sura mursalat
(those sent forth)
no.77 (verses 16-28)

16. "did we not destroy the men of old ?"
17. "then shall we make following (generations) follow them."
18. "thus do we ever deal with men of sin."
19. "ah woe, that day, to the rejecters of truth."
20. "did we not create you from a base fluid?"
21. "the which we placed in a safe abode; (firmly fixed)."
22. "for a period (of gestation) determined?"
23. "for we determine; and we are the best to determine
(and then resurrection is easy for us to portend)"
24. "ah woe, that day, to the rejecters of truth!"
25. "have we not made the earth (as a place) to draw together?"
26. "both for the living and the dead,"
27. "and placed therein high mountains standing firm, and given
you to drink (wholesome) sweet water?"
28. "ah woe, that day, to the rejecters of truth!"


commentary:
they see these signs of power, yet they reject the resurrection!
through these verses, rejecters are warned in different ways and
by various statements.

first, they are reminded of the old generation's fate: "did we not
destroy the men of old?"

in our own times we can observe relics of old civilizations.
generations such as those of the `ad, the thamud, noah's, lot's and
pharaoh's were destroyed as punishment for their evil deeds; partly by
flood, lightning and hurricane, and some generations by earthquakes
and meteorites.

* * * *
"then shall we make following (generations) follow them."

* * * *

allah's law is always the same. sin or corruption prepares its
own destruction. should some be punished for sinning while others not?

* * * *
"thus do we ever deal with men of sin."

* * * *

in fact, this verse is a confirmation to the destruction of the old
generations and for the present and future generations, as well. since
allah's punishment is neither for revenging nor settling his own
personal account, it, therefore, depends on their own sinful deeds and
on his superior wisdom.

some believe that the word /awwalin/ 'old', in this verse, refers to
the generations of noah, `ad and thamud; and the word /akharin/
following' refers to the generations after them; such as those of lot and
pharaoh. but taking note of the term /nutbi'uhum/"...shall we make
follow (generations) follow them", which is in the future tense and/alam
nuhlik/ " did we not destroy...", which is in past tense it, then, becomes
clear that `old' refers to all the old generations who were destroyed by
allah's will, and 'following' refers to the sinners of the prophet's
(p.b.u.h.)time or those who will come into being after that and will
commit sins and corruptions.

and, so, the warning: "ah woe, that day, to the rejecters of truth."
the words 'that day', here, means the hereafter, when they will have
their main punishment and retribution. the repetition of the verse is
for emphasis, though they may have a chastisement even in this world.

* * * *

then, it attracts their attention to the period of gestation which
shows them the power and the authority of the creator and also the
abundance of his blessings to man. consequently, they understand
his force, in regard to the resurrection, and, they, themselves, owe
allah for his numerous blessings and respect him.

* * * *
"did we not create you from a base fluid?"

* * * *
"the which we placed in a safe abode, firmly fixed)".

* * * *

a place where all the conditions for life, growth and protection of
the foetus exists. it is so amazing and interesting that it causes everyone
to wonder.

* * * *
"for a period (of gestation) determined?"

* * * *

a period of time that no one knows, but allah during this
period many changes occur and every day the foetus enters a new phase
in its development in that abode.

* * * *

"for we determine; and we are the best to determine, (and then
resurrection is easy for us to portend)".

* * * *

this is the same reason for which the qur'an has emphatically
used in proving the possibility of the resurrection. for example, in the
beginning verses of sura hajj no. 22, mankind's attention is attracted
to the process of their own physical growth; from lifeless matter to seed,
fertilized ovum, foetus, child, youth, aged and death! how can they
doubt that the author of all these wonderful stages in their lives, in this
world, each of which is as important as the resurrection, can also give
them another kind of life after the end of this probationary life? how
different is dust from sperm!

* * * *
"ah woe, that day, to the rejecters of truth".

* * * *

woe to those who see these numerous wonders of his power and yet
they deny him.

in this respect, imam ali (p.b.u.h.) has said: "o creature who has
been equitably created and who has been nourished and looked after in the
darkness of wombs with multiple curtains. you were originated from the
essence of clay and put in a quiet place for a determined length and ordained
time. you used to move in the womb of your mother as an embryo, neitherr
esponding to a call nor hearing any voice".

"then you were taken out from the place in which you stayed to a
place that you had not seen, and you were not acquainted with awaiting its
benefits. who guided you to obtain your sustenance from the milk of your
mother's breast? who taught you to express your demands with your cries?
verily, when you cannot fully understand your own self how can you
understand your creator? it is impossible for you to understand allah from
the attributes which are meant only for his creatures.1

in another part of the verses, the external nature and his
blessings, in this great world, are described. these are proofs for both
his authority and mercy, and for the reality of resurrection, while the
former verses were about the creation of man, himself.

* * * *

"have we not made the earth (as a place) to draw together?"

* * * *

"both for the living and the dead".

* * * *

the term /kifat/ 2 'a place where things are gathered together' is
derived from 'kaft" which means 'to gather together', or `to attach one
thing to another'. `birds flying fast' is also called "kifat", since when they
fly fast they gather their wings to their sides in order to move more
quickly through the air.

it intends to say: earth is a gathering place for all human beings;
it gathers the living man and women over itself and gives them their
needs totally, and envelops their dead bodies in its insides. if the
ground were not fit for burial, the bad smell and various diseases would
arise from the corpses and this would be a disaster for the living ones.

yes, the land, like a mother who gathers her children around her,
gathers individuals over itself, caresses them, feeds them, dresses them,
gives them residence, gives them all their needs, keeps their corpses in
its inside, dissolves them, and then causes their harmful effects to vanish.

some commentators have used "kifat" in the sense of `to fly quickly'
and have said that the term refers to the earth's rotation around the
sun, and other movements, all of which were not known by people at
the time of revelation of the qur'an.

in the next verse, that is: "...the living and the dead", it seems that
the first meaning is more suitable. particularly, if we consider the
following narration from imam ali (p.b.u.h.). when he was coming back
from the seffin battlefield he reached a cemetery outside the gate of
kufa. he looked across it and said: "this is the abode of the dead and
where they dwell", and then he looked towards the houses of the city and
said: "this is the abode of the living". he wanted to tell others that there
is not a long distance between the abode of the living and that of the
dead, then, he recited the above verses: "have we not made the earth (as
a place) to draw together?" "both for the living and the dead." 3

* * * *

then, the qur'an mentions one of the great blessings of allah
on the earth:

* * * *
"and placed therein high mountains standing firm,..."

* * * *

these high mountains and their underlying formations united
together, on the one hand, protect the earth, armor-like, against the
inner pressures and the pressures resulting from gravity and, on the
other hand, they prevent the air's friction with the land by providing a
break in the airmass with their peaks, and thirdly, they control the
violent winds and storms then, in this way, they afford peace and
comfort to the earth's dwellers.

and, at the end of this verse, another gift from the mountains is cited:

* * * *
"...and given you to drink wholesome sweet water?"

* * * *

the `wholesome sweet water' is useful and lively both for `you' and
for `your' animals, agriculture, and gardens.
it is true that all the sources of sweet water are from rain, but
mountains play the primary role in supplying life with water: many
headsprings and aqueducts stem from mountains; many of the rivers and
streams originate from the heavy thick melting snow on the high
mountains tops.

the tops of the mountains, because of their altitude, are the most
useful for human beings, as they are far from the plains surface and they
are always cold. they can keep the snow there for years and then the
sun melts the snow, gradually, flowing into the streams.

* * * *

the refrain is repeated: "ah woe, that day, to the rejecters of truth."

* * * *

it is they who see these signs and the types of his bounty and
power; the blessings by which they are continually benefited and, yet,
deny the resurrection, his justice and his wisdom.

1 nahj-ul-balaqa, sermon no.162(arabic version) "sermon no.166
(english version).
2 /kifata/ is the second object for its verb,and is infinitive; used as a subjective noun.
3 tafsir-i-borhan, vol.4, p.417.