Al-Infitar (The Cleaving): Verse 6

Know that when the Almighty, Glorified be He, mentioned the Resurrection and the Gathering in the first verse, He then mentioned in this verse what logically proves its possibility or its occurrence. This is from two perspectives:

First: That the Generous God, whose generosity forbids Him from cutting off the tables of His bounties from the sinners, how could His generosity permit Him not to take vengeance for the oppressed against the oppressor?

Second: That the Capable One, who created this human structure, then fashioned and proportioned it, either created it without wisdom or with wisdom.

• If He created it without wisdom, that would be futile, which is impossible for the Wise.
• If He created it with wisdom, that wisdom either pertains to God Almighty or to the servant. The former is false because He is exalted above needing perfection or benefit.
• Therefore, the latter must be true: He created creation for a wisdom pertaining to the servant. This wisdom either manifests in this world or in a realm other than this world. The former is false because this world is a house of trial and testing, not a house of benefit and recompense.

Since all other possibilities are negated, it is established that there must be another abode after this one. Thus, acknowledging the existence of the Generous God, capable of creation, proportioning, and balancing, necessitates that the rational person be certain that He will resurrect the dead and gather them. This certainty prevents them from denying the Resurrection and Gathering.

This very line of reasoning is mentioned in Surah At-Tin where He says: {We have certainly created man in the best of stature} (At-Tin: 4) until He says: {Then what makes you deny the Recompense after this?} (At-Tin: 17).

This argumentation works for the Arabs who affirmed the Creator but denied the Re-creation, and it also works for those who deny both the beginning (creation) and the re-creation. This is because the balanced creation points to the Creator, and through it, it points to the validity of affirming the Resurrection and Gathering.

If one asks: This argument is based on Him being Wise, which is why He said in Surah At-Tin after this argument: {Is not Allah the Most Just of judges?} (At-Tin: 8). So, why did He not say in this Surah, "What has deluded you concerning your Wise Lord?"

The answer is: Generosity necessitates wisdom, because conveying blessings to others, if not based on the call of wisdom, would be extravagance, not generosity. But if it is based on the call of wisdom, then it is called generosity.

If this is established, we say: His being Generous indicates the occurrence of the Resurrection from two aspects, as we have detailed. As for His being Wise, it indicates the occurrence of the Resurrection from the second aspect (the wisdom of creation). Therefore, mentioning the Generous here is more appropriate than mentioning the Wise. This completes the discussion on the coherence of the structure; let us return to the exegesis.

As for His saying: {Indeed, We created man} (Al-Infitar: 6), there are two opinions:

1. It refers to the disbeliever. This is supported by what follows: {No! But you deny the Recompense} (Al-Infitar: 9). 'Ata reported from Ibn Abbas that it was revealed concerning Al-Walid ibn Al-Mughirah. Al-Kalbi and Muqatil said it concerns Ibn Al-Asad ibn Kulda ibn Usayd, because he struck the Prophet (peace be upon him), and God did not punish him immediately, so this verse was revealed.
2. It encompasses all sinners. This is the closer view, because the specificity of the occasion does not negate the generality of the wording.

As for His saying: {What has deluded you concerning your Lord, the Generous?} (Al-Infitar: 7), it means: What deceived you and made falsehood appealing to you, leading you to abandon obligations and commit prohibitions? The meaning is: What made you feel secure from His punishment? It is said, gharrāhu bi-fulān (he was deluded by so-and-so) if one feels secure from the danger posed by that person, even though they are not secure. This is like His saying: {Let not the deceiver delude you concerning Allah} (Luqman: 33).

This interpretation applies if we take "Indeed, We created man" to mean all sinners. If we take it to mean the disbeliever, the meaning is: What prompted you to disbelief, denial of the Messengers, and rejection of the Resurrection and Gathering?

Here are some questions:

Since His generosity necessitates being deluded by Him, how is it mentioned here as a deterrent against delusion?

The Answer (in several ways):

1. The meaning of the verse is: Since you saw God's forbearance toward His creation, you assumed that this was because there is no reckoning or abode except this world. What then prompted this delusion and emboldened you to deny the Resurrection and Gathering? Your Lord is Generous, and out of His generosity, He does not hasten punishment to extend the period of repentance and postpone the recompense until He gathers people in the abode He designated for recompense. In summary, the delay in immediate punishment is due to His generosity, and this does not imply the delusion that there is no abode after this one.
2. Since His generosity reaches the extent that it does not withhold His tables of favor from the disobedient, it is even more fitting that He would take vengeance for the oppressed against the oppressor. Therefore, His being Generous necessitates intense fear from this consideration, and abandoning boldness and delusion.
3. Abundant generosity necessitates diligence and striving in service, and shame regarding delusion and negligence.
4. Some people said: He said {your Lord, the Generous} so that it serves as an answer to the question, allowing the person to say: "Your generosity deluded me. Had it not been for Your generosity, I would not have acted, because You saw and covered [my faults], and You had power and granted respite." This answer is only valid if the meaning of {Indeed, We created man} is not the disbeliever.

The Answer (in several ways):

1. Qatadah said: The cause of the son of Adam's delusion is the whispering of Satan to him.
2. Al-Hasan said: His delusion was caused by his foolishness and ignorance.
3. Muqatil said: He was deluded by God's pardon of him when He did not punish him at the beginning of his affair. It is also said: If God stands you up on the Day of Resurrection and asks you, "What deluded you concerning your Lord, the Generous?" what will you say? He replied: I will say, "Your extended veiling deluded me."

The answer is: It is either for astonishment or for interrogation derived from the phrase gharra al-rajul (the man was heedless/unaware), and agharrāhu ghayruhu (another made him heedless/unaware).

As for His saying: {He Who created you}, know that when the Almighty described Himself as Generous, He mentioned these three things as evidence confirming that generosity:

1. Creation, which is His saying: {He Who created you}. There is no doubt that existence is a favor, as existence is better than non-existence, and life is better than death. This is what He said: {How do you disbelieve in Allah while you were dead and He gave you life?} (Al-Baqarah: 28).
2. His saying: {then fashioned you} (or sawwāka), meaning He made you sound, with complete limbs, able to hear and see. Similar to this is His saying: {Did you disbelieve in Him Who created you from dust and then from a sperm-drop and then fashioned you into a man?} (Al-Kahf: 37). Dhun-Nun said: Sawwāka means He subjected all created things for you, and He did not make you subservient to any of them. Then He made your tongue articulate with remembrance, your heart with intellect, your spirit with gnosis, your secret with faith, and honored you with command and prohibition, favoring you over many of those He created with a distinct preference.
3. His saying: {and proportioned you} (fa-'addalaka). This involves two points of discussion:

First Discussion:

Muqatil said: It means He balanced your creation in your eyes, ears, hands, and feet, so He did not make one hand longer or one eye wider. This is like His saying: {Yes, [We are] able even to restore his fingertips} (Al-Qiyamah: 4). The explanation is what is known in anatomy: He assembled the two sides of this body in balance, such that there is no disparity between its two halves, neither in bones, nor in their shapes, nor in their openings, nor in the veins, arteries, and nerves passing through or emerging from them. A full discussion of this is not suitable for this science.

'Ata reported from Ibn Abbas: He made you stand upright, balanced, and well-formed, not like a bent beast. Abu Ali al-Farsi said: He balanced your creation, bringing you out in the best stature. Because of this balance, He made you receptive to intellect, power, and thought, and consequently made you dominant over all animals and plants, reaching a perfection that no other body in this world has reached.

Second Discussion:

The Kufan reciters read it as fa-'addalaka (with a light shaddah [tafkhif]), and there are several interpretations:

1. Abu Ali al-Farsi said: The meaning is that He balanced some of your limbs against others until you became balanced.
2. Al-Farra' said: {fa-'addalaka} means He directed you into whatever form He willed. He then said that the reading with the heavy shaddah (intensification) is better of the two interpretations, because you say, addaltuka ilā kadhā (I directed you toward such-and-such), just as you say sarraftuka ilā kadhā (I turned you toward such-and-such), but you do not say addaltuka fīhi or sarraftuka fīhi. In the first reading (light shaddah), the preposition fī (in) in {in whatever form} is a complement to the structure, which is good. In the second reading (heavy shaddah), it is a complement to {fa-'addalaka}, which is weak. Know that the objection of the reciters is directed only at this second interpretation. As for the first interpretation mentioned by Abu Ali al-Farsi, it is not subject to objection.
3. Al-Qaffal narrated from some that they are two linguistic variants meaning the same thing.

As for His saying: {in whatever form He willed He composed you} (fī ṣūratin mā shā’a rakkabak), there are discussions:

First Discussion:

Is the word mā (what/whatever) superfluous or not? There are two opinions:

1. It is not superfluous; rather, it is in the sense of condition and consequence. The meaning would be: In whatever form He willed to compose you, He composed you. Based on this view, Abu Salih and Muqatil said: The meaning is that if He willed, He could have composed you in a form other than human, such as the form of a dog, a donkey, a pig, or a monkey.
2. It is an emphatic complement. The meaning is: In whatever form His will and wisdom necessitate among the different forms, He composes you according to a similar one. Under this view, the verse can bear several meanings:
   • The different forms refer to the resemblance to the father and mother, or the father's relatives or the mother's relatives. The meaning is that He composes you according to the likeness of these people. Evidence for this is the narration that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said regarding this verse: "When the sperm drop settles in the womb, God brings before it every lineage connecting it to Adam."
   • The different forms refer to the variation in tallness and shortness, beauty and ugliness, and masculinity and femininity. The evidence this situation provides for the Capable Creator is extremely clear, because the sperm drop is a body with uniform parts, and the influence of the parents' nature upon it is equal. Therefore, the agent acting through nature upon a uniform recipient can only produce one result. Since the effects and attributes differ, this difference indicates that the Director is the Capable, Choosing One. Al-Qaffal said: The difference in creation and color is like the difference in states of wealth and poverty, health and sickness. Just as we affirm that He distinguished some from others in wealth and poverty, and in length and shortness of life, by a profound wisdom whose essence only He encompasses, so too we know that He only made some different from others in creation and color by a profound wisdom. This is because this difference distinguishes the doer of good from the doer of evil, and the relative from the stranger. He then said: We bear witness with certainty that He did not differentiate between appearances and forms except for what He knew to be beneficial for His servants, even if we are ignorant of the exact nature of that benefit.
   • Al-Wasiti said: The intended forms are those of the obedient and the disobedient. So, the one He composed in the form of guardianship is not like the one He composed in the form of enmity. Others said it refers to the purity or darkness of the souls. Al-Hasan said: Some He formed to single them out for Himself, and some He formed to occupy them with others. An example of the first is that He created Adam to single him out with the favors of His kindness and to elevate his status, manifesting his spirit from among His Majesty and Glory, crowning him with the crown of honor, and adorning him with the robe of majesty and awe.

7 < {No! But you deny the Recompense.} > 7 !

His saying, the Almighty: {No! But you deny the Recompense} (Al-Infitar: 9).