sura
nabaa
(the great news)
no. 78 (verses 6-16)
6.
"have we not made the earth as a (wide) expanse?"
7. "and the mountains as pegs"
8. "and we created you in pairs,"
9. "and we made your sleep for repose,"
10. "and we made the night as a covering"
11. "and we made the day for (seeking) livelihood,"
12. "and we built above you seven firmaments"
13. "and we made (therein) a blazing lamp,"
14. "and we sent down from the clouds water in abundance"
15. "that we may bring forth thereby grain and plants,"
16. "and gardens of luxurious growth?"
commentary:
these verses are, in
fact, an answer to the questions of the
rejecters of the resurrection, and those who differ on 'naba'-in-'azim"
`the great news' since, these verses mention a portion of the wise
order
of this world of being and its
reasonable gifts, which have a very
effective function in man's life.
they are, on the one hand, a few of the
clear signs of allah's power over
all things; including the rebirth of the
dead, and on the other hand, they
point to the fact that this wise order
cannot exist in vain since, if
with the end of this material world all other
things end, too, this life will
certainly be in vain.
thus, these verses can be considered as some reasons for the
resurrection from two points of view: (1) through the `reasoning of
power', and (2) through the reasoning of knowledge'.
in these eleven verses, twelve important blessings are pointed out,
mixed with grace and affection
and accompanied with reasoning and
stimulation of the sentiments. as
bare rational reasoning is not quite
sufficient, sentiments and
affections are needed.
at first, it begins with the earth and says: "have we not made the
earth a (wide) expanse?"
the term "mihad" as raqib cites in his book, mufradat, means `a
level and tidy place`. it is derived from the term "mahd" `a bed, cradle'.
some commentators and
philologists have rendered it to mean `bed',
which is both soft and
comfortable.
the use of this term, for the earth, is full of meaning because, on
the one hand, most parts of the
land are so smooth and level that man
can build houses thereon and
prepares gardens and farms there about.
on the other hand, all his necessities are found over the earth or
hidden on its insides in the form
of raw materials and valuable mines.
and, then again, the earth swallows up man's refuse, and the
corpse of the dead are burned in
it; (because of their dissolution and
the absorption of their various
microbes in the soil), to be vanished by
the wonderful properties of dust.
furthermore, the earth, itself, rotates and then rotates around the
sun by which the days and nights
and the four seasons of the year
appear and these, too, play an
important role in man's life.
in addition, the earth stores up, under its surface, much of the
water that falls down from heaven
and then, gradually, distributes it
through springs and subterranean
canals.
in short, everything useful for the comfort of the creatures living
on the land, is supplied on this
smooth bed; the earth. the importance
of this great blessing will be
made clear only when some slight changes
happen to it.
* * * *
then, in order that the
importance of the mountains may not be
forgotten, in contrast to the
smoothness of the surface of the earth, it
says: "and the mountains as pegs?".
mountains have deep and expanding formations joined together
under the ground. they,
armor-like, protect the earth's surface
against the inner pressure caused
by the central molten lava, and the
outer pressure resulting from the
moon.
also, mountains stand as lofty walls in the way of terrible storms,
and as safe abodes for men to
rest, therein. if they were not so, man's
life would be quite uncomfortable
under the constant strikes of violent
storms.
in addition, mountains are the source of sweet water as well as
different precious mines.
adding, still, to all of the above, the mountains' peaks; like gears
of a wheel, restrain, by
friction, the thick air mass around the globe, as if
dragging it along with
themselves.
some scientists say that if the surface of the earth were a flat
plain, then, when the globe
turns, the air would slide over it and great
storms would develop. this
constant turmoil would make the surface
too hot and uninhabitable.
* * * *
after mentioning these two
phenomenal blessings of allah, it
refers to the spiritual signs of
allah and says: "and we created
you in
pairs".
the term "azwaj" is the plural form of the term "zauj" which means
'mate, companion, a couple,
and gender (husband or wife)' from
which not
only is a man created and through
which his generation survives, but
also his spouse is counted as the
reason for his spiritual tranquillity, as
sura rum, no. 30. verse, 21 says:
"and among his signs is this,
that
he created for you males from among
yourselves, that you may dwell in
tranquillity with them, and he has
put love and mercy between your
(hearts)...".
in other words, the genders (masculine and feminine) are the
complement of each other then,
they become complete and this makes
them a whole.
since the term "azwaj" i also means: `kinds, species, and classes',
some commentators have rendered
it to mean: `the variations in man
from the point of color, race,
language, different spiritual levels and
talents'; which are signs of allah's greatness and the cause
of perfection
in societies.
* * * *
then, it refers to `sleep', a grand divine gift to man, and says:
"and we made your sleep for
repose,".
the term "subut" is derived from "sabt" which originally means
`discontinue, rest' and then it was used for the `suspension of work' for
the purpose of resting, and that
the term `saturday' in the arabic
vocabulary is called
"yaum-us-sabt" because it had been affected by the
custom of the jews who stopped
working on saturday.
thus, the term "subat" narrowly refers to the stopping of most of
man's physical and mental
activities when he sleeps. the very
temporary stopping of activity
causes refreshment and improvement for
the tired organs, strengthening
the soul and the body, renewing one's
pleasure, removing any fatigue
and uneasiness, and consequently,
making man ready to start working
again.
though one-third of the human beings' lifetime is occupied by
sleep and they have always been
entangled with the question of
`dreams', still they wonder about
the mysteries of sleep. even yet, it is
not exactly known why that at a
special moment the mind fails to work
well, the eyelids droop and all
the limbs come to a peaceful state.
but, one thing is definitely known and that is: sleep is of great
importance to one's health, and
that is why psychiatrists try to make
their patients' sleep normally
and regularly, because it is impossible to
cure them without it.
those who do not sleep enough are pale, withered, nervous, and
dull. on the contrary, those who
sleep normally, when they rise they
feel, in themselves, much
pleasure and vitality.
after a tranquil sleep, study progresses very quickly and mental
activity and physical endeavors
are often more successful. these facts
show the important functional
role of sleep in man's life.
there are few tortures, for a person, that are as painful as
compulsory sleeplessness.
experiments have shown that man's
tolerance for lack of sleep is
very little and soon he loses his health and
becomes sick.
the aforementioned statements about the importance of sleep
mean, of course., a balanced
sleep, because, over sleeping, like gluttony,
is one of the graceless behaviors
which causes various sicknesses.
it is interesting that there is not a certain time limit for the natural
length of sleep in all persons,
but everyone should find the amount of
sleep that one needs regarding
his physical and mental activities and
according to one's own
experience.
and stranger still is when human beings are placed in a difficult
situation where they must stay
awake for a long time. their
perseverance for sleeplessness
increases, temporarily, so that sometimes
they decrease their sleep to one
or two hours, but it has often happened
that when the circumstances have
changed, man, both spiritually and
bodily, has demanded the
recompense of that sleeplessness and has
taken it back.
there are, of course, a few rare individuals who are able to go
without continuous sleep, for
months at a time. in contrast, there are
some people who fall asleep even
when they are walking on the street
or when they are speaking with
another person. surely, this state is very
dangerous for them, especially if
there would be no one to look after
them. obviously, these kinds of
people are sick and sooner or later they
will be faced with physical and
spiritual difficulties.
in short, this wonderful characteristic, which appears in man and
is called `sleep', contains many mysteries and is perceived as a 'miracle''.
although the above mentioned verse is about `sleep', as a divine
blessing, it seems that death, and wakefulness could, also, symbolize
resurrection, so the verse could be a hint to both of them.
then, again, concerning sleep, it speaks about the blessing of
`night' and says: "and we made the night as a covering".
following immediately after that,
it says: "and we made the day
for
(seeking) livelihood".
contrary to the duelists (because of being uninformed about the
secrets of creation, where they
thought that the light of day is good and
the darkness of night is evil and
they believed in a separate god, for
both of them, while thinking that
the former originated from `god' and
the latter from satan) we should
give a bit more thought to it, then we
will recognize that both of them
are great blessings and are the origin of
other blessings, as well.
according to the above verses, the gloom of night is a cloth and
covering over the body of the
earth and over all living creatures residing
on it. night, compulsorily, stops
the exhausting activities of the life and
makes the gloom of darkness,
which is actually peace, calmness, and
tranquillity, dominate over
everything in order to give the tired limbs a
chance to recover and the gloomy
spirit a chance to revive, since a good
and quiet sleep is more likely to
be obtained in the dark.
besides this, when night comes, the sunshine disappears. if the
sun were to shine continuously,
all plants and animals would die from its
heat, and the earth could not be
a dwelling place for them.
for the same reason, the holy qur'an has frequently emphasized
on this matter. once, it says:
"say, see you? if allah were to
make the
day perpetual over you to the day of
judgment, what god is there other than
allah who can give you a night in
which you can rest?..." (sura
qasas,
no. 28, verse 72). and
after that it adds: "it is out
of his mercy that he
has made for you night and day, that
you may rest therein, and that you
may seek of his grace...", (sura qasas no 28, verse 73).
it is noteworthy that, in the holy qur'an, many great things have
been made oath to, once, but night' has been made oath to seven times,
which illustrates the importance
of the darkness of night, since we know
that an oath is made for
important affairs.
those who make the night bright with artificial light and sit up all
night long and sleep during the
daytime, instead, become rather afflicted
and sickly.
people, in villages, who sleep soon, at night, and get up early in
the morning, lead healthier
lives.
night has other useful advantages, too. for instance, the period
after midnight and before dawn is
the best time to pray and supplicate
to allah and a very good occasion
for self-perfection and devotional
acts as sura zariyat, no.
51. verse 18, about the qualities of the
righteous, says: "and in the hours (wee hours of the morning) of
early
dawn, they (were found) praying for
forgiveness".
the light of the day, too, is a unique blessing. it produces
movement, such as, preparing man
for effort and endeavor, and
causing the plants and animals to
grow under its rays. then, the above
sentence which says: "and we made the day for (seeking)
livelihood", is
truly so complete and meaningful
that it does not need any further
explanation.
in conclusion, the duration of the day and night and the precise
regularity of their gradual
changes, is one of the signs of allah in
creation. moreover, it is counted
as a natural calendar for the
arrangement of man's life
timetable.
* * * *
then, from the earth our
attention is turned to the heavens and it
says: "and we built above you seven
firmaments".
the number `seven',
here, may be a multiplication figure which
refers to the numerous celestial
spheres, groups of systems, galaxies and
the different firmaments, in the
existing universe, which have a firm
nature and are created massive
and strong. or, it may be a figure of
quantity in the sense that what
we see from the galaxies belongs to the
first sky, as sura saffat no 37,
verse 6 states: "we have
indeed
decked the lower heaven with beauty
(in) the stars', and beyond
that there
are six more skies that are far
from man's reach.
it is also probable that the phrase "sab'an sidada" `seven
firmaments' refers to the several layers of the atmosphere
surrounding
the earth which, in spite of
being apparently transparent, is so dense that
it protects earth from the
continually falling meteorites. as soon as one
of them enters earth's atmosphere
it becomes hot enough to burn,
because of its violent contact
with the protecting layers and then it turns
to ash and comes down slowly over
the land. if this layer of atmosphere
did not exist, our cities and
farms would be exposed to the invasion of
these meteorites day and night.
some scientists have calculated the denseness of the atmosphere,
surrounding the earth, as being
more than one hundred kilometers
thick, and equal to a steel
ceiling ten meters thick! and this is only one
of the commentaries for the
phrase "sab'an sidada" `seven
firmaments'.
* * * *
after a short
description about the creation of the heavens,
attention is paid to the sun, the
great world-illuminating gift, and says:
"and we made (therein) a
blazing lamp".
the term "wahhaj" is based on the term "wahaj" which means `light
and heat' issuing from fire. therefore, the term with this
sense `brightly
burning' used for the sun, points to a couple of great
blessings that are
the origin of all material gifts
of this world, that is
"light' and `heat'.
the light of the sun not only lights man's surrounding
environment and the whole solar
system, but also is very effective in the
growth of living creatures.
its heat, in addition to the effect that it directly has on the lives of
human beings, animals and plants,
is the main cause of the existence of
clouds, winds, and rainfall
necessary for the irrigation of dry lands.
because of its ultraviolet rays, the sun is very useful in destroying
microbes. if it were not,
generations of living creatures would perish in
a short time.
the sun constantly illuminates the whole world, free of charge,
with its warm, bright light and
from an appropriate distance. it is
neither so hot and burning, nor
so cold and dim; and it offers itself to all
of us.
if we compare the value of energy, produced by the sun, with the
price of other sources of energy,
it adds up to a very large sum. let us
assume that we grew an apple tree
with artificial light and energy. each
apple would cost an extraordinary
amount. but now, indeed, we receive
this worldly productive light,
freely, from "siraj-an-wahhaj" `a blazing lamp'.
the sun is the star nearest the earth, whose mean distance from
it is nearly 93,000,000 miles
(about 150,000,000 kilometers); its diameter
is about 865,000 miles; its mass
is about 322,000 times, and its volume
more than 1,300,000 times, that
of the earth, and its density is about
one-fourth that of the earth. its
outer heat is about 6,000c.(10,000f).
(the kelivin temperature scale
uses a degree of which the unit of
measurement equals the centigrade
degree, but it is numbered from
absolute zero, which is -273.16
c.). all of these are arranged, in such a
way. so that if they were a
little more or a little less than what they are,
it would he impossible for life
to exist on the earth.
* * * *
following the
description of the gifts of `light' and `heat', it
speaks of another important
matter, about life, which closely relates to
the subject of sunshine and says:
"and we sent down from the
clouds
water in abundance".
the term "musarat" is the plural form of the word 'mu'sar" which
is based on the term
"'asr" in the sense of `pressure' and the term is used
with the meaning of `clouds emitting or pressing out rain', as if to press
itself to pour water.
some others have said that it means `the
clouds that are ready to
rain', because the form of the word used in arabic texts
denotes to
readiness for something'.
some commentators have said that "mu'sarat" is not an adjective
for the word `clouds', it is an adjective for the word, `winds' which press
on the clouds from every side in
order for it to rain.
the term "thajjaj" is based on "thajj" which means `to pour abundant
water, continuously' and also it is used, here, in the arabic intensive
form. so, on the whole, the
meaning of the verse is that: `we
sent down,
continuously, abundant water from
the clouds emitting rain'.
* * * *
rain, by itself, has some
benefits and merits when it falls:
it makes the air fresh, it washes the dirt away, it decreases the heat of
the weather; it even moderates
the cold weather, it decreases the cause
of diseases and it brings man
spirit and joy. but the following verses
point to three other great
benefits of rain; it says: "that
we may bring
forth thereby groin and
* * * *
"and gardens of luxurious growth".
* * * *
raqib cites in his
book, mufradat, that the term "alfaf" denotes
that the trees of this garden are
so thick and entangled that they are
joined to each other.
in fact, in those two previous verses, all of the foodstuff that
grows on the land and which men
and animals use have been pointed
out, because a great part of it
is compiled of grains /habba!, the
vegetables and roots
"nabata" and, thirdly, fruits "jannat".
it is true that in these two verses only three outstanding benefits
of rain are mentioned, but its
benefits, undoubtedly, are not limited only
to these. seventy percent of
man's bodyweight is made up of water; the
main origin of all living
creatures, as the qur'an says: "...we
made from
water every living thing..." (sura anbiya", no. 21, verse 30).
therefore, water acts as the essential property in the life of living
creatures, especially man.
not only man's body, but also many factories are paralysed
without water, and a lot of
manufactures would fold, too, without the
availability of water.
the beauty and the livelihood of nature is due to water, and the
best commercial and economical
trade routes, of the world, arc
waterways.
* * * *
explanation:
the relation between these verses
and the resurrection:
through the above eleven verses, the
greatest divine gifts and the
most basic necessities of man's
life are pointed out, i.e. light, darkness,
heat, water, land, and plants.
the statement about this precise regularity, on the one hand, is a
clear proof of allah's power over
everything. therefore, there would
be no doubt for anyone as to how
allah can bring the dead to life
again; as the qur'an says, very
clearly, for an answer to the rejecters of
the hereafter: "is not he who created the heavens and the
earth able to
create the like thereof?. yes
indeed! for he is the creator supreme, of skill
and knowledge (infinite)." (sura yasin, no. 36, verse 81).
on the other hand, this great and lofty establishment certainly has
a definite goal, which
undoubtedly cannot be construed as the mere 'life'
of this word' or being satisfied by simply eating, drinking, and
sleeping,
but allah's knowledge requires an
aim higher than this goal and, in
another sense, the first life is
an admonishment for the next life, and is
a stopover on man's long journey,
as sura mo'minun, no. 23,
verse 115 verifies: "did you then think that we had created you
in jest and
that you would not be brought back
to us (for account)?".
and, too, sleeping and wakefulness can be seen as a kind of death
and rebirth, and the dry and dead
lands that are revived by falling rains
again and again, every year, are
before our very eyes the incidents that
refer to the resurrection. they
illustrate the hereafter and the life after
death. sura fatir no. 35, verse 9
attests to this idea. it, after
pointing to the revival of the
dead lands by rain, says: "...
even so (will
be) the resurrection!". |
