Tafsir of Fussilat 41:47-54

Tafsir of Surah Fussilat (Verses 47-54)

Verse 47: {إِلَيْهِ يُرَدُّ عِلْمُ السَّاعَةِ}

After threatening the disbelievers in the preceding verse (v. 46) that the consequence of their deeds will return to them, as if someone asked, "When will that Day be?" Allah answered by stating that the knowledge of that Hour is exclusively His: {To Him is returned the knowledge of the Hour.}

This phrase implies exclusivity: no one knows the precise time of the Hour except Allah. Just as this specific knowledge belongs only to Allah, so too does the knowledge of the occurrence of future events at their appointed times belong only to Allah, the Exalted.

He then provided two examples of this divine, exclusive knowledge:

1. {And no fruits emerge from their casings}
2. {And no female conceives or gives birth except by His knowledge.}

• Linguistic Note: Abu 'Ubaydah explained that akmāmihā (casings) are their sheaths, which is where the fruit is contained; the singular is kumm or kimmah.
• Recitation Variant: Nafi', Ibn 'Amir, and Hafs from 'Asim recited min thamarātin (plural with alif), while the rest recited min thamaratin (singular without alif).

Verse 47 (Continued): Addressing Claims of Foreknowledge

The structure of this verse is similar to Allah's saying: {Indeed, with Allah is the knowledge of the Hour, and He sends down the rain...} (Luqman: 34).

A question arises: Do not astrologers (astrologers/soothsayers) sometimes deduce many worldly events from the ascendant sign of the year, or from people's horoscopes? Furthermore, there is the practice of ‘Ilm al-Raml (geomancy), which is often accurate, and dream interpretation, which by consensus can indicate hidden matters. How can these observable sciences be reconciled with this verse?

The Answer: Those who practice these sciences cannot achieve absolute certainty (qaṭ‘) in any matter. Their highest claim is merely a weak conjecture (ẓann). The verse states that the knowledge of the Hour belongs only to Allah, and true knowledge (‘ilm) is certainty and conviction (yajīn). Thus, this resolves the apparent contradiction.

Verse 48: {وَيَوْمَ يُنَادِيهِمْ أَيْنَ شُرَكَائِي}

After mentioning the Resurrection, Allah followed it up with an account of what will happen on that Day, which strongly relates to the beginning of the Surah. The beginning of the Surah indicated that the disbelievers' strong aversion to listening to the Qur'an stemmed from the Prophet (PBUH) calling them to monotheism and renouncing idols (e.g., "Say, 'I am only a man like you, to whom it is revealed that your God is one God'" [v. 6]). Therefore, the end of the Surah mentions the warning for those who asserted partners for Allah:

{And the Day He will call to them, "Where are My partners," meaning, according to your claim and belief. They will say,}

• Ibn Abbas said: {We informed You} (similar to the verse: {The earth will split apart, and they will cry out, and they will say, {We informed You...}} [Al-Inshiqaq: 5]), meaning, "We told you."
• Al-Kalbi said: "We informed you." This interpretation is weak because the people of the Resurrection will know Allah and know that He necessarily knows all things, making the act of informing Him impossible.

Verse 48 (Continued): {قَالُوا أَذَنَّا عَلَيْكَ مَا كُنَّا نَدْعُو مِن قَبْلُ} (Note: The excerpt skips the full quote here, focusing on the denial.)

{None of us will be a witness.} There are several interpretations for this denial:

1. First Meaning: None of us testifies that you have a partner. The intent is that on that Day, they will disavow the assertion of partners with Allah.
2. Second Meaning: None of us is present to witness them, as they (the idols) have strayed from them, and their gods are unseen at the moment of reprimand.
3. Third Meaning: The statement {None of us will be a witness} is the speech of the idols themselves, whom Allah will resurrect. They will then say, "None of us testifies to the truthfulness of the partnership attributed to us." Under this interpretation, it means the idols will not benefit them, as if they had vanished from them.

Verse 49: {وَظَنُّوا أَن لَّهُم مِّن مَّحِيصٍ}

This is the beginning of speech from Allah, stating that the disbelievers first thought (or doubted) and then became certain that they had no escape from the Fire and punishment. Some commentators suggest they first thought they had no escape, and then became certain of it, but this is unlikely, as the inhabitants of Hell know their punishment is eternal.

When Allah described the state of these disbelievers—who insisted on asserting partners for Allah in this world but disavowed those partners in the Hereafter—He demonstrated that human beings constantly change their state and disposition: if they experience good fortune and power, they become arrogant and inflated; if they feel affliction and hardship, they become withered. As the proverb says: "This one is like the qurla (a type of plant): if it sees good, it leans toward it; if it sees evil, it turns away."

Therefore, Allah said: {Man does not tire of asking for good, and if evil touches him, he becomes despairing, utterly hopeless.}

This is an intensification in two ways:

1. Through the structure of the word fa‘ūl (implying constant action).
2. Through repetition, where ya’s (despair) is a state of the heart, and qunūṭ (utter hopelessness) is the manifestation of despair in one's facial expressions and outward demeanor.

Verses 50-51: The Reaction to Blessing and Hardship

Allah then explained that if this despairing person is returned to favor and fortune (implied by {And if We let him taste a mercy from Us after an affliction has touched him}), he will utter three types of corrupt statements and false doctrines that lead to disbelief and distance from Allah:

First Corrupt Statement: He says, {This is for me.} This has two interpretations:

1. Meaning 1: "This is my right, which I have earned through the various virtues and righteous deeds I performed to draw near to Allah." The poor man does not realize that no one deserves anything from Allah. If he were devoid of virtues, this statement is clearly false. If he possesses virtues, they were all granted by Allah's grace and favor. If Allah has favored a servant with a gift, that favor cannot become a basis for him deserving something else from Allah. Thus, the claim that these goods were obtained due to his own merit is false.
2. Meaning 2: "This is mine and will not depart from me, remaining for me and my descendants."

Second Corrupt Statement: {And I do not think the Hour will be established.} This means he becomes intensely desirous of worldly life and strongly averse to the Hereafter. When matters pertain to this world, he claims ownership; when they pertain to the Hereafter, he says, "I do not think the Hour will be established."

Third Corrupt Statement: {And even if I should be returned to my Lord, indeed, for me is the best [recompense] with Him.} This implies that he generally believes the resurrection is false, but assuming it were true, he believes he is guaranteed the best reward with Allah. This statement indicates certainty of attaining reward through several aspects:

1. The particle inna (indeed) implies emphasis.
2. The precedence of the phrase lī (for me) indicates this emphasis.
3. The phrase {with Him} (‘indahu) suggests that all good things are present and prepared with Him, similar to saying, "I have X amount of dinars with so-and-so," implying immediate availability.
4. The lām in {lil-ḥusnā} (for the best) is also for emphasis.
5. Al-Ḥusnā (the best) implies perfection in that reward.

Verse 52: The Divine Rebuttal

When Allah recounted these three corrupt statements, He responded: {So We will surely inform those who disbelieved of what they did,} meaning, We will reveal to them that the reality is the opposite of what they believed and imagined, just as Allah said: {And We will present what they did of deeds and render them as scattered dust} (Al-Furqan: 23). {And We will make them taste a severe punishment} in response to their claim: {indeed, for me is the best [recompense] with Him.}

Verse 53: The Nature of Man's Inconstancy

After recounting the words of the one upon whom Allah bestowed favor and who then fell into calamities, Allah recounted his actions: {And when We bestow favor upon man, he turns away and withdraws his side,} meaning he turns away from glorifying Allah's command and showing compassion to His creation; he becomes self-important and arrogant. {But when adversity touches him, he becomes one devoted to prolonged supplication.}

The word ‘araḍa (turning away) is metaphorically used for extensive turning and persistence, which is a quality of physical bodies, and it can also imply length, just as ghaliẓ (severe) is used for the intensity of punishment.

Allah mentioned this to show that after detailing the severe warning against polytheism and showing that polytheists will retract their claims on the Day of Resurrection, displaying humility due to overwhelming fear, and after demonstrating that man is inherently changeable—becoming arrogant when he finds strength, and showing abject humility when he feels weakness—He followed this with a statement compelling them not to be excessively averse to accepting monotheism or excessively hostile toward the Messenger (PBUH).

{Say, "Have you considered: if it is from Allah and you disbelieve in it, who is more astray than one who is in extreme opposition?"}

The argument here is: When you heard this Qur'an, you turned away from it and refused to ponder it, reaching the point of saying, {Our hearts are within coverings from what you invite us to, and in our ears is deafness} (v. 5). It is self-evident that knowledge that the Qur'an is false is not an immediate, axiomatic truth, nor is the corruption of the call to monotheism and prophethood axiomatic. Before evidence is presented, it is possible for the claim to be true or false. If it turns out to be true, your insistence on rejecting it is one of the greatest causes for punishment. This line of reasoning demands that you abandon this stubbornness and return to reflection and deduction. If evidence proves its truth, accept it; if it proves its falsehood, reject it. But insisting on rejection and turning away before evidence is irrational.

The phrase {one who is in extreme opposition} (fī shiqaqin ba‘īd) is used instead of "you" to describe their state and characteristics.

Verse 54: {سَنُرِيهِمْ آيَاتِنَا فِي الْآفَاقِ وَفِي أَنفُسِهِمْ حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ}

After presenting numerous arguments supporting monotheism and prophethood, answering the doubts of the polytheists and the sophistries of the misguided, Allah said: {We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth.}

• Al-Wahidi stated that the singular of al-āfāq (horizons) is ufuq, meaning a direction or region of the earth, and similarly for the regions and extremities of the sky.

There are two interpretations for {Our signs in the horizons and within themselves}:

1. First Interpretation: The signs in the horizons refer to the celestial and planetary signs, the signs of day and night, light and darkness, the four elements, and the three types of creation (minerals, plants, animals)—Allah mentions these frequently in the Qur'an. The signs {within themselves} refer to the proofs derived from the manner of fetal development in the darkness of the wombs, and the creation of wondrous organs and strange compositions (as in {And in your own selves. Will you not then see?} [Adh-Dhariyat: 21]). This means We will show them these proofs time after time until doubts are removed from their hearts, and certainty is established regarding the existence of the Capable, Wise, Knowing God, Who is transcendent above likenesses and rivals.
   • Objection: This interpretation seems weak because the phrase {We will show them} implies that Allah has not yet shown them these signs, yet the signs in the cosmos and within themselves have existed before.
   • Response: Although they have seen these things, the wonders embedded in them are endless. Allah will reveal these wonders to them sequentially. For example, everyone has seen the human eye, but the wonders in its composition are numerous, and most people are unaware of them. The more one learns about these wonders, the more the statement {We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves} becomes true.

2. Second Interpretation: The signs in the horizons refer to the conquest of lands surrounding Mecca, and the signs within themselves refer to the conquest of Mecca itself. Proponents of this view favor it because the phrase {We will show them} fits this interpretation well.
   • Objection: Applying the verse to this interpretation seems far-fetched. At most, the Prophet (PBUH) conquered some surrounding lands and then Mecca. Conquest of some lands does not prove the conqueror is truthful; we see disbelievers conquering Muslim lands and rulers, yet this does not prove their truthfulness. This is why we prefer the first interpretation.
   • Defense of Second Interpretation (if insisted upon): We do not use the mere conquest of those lands as proof of his truthfulness in claiming prophethood. Rather, we use it as proof because the Prophet (PBUH) informed that he would conquer Mecca, subdue its people, and his companions would overcome the enemies. This was a report of the unseen that materialized exactly as reported. A true report of the unseen is a miracle. Thus, this conquest serves as evidence that this religion is true.

Verse 55: {أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِ بِرَبِّكَ أَنَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ}

{Or is it not sufficient for you that your Lord is witness over all things?}

• The phrase {bi-Rabbika} (with your Lord) is in the nominative case, acting as the subject of yakfī (is sufficient). The clause {that He is witness over all things} is the fa‘il (subject) completing the meaning. The structure is: "Is it not sufficient for them that your Lord is witness over all things?"
• The meaning of Allah being a witness over things is that He created the proofs for them, which we have detailed in the explanation of Allah's saying: {Say, "What is the greatest testimony?" Say, "Allah is witness..."} (Al-An'am: 19).
• The meaning is: Are not these numerous proofs that Allah has clarified and established in this Surah and throughout the Qur'an—proofs indicating monotheism, transcendence, justice, and prophethood—sufficient for them?

Verse 56: {أَلَا إِنَّهُمْ فِي مِرْيَةٍ مِّن لِّقَاءِ رَبِّهِمْ}

{Behold, they are in doubt concerning the meeting with their Lord.} Meaning, they are in great confusion and severe suspicion regarding the Resurrection and the Hour. (The reading fī miryatin with a ḍammah on the mīm is also attested.)

Verse 56 (Continued): {أَلَا إِنَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ مُّحِيطٌ}

{Behold, He is encompassing of all things.} Meaning, He knows all limitless knowledge, including the inner thoughts and outward actions of these disbelievers, and He will recompense everyone according to what is fitting: good for good, and evil for evil.

• A Question: Does the statement {He is encompassing of all things} imply that His knowledge is finite?
• Answer: The statement {He is encompassing of all things} implies that His knowledge encompasses every single thing, which necessitates that each thing is finite, but it does not necessitate that the sum total of all things is finite. (And Allah knows best the truth.)