An-Nahl (The Bees): Verses 77–79

Context and Divine Perfection

After comparing the idolaters to the mute, incapable one, and describing Himself (Allah) as the one who commands justice and is on a straight path—which necessitates complete knowledge and power—Allah mentions in this verse the proof of His perfection in knowledge and power.

Proof of Complete Knowledge: His statement: {And to Allah belongs the unseen of the heavens and the earth} (77). This means Allah knows the unseen aspects of the heavens and the earth. Furthermore, this phrasing implies exclusivity: knowledge of these unseen matters belongs only to Allah.

Proof of Complete Power: His statement: {And the command of the Hour is not but as a blink of an eye or quicker} (77).

• The Hour (As-Sā‘ah): This refers to the time when the Resurrection occurs. It is named Sā‘ah because it strikes humanity suddenly, causing all creation to perish with a single blast.
• {As a blink of an eye (kalamaḥi l-baṣar)}: Lamḥ means a swift glance. The meaning is that the command for the Resurrection is no faster than the twinkling of an eye. This affirms His complete power.
• {Or quicker (aw aqrab)}: The blink of an eye involves the movement of the eyeball (the pupil) from the top of the socket to the bottom. Since the surface of the pupil is composed of indivisible parts, the blink involves passing over many such parts sequentially, taking a composite time made up of successive moments (ānāt). Allah is capable of bringing the Resurrection into existence in a single one of those moments, hence He said, {Or quicker}. Since the blink of an eye is the fastest event conceivable to our minds, it was mentioned as the reference point.
• The phrase {Or quicker} is not meant to express doubt, but rather to assert: "Rather, it is quicker."
• Al-Zajjaj’s View: He suggested it implies ambiguity for the addressees: Allah will bring the Hour either in the time of a blink or something faster.
• Al-Qadi’s Critique: This view is incorrect because establishing the Hour is not a matter of temporal decree (taklīf); rather, it must be created instantaneously at a single moment. This differs from the creation of the heavens and the earth, which occurred during a period of decree, where sequential creation was permissible for the benefit of the angels.

Refutation of Al-Qadi’s Critique: This objection is valid only according to Al-Qadi’s doctrine. However, according to our view—that Allah does whatever He wills and judges as He desires—this objection has no force.

Evidence for the Creator (The Origin of Knowledge)

Allah then returns to providing evidence for the existence of the free-acting Creator: {And Allah brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers while you knew nothing} (78).

Issue 1 (Recitation): Hamzah and Al-Kisā’ī recited ummahātikum (with a kasra on the mīm), while the rest recited it with a ḍammah.

Issue 2 (Etymology): Ummahātikum originally was amātukum. The hā’ was added, similar to the addition in araqa becoming ahraqa. Its solitary addition in the singular form is rare, as seen in poetry.

Issue 3 (The State of Creation): Man is created initially devoid of knowledge of things.

{And He made for you hearing and vision and hearts} (78). Meaning: Since the human intellect (nafs) is empty of knowledge and recognition of Allah at the beginning of creation, Allah granted these senses so that man might acquire knowledge and understanding through them.

Deeper Philosophical Analysis: Perceptions and affirmations are either acquired (kasbiyyah) or self-evident (badīhiyyah). Acquired knowledge can only be attained through the combination of self-evident principles. Therefore, these self-evident sciences must precede everything else.

A strong question arises: Were these self-evident sciences present at our creation, or not?

1. If they were present: This is false, as we know by necessity that when we were fetuses, we did not know that affirmation and negation cannot coexist, nor that the whole is greater than the part.
2. If they were not present: This implies that these self-evident sciences came into being after non-existence. This requires acquisition (kasb), and anything acquired requires prior knowledge. This leads to an infinite regress, which is impossible.

The Answer: The truth is that these self-evident sciences were not present initially, yet they came into existence.

• Rebuttal to the necessity of acquisition: We deny that their initial occurrence necessitates acquisition. Rather, they came into being through the assistance of the senses (hearing and sight).
• Mechanism: The nafs was initially empty. Allah created hearing and sight. When a child sees something repeatedly, the essence (māhiyyah) of the seen object is imprinted on his imagination. Similarly, repeated hearing imprints the essence of the heard object. This applies to all senses. The presence of the senses causes the essences of perceived things to be present in the nafs and intellect.
• These essences fall into two categories:
  1. Those whose mere presence necessitates a definitive judgment by the mind, affirming or denying a relationship between them. For example, when the concepts of "one" and "half of two" are present, their simultaneous presence is a sufficient cause for the mind to affirm that "one is half of two." This category is the self-evident knowledge.
  2. Those that do not necessitate immediate judgment, which are the theoretical sciences (nazarīyyah). For example, merely conceiving "body" and "that which is created" does not suffice to affirm that "the body is created"; this requires separate proof and prior knowledge.

Conclusion: Acquired knowledge depends on self-evident knowledge. The emergence of self-evident knowledge depended on the emergence of the concepts of their subjects and predicates. The emergence of these concepts depended on the senses perceiving individual instances. Thus, the primary cause for the emergence of all knowledge in the souls and intellects is that Allah granted these senses. This is why the verse states: {And Allah brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers while you knew nothing, and He made for you hearing and vision and hearts}—so that the acquisition of these senses would cause the souls to transition from ignorance to knowledge via the path described. These are profound, purely intellectual discussions embedded in these verses.

Commentators' View:

• Hearing: To hear Allah’s admonitions.
• Vision: To see Allah’s proofs.
• Hearts (Af’idah): To comprehend Allah’s greatness. Af’idah is the plural of fu’ād, like aghribah (plural) of ghurāb (singular).
• Al-Zajjaj: Why is fu’ād not pluralized using the plural for large numbers?
• My View (Al-Razi): Perhaps fu’ād is pluralized using the form for a small number (jam‘ al-qillah) to indicate that hearing and sight are abundant, but true fu’ād (for real knowledge and certain understanding) is scarce. Most people are preoccupied with animalistic actions and base qualities, so their fu’ād is not truly functioning as such, hence the use of the plural form for fewness.

Addressing a Potential Contradiction: If one asks: The verse says, {And Allah made for you hearing and vision}, which is coordinated with {He brought you forth}, implying the making of hearing and vision occurred after being brought forth from the womb. But this is not the case. Answer: The conjunction wāw (and) does not necessitate sequence. Furthermore, if we interpret "hearing" as istimā‘ (attentive listening) and "vision" as ru’yah (the act of seeing), the question is resolved.

Evidence from Birds

{Have they not seen the birds subjected [to service] in the air of the sky? None holds them up except Allah} (79).

Issue 1 (Recitation): Ibn ‘Āmir, Hamzah, and Al-Kisā’ī recited a-lam taraw (Have you seen) using the tā’, addressing the previously mentioned disbelievers. The rest recited a-lam yaraw (Have they seen) using the yā’, referring back to them.

Issue 2 (Proof of Power and Wisdom): This is another proof of Allah’s perfect power and wisdom. If Allah had not created the birds with a nature enabling flight, and had not created the air in a manner conducive to flight, this would not be possible.

• Allah gave birds wings that they extend and fold, similar to a swimmer in water.
• He created the air as a subtle, thin substance that allows for easy penetration. Without this, flight would be impossible.

{None holds them up except Allah}: A heavy body cannot remain suspended in the air without a support beneath it or a tether above it. Therefore, the one sustaining them in that medium must be Allah. Since their suspension is an action resulting from their choice (to fly), this proves that the Creator of the servant's actions is Allah.

• Al-Qadi’s View: Allah attributed this holding up to Himself because He provided the means (the wings and the air) that enable the bird’s actions. Since He is the ultimate cause, this attribution to Allah is valid.
• The Refutation: This interpretation abandons the apparent meaning (al-ẓāhir) without proof, which is impermissible, especially since rational proofs indicate that the actions of creatures are created by Allah.

{Indeed in that are signs for a people who believe} (79). Allah specified these signs for the believers because they are the ones who benefit from them, even though the signs are present for all rational people.