Ghafir (The Forgiver): Verse 64

The Signs in the Cycle of Day and Night

We have previously established that the proofs for God's existence and power are either celestial (astronomical) or elemental (material).

The celestial proofs are numerous. One of them is the succession of night and day. Since most of the world's welfare is connected to these two, God mentioned them here.

1. The Wisdom of Night: The night was created so that people may find rest through sleep and stillness.
   • Reason 1 for Rest: Movement causes fatigue because it generates heat and dryness, which leads to pain.
   • Reason 2 for Rest: Sensation requires the bodily spirits (ruh) to reach the surface of the senses. Excessive movement causes these spirits to dissipate, weakening the senses. When a person sleeps, these sensitive spirits return to the interior of the body, become concentrated, strengthened, and relieved of fatigue.
   • Furthermore, the night is cold and moist, counteracting the heat and dryness accumulated during the day due to excessive movement.
   • These are the benefits mentioned in His saying: {It is Allah Who made for you the night that you may rest therein} (Ghafir 64).

2. The Wisdom of Day: As for His saying, {and the day that makes things visible} (Ghafir 64):
   • Man is naturally social (madani bi-ṭ-ṭabʿ), meaning his affairs cannot be organized without a complete city (madīnah).
   • Human needs—food, drink, clothing, and marriage—require many actions. These actions involve transactions concerning various matters.
   • These transactions can only be completed with light and illumination, enabling a person to distinguish what is beneficial from what is not. This is the wisdom behind {and the day that makes things visible}.

Objection: Given the need for order, shouldn't the verse have said: "He Who made the night for you to rest therein, and the day for you to see therein"? Why did He use the noun form ("visible") for the day?

Answer 1 (Regarding the form): Night and sleep are essentially non-existent states (ṭabīʿah ʿadamiyyah) and are not intrinsically sought after. Wakefulness, however, involves existent matters (umūr wujūdiyyah) that are intrinsically sought. Al-Shaykh Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani noted in Dalāʾil al-Iʿjāz that the nominal form (Ism) indicates completeness and perfection more strongly than the verbal form (Fiʿl). This explains the difference in phrasing.

Answer 2 (Regarding the order): Darkness is a non-existent nature, while light is an existent nature. In created things, non-existence precedes existence. This is why He said at the beginning of Al-Anʿām: {and [He] made the darkness and the light} (Al-Anʿām 1:1).

Gratitude and Divine Sovereignty

After mentioning the profound benefits and wisdom in the night and day, God said: {Indeed, Allah is full of bounty to the people, but most of the people are not grateful} (Ghafir 64).

This means God's bounty upon creation is immense, yet they do not thank Him. The failure to be grateful stems from three reasons:

1. Denial of Source: Believing these blessings are not from God (e.g., thinking the celestial spheres are necessarily existent and necessarily rotating on their own).
2. Forgetfulness due to Continuity: Even if one believes God created everything, the continuous nature of blessings like the day/night cycle leads to forgetfulness. A person only recognizes their value when deprived, such as someone imprisoned in a dark well realizing the value of fresh air and light.
3. Worldly Preoccupation: Even if one knows the value of these blessings, intense desire for wealth and status causes them to become ungrateful for these great favors when they miss out on material gains.

Since most people perish in one of these three valleys, He stated: {but most of the people are not grateful}. This is similar to His saying: {but few of My servants are grateful} (Saba' 13) and Iblis's statement: {and You will not find most of them grateful} (Al-Aʿrāf 17).

When God established the existence of the Capable, Merciful, Wise Deity through these proofs, He declared: {That is Allah, your Lord, Creator of all things; there is no deity except Him. So how are you turned away?} (Ghafir 64).

Al-Kashshāf explains: "That is Allah, the One known and distinguished by unique actions no one shares with Him; your Lord, the Creator of all things; there is no deity except Him." These are successive statements affirming that He encompasses the attributes of Divinity, Lordship, creation of all things, and that He has no second. {So how are you turned away?} means: How are you diverted from these proofs and how do you deny them?

Then He said: {Thus are those who were denying the verses of Allah turned away} (Ghafir 64). Meaning, everyone who denies God's signs, does not contemplate them, and lacks the drive to seek truth and fear the consequence, will be turned away just as they were.

Verses 65–70: Further Proofs and Divine Attributes

{It is Allah Who made for you the earth a resting place and the heaven a canopy and formed you and perfected your forms and provided for you of the good things. That is Allah, your Lord; so blessed is Allah, Lord of the worlds. He is the Ever-Living; there is no deity except Him, so invoke Him, [being] sincere to Him in religion. [Saying], "Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds." Say, "I have been forbidden to worship those you call upon besides Allah, since the clear proofs have come to me from my Lord, and I have been commanded to submit to the Lord of the worlds." He is the One Who created you from dust, then from a sperm-drop, then from a clinging clot, then brings you out as a child, then [permits you] to reach maturity, then [allows you] to become old—and among you is he who is taken in death before—and [permits you] to reach a specified term, that you may use reason.} (Ghafir 65–70)

We have established that proofs for God's existence and power are either signs of the horizons (external world) or signs of the selves (human nature/body).

Many are mentioned, including the cycle of night and day (already discussed). The second set mentioned here concerns the Earth and the Sky: {It is Allah Who made for you the earth a resting place and the heaven a canopy} (Ghafir 65).

• Earth as a Resting Place (qarāran): Ibn Abbas said this means a dwelling place both in life and after death.
• Heaven as a Canopy (bināʾan): Like a dome erected over the earth, or something holding the earth up without pillars, enabling human activity upon it. It is stable and fixed; otherwise, it would fall upon us.

These refer to the signs in the human body and soul pointing to the Capable, Wise Creator. Two categories are mentioned here: those observed in the current state and those related to the initial creation.

Current State (Observed Now)

Three types are mentioned here:

1. The creation of your form: {and formed you} (Ghafir 66).
2. The perfection of your form: {and perfected your forms} (Ghafir 66). (We have elaborated on the honor of Adam's creation extensively elsewhere, especially regarding verse 70 of Al-Isrāʾ).
3. His provision of good things: {and provided for you of the good things} (Ghafir 66).

After mentioning these five proofs (two from the horizons, three from the selves), He said: {That is Allah, your Lord; so blessed is Allah, Lord of the worlds} (Ghafir 66). Tabārak (Blessed) implies either permanence and stability or abundance of goodness.

Then He said: {He is the Ever-Living; there is no deity except Him} (Ghafir 66). This implies exclusivity: no one is truly Al-Ḥayy (The Ever-Living) except Him. This must refer to the Being whose non-death is inherent (yamtaniʿ an yamūta imtināʿan dhātiyyan). If this is the case, then no one else is truly alive, as anything whose cessation is possible is treated as non-existent in comparison.

• Definition of Al-Ḥayy: Al-Ḥayy means the Knower (Dārik) and the Doer (Fāʿil). Dārik points to perfect knowledge, and Fāʿil points to complete power.
• After establishing these attributes of Majesty, He points to the third attribute: Oneness, by saying: {there is no deity except Him}.

Following these descriptions, He commanded two things: Invocation and Sincerity in Religion: {so invoke Him, [being] sincere to Him in religion} (Ghafir 66).

Then: {Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds} (Ghafir 65). This can be a statement of praise, or it can mean that because He is described with attributes of Majesty and Glory, He inherently deserves the praise: "Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds."

After describing His Majesty, He said: {Say, "I have been forbidden to worship those you call upon besides Allah, since the clear proofs have come to me from my Lord..."} (Ghafir 66).

He addresses the polytheists gently to dissuade them from idol worship. The reason for this prohibition is the clear proofs (al-bayyināt), which established that the world's God possesses the attributes of Majesty and Glory mentioned previously. Sound intellect (ṣarīḥ al-ʿaql) testifies that worship is due only to Him, and making carved stones and carved wood partners in divinity is inherently absurd.

He continues: {...and I have been commanded to submit to the Lord of the worlds} (Ghafir 66).

The Prophet (PBUH) mentioned these rulings concerning himself because they believed he possessed the utmost intellect and perfection of essence. It is self-evident that everyone desires the best and most perfect outcome for themselves. When it is shown that his perfection is achieved only by turning away from all besides God and completely turning toward obedience to God, it becomes clear that this path is superior to all others.

Then He said: {He is the One Who created you from dust...} (Ghafir 67).

We noted that proofs are of the horizons and the selves. The proofs of the horizons mentioned here are four: night, day, earth, and sky. The proofs of the selves mentioned in the current state were three: form, perfect form, and provision of good things.

The second category of self-proofs concerns the process of bodily formation from the beginning until old age and death, which is mentioned here: {He is the One Who created you from dust, then from a sperm-drop, then from a clinging clot...} (Ghafir 67).

• Some interpret this as referring only to Adam. However, I see no need for this, as every human is created from semen and menstrual blood. Semen originates from blood, which originates from nourishment (animal or plant). All nourishment ultimately traces back to plants, and plants originate from dust.
• The process goes from dust to a sperm-drop, then a clot (ʿalaqah), passing through many stages until birth. God omitted these intermediate stages because they were mentioned elsewhere in the Qur'an.

God ordered human life into three stages:

1. Childhood (Ṭufuliyyah): The stage of increase, growth, and development.
2. Reaching Maturity (Balūgh al-Ushd): Reaching the peak of development and strength without weakness or deficiency.
3. Old Age (Shaykhūkhah): {then [allows you] to become old} (Ghafir 68).

This division is logical. The Kashshāf suggests that {then [permits you] to reach maturity} implies an omitted verb: "Then He sustains you so that you may reach maturity."

Exceptions: {and among you is he who is taken in death before} (Ghafir 68)—meaning before old age, or even before maturity (if miscarried).

The Final Term: {and [permits you] to reach a specified term} (Ghafir 68). This means He allows you to live until the appointed time, which is the moment of death, or perhaps the Day of Resurrection.

The Purpose: {that you may use reason} (Ghafir 68)—to reflect upon the lessons and proofs contained in these wondrous stages.

Verse 71–72: Life, Death, and Divine Decree

{It is He Who gives life and causes death. And when He decrees a matter, He only says to it, "Be," and it is.} (Ghafir 71)

{Say, "Indeed, I have been forbidden to worship those you call upon besides Allah, since the clear proofs have come to me from my Lord, and I have been commanded to submit to the Lord of the worlds."} (Ghafir 66 - Repeated for context/structure)

{He is the One Who created you from dust, then from a sperm-drop, then from a clinging clot, then brings you out as a child, then [permits you] to reach maturity, then [allows you] to become old—and among you is he who is taken in death before—and [permits you] to reach a specified term, that you may use reason.} (Ghafir 67–68 - Repeated for context/structure)