِى الْحَيَوةِ الدُّنْيَا وَرَفَعْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ دَرَجَـتٍ لِّيَتَّخِذَ بَعْضُهُم بَعْضاً سُخْرِيّاً

(It is We Who portion out between them their livelihood in this world, and We raised some of them above others in ranks, so that some may employ others in their work.) 43:32, and,

انظُرْ كَيْفَ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ وَلَلاٌّخِرَةُ أَكْبَرُ دَرَجَـتٍ وَأَكْبَرُ تَفْضِيلاً

(See how We prefer one above another (in this world), and verily, the Hereafter will be greater in degrees and greater in preferment.) 17:21 Allah's statement,

لِّيَبْلُوَكُمْ فِى مَآ ءَاتَـكُم

(that He may try you in that which He has bestowed on you.) means, so that He tests you in what He has granted you, for Allah tries the rich concerning his wealth and will ask him about how he appreciated it. He also tries the poor concerning his poverty and will ask him about his patience with it. Muslim recorded that Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«إِنَّ الدُّنْيَا حُلْوَةٌ خَضِرَةٌ وَإِنَّ اللهَ مُسْتَخْلِفُكُمْ فِيهَا فَنَاظِرٌ مَاذَا تَعْمَلُونَ، فَاتَّقُوا الدُّنْيَا وَاتَّقُوا النِّسَاءَ فَإِنَّ أَوَّلَ فِتْنَةِ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ كَانَتْ فِي النِّسَاء»

(Verily, this life is beautiful and green, and Allah made you dwell in it generation after generation so that He sees what you will do. Therefore, beware of this life and beware of women, for the first trial that the Children of Israel suffered from was with women.) Allah's statement,

إِنَّ رَبَّكَ سَرِيعُ الْعِقَابِ وَإِنَّهُ لَغَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

(Surely, your Lord is swift in retribution, and certainly He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.) this is both discouragement and encouragement, by reminding the believers that Allah is swift in reckoning and punishment with those who disobey Him and defy His Messengers,

وَإِنَّهُ لَغَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

(And certainly He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.) for those who take Him as protector and follow His Messengers in the news and commandments they conveyed. Allah often mentions these two attributes together in the Qur'an. Allah said,

وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَذُو مَغْفِرَةٍ لِّلنَّاسِ عَلَى ظُلْمِهِمْ وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَشَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ

(But verily, your Lord is full of forgiveness for mankind in spite of their wrongdoing. And verily, your Lord is (also) severe in punishment) 13:6, and,

نَبِّىءْ عِبَادِى أَنِّى أَنَا الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ - وَأَنَّ عَذَابِى هُوَ ٱلْعَذَابُ ٱلْأَلِيمُ

(Declare unto My servants, that truly, I am the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful. And that My torment is indeed the most painful torment.) 15:49-50 There are similar Ayat that contain encouragement and discouragement. Sometimes Allah calls His servants to Him with encouragement, describing Paradise and making them eager for what He has with Him. Sometimes, He calls His servants with discouragement, mentioning the Fire and its torment and punishment, as well as, the Day of Resurrection and its horrors. Sometimes Allah mentions both so that each person is affected by it according to his or her qualities. We ask Allah that He makes us among those who obey what He has commanded, avoid what He has prohibited, and believe in Him as He has informed. Certainly, He is Near, hears and answers the supplication, and He is the Most Kind, Generous and Bestowing. Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«لَوْ يَعْلَمُ الْمُؤْمِنُ مَا عِنْدَ اللهِ مِنَ الْعُقُوبَةِ مَا طَمِعَ بِجَنَّتِهِ أَحَدٌ، وَلَوْ يَعْلَمُ الْكَافِرُ مَااِعنْدَ اللهِ مِنَ الرَّحْمَةِ مَا قَنَطَ أَحَدٌ مِنَ الْجَنَّةِ، خَلَقَ اللهُ مِائَةَ رَحْمَةٍ فَوَضَعَ وَاحِدَةً بَيْنَ خَلْقِهِ يَتَرَاحَمُونَ بِهَا وَعِنْدَ اللهِ تِسْعَةٌ وَتِسْعُون»

(If the believer knew Allah's punishment, no one will hope in entering His Paradise. And if the disbeliever knew Allah's mercy, no one will feel hopeless of acquiring Paradise. Allah created a hundred kinds of mercy. He sent down one of them to His creation, and they are merciful to each other on that account. With Allah, there remains ninety-nine kinds of mercy.) Muslim and At-Tirmidhi also recorded this Hadith, At-Tirmidhi said "Hasan". Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«لَمَّا خَلَقَ اللهُ الْخَلْقَ كَتَبَ فِي كِتَابٍ فَهُوَ عِنْدَهُ فَوْقَ الْعَرْشِ إِنَّ رَحْمَتِي تَغْلِبُ غَضَبِي»

(When Allah created the creation, He wrote in a Book, and this Book is with Him above the Throne: `My mercy overcomes My anger.') This is the end of the Tafsir of Surat Al-An`am, all the thanks and appreciation for Allah.

In the fifth (164) verse, Surah Al-An` am reaches its end at a comprehensive note of advice. It brings the past history of peoples and their times into focus and invites attention to a projection towards the future by saying: وَهُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَكُمْ خَلَائِفَ الْأَرْ‌ضِ وَرَ‌فَعَ بَعْضَكُمْ فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ دَرَ‌جَاتٍ (And it is He who made you vice-regents of the earth and raised some of you in ranks over some others). Here, the word: خَلَائِفَ (khala'if) is the plural form of khalifah which means vice-regent or deputy. The sense of the verse is:

It is Allah Ta` ala who has let you inhabit places occupied by peoples before you. There is no home, no land which you call your private property today, and believe to be so, which was not, only yesterday, under the ownership of other human beings like you. Allah Ta` ala has, by re-moving them, made you sit in their place. Then, worth keeping in mind all the time is the fact of life that everyone among you too is not alike. One is poor, the other is rich. One is low, the other is high. And equally obvious is the fact that, had being rich or being low been within one's control, who would have chosen to remain poor and low? This distance among steps and this difference in ranks is knocking at your doors to tell you that this power, control and choice is in the hands of some other Being who can make anyone poor, if He so wills; make anyone rich, if He so wills; give honour to whom He wills and let whoever He wills be low.

Towards the end of the verse, it was said: لِّيَبْلُوَكُمْ فِي مَا آتَاكُمْ (so that He may test you in what He has given you). It means: By making you take the place of others, and by making you owners of their wealth and property, and then, by keeping you at different steps in terms of honour and wealth, the very aim is to make you open your eyes to this framework of trial which seeks to determine your reaction to this phenomena that blessings which once belonged to past peoples have now been entrusted in your hands. To be seen is what it would be that of gratitude and obedience, or that of ingratitude and disobedience?

At the conclusion of the fifth and the last (165) verse, the end of both these stances was made clear by saying: إِنَّ رَ‌بَّكَ سَرِ‌يعُ الْعِقَابِ وَإِنَّهُ لَغَفُورٌ‌ رَّ‌حِيمٌ (Surely, your Lord is swift in punishing - and surely He is Most-Forgiving, Very-Merciful). In other words, it means: Your Lord is going to send His punishment on the disobedient soon - and for the obedient, He is Forgiving and Merciful.

Surah Al-An'-am began with Hamd (the praise of Allah) and concluded on Maghfirah (the seeking of forgiveness from Allah). May Allah Ta` ala bless all of us with the Taufiq (ability bestowed by Allah) of Hamd, and honour us with Maghfirah from Him.

It appears in Hadith that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: Surah Al-An` am, the whole of it, was revealed at one time. Such was the majesty of its revelation that seventy thousand angels followed behind it reciting Tasbih (glorifying Allah). Therefore, Sayyidna Faruq al-A` zam ؓ said: Surah Al-An'-am is one of the highly merited Surahs of the Holy Qur'an.

In some narrations, it has been reported from Sayyidna ` Ali ؓ that Allah Ta` ala would become the healer of the sick person over whom this Surah is recited.

وَآخِرُ دَعوَانَا اَنِ الحمدُ للہِ رَبِّ العٰلَمِینَ

The system of this world is that one person goes away and another takes his place. One community is thrust aside and another community takes its place and captures the resources of the land. These incidents remind us again and again that here nobody’s dominance is permanent. But man’s behaviour is strange. When he sees some opportunity to advance himself, he forgets the fate of his forebears. He fabricates different types of arguments to justify oppression and arrogance. But when God lays bare the realities, man will see that his actions—which he had considered strong enough to justify his position—were meaningless. The reason for man’s arrogance in this world is that he thinks of the good things of this life as God’s reward. The fact is that whatever a man receives in this life is meant to be a test and not a reward. If a man considers the good things available to him in this life as his due, this will cause him to be proud, but if he considers them as a means of testing him, this will develop a sense of humility in him. While a proud mentality is marked by haughtiness, a humble attitude is marked by the willingness to obey God.