Tafsir of Al-`Ankabut 29:19

If you ask: What do you make of His saying: "Say, 'Travel through the land'"? I say: It is a narration of words spoken by Abraham (peace be upon him) to his people, just as our Messenger (peace be upon him) narrates the words of God in this manner throughout most of the Qur'an.

If you ask: If it is an address to the Quraysh, how can it be placed between the two parts of the story of Abraham and the sentence? Do parenthetical sentences not require a connection to that in which they are inserted? Do you not see that you cannot say: "Mecca—and Zayd, his father is standing—is the best of God's lands"? I say: The inclusion of the story of Abraham is intended only to provide solace to the Messenger of God (peace be upon him), to be a comfort and a diversion for him, showing that his forefather Abraham, the Friend of God, was tested with the likes of what he was tested with—the polytheism of his people and their worship of idols. Thus, He interrupted with His saying: "If you deny," meaning: "If you, O assembly of Quraysh, deny Muhammad, then Abraham’s people denied him, and every nation denied its prophet." For His saying: "For nations before you have denied" must necessarily include the nation of Abraham. It is, as you see, an inserted yet connected interruption. The subsequent verses are its appendages and consequences, as they speak of monotheism and its proofs, the demolition of polytheism and the weakening of its foundations, and the description of God’s power, authority, clear proof, and evidence.

"See" (yaraw) is read with both ya and ta. "Originates" (yabda'u) and "begins" (yabda'u). His saying "then He will bring it into being" (thumma yu'iduha) is not conjoined to "originates," nor does the act of "seeing" apply to it. Rather, it is an independent report regarding the resurrection after death, similar to the observation in His saying: "Look how He began the creation, then God will produce the final creation," which focuses on the beginning rather than the production. It is like your saying: "I continue to prefer so-and-so and appoint him over those I have appointed."

If you ask: It is conjoined with a conjunction, so it must have something to be conjoined to; what is it? I say: It is the sentence: "Have they not seen how God originates the creation?" Likewise, "and I appoint him" is conjoined to the sentence: "I continue to prefer so-and-so."

"That" (dhalika) refers to what "it" refers to in His saying: "And it is easier for Him" (Ar-Rum: 27), in the sense of "bringing back." By saying "the final creation," He indicates that there are two creations, and that each is a "creation" (insha')—meaning an initiation, an invention, and a bringing forth from non-existence into existence. There is no difference between them, except that the latter is a creation following a similar creation, while the first is not. It is read as al-nash'ah and al-nasha'ah, like al-ra'fah and al-ra'afah.

If you ask: What is the meaning of explicitly stating His name as the subject in His saying: "Then God will produce the final creation," after it was implied in His saying: "How He began the creation?" The standard would be to say: "How God began the creation, then He produces the final creation." I say: The discourse with them was regarding the resurrection, and that is where their knees would knock together. When He established for them that the beginning was from God, He argued against them that the resurrection is a creation like the beginning. Since God, whom nothing can frustrate, is the One who was not frustrated by the beginning, He is the One who must not be frustrated by the resurrection. It is as if He said: "Then He who created the first creation is the One who will create the final creation." To indicate and draw attention to this meaning, He brought forth His name and made it the subject.

"He punishes whom He wills" (His punishment) "and has mercy on whom He wills" (His mercy). The object of these two wills is explained and clarified in various places in the Qur'an: it is those who deserve them among the disbelievers and the wicked if they do not repent, and the protected and the repentant.

"You will be returned" (tuqlabun): You will be brought back and returned. "And you will not escape" (wa ma antum bi-mu'jizin): Your Lord—meaning you will not elude Him if you flee from His judgment and decree. "In the earth" (the vast) "nor in the heaven" (which is even vaster and more expansive, if you were in it), like His saying: "If you can pass beyond the regions of the heavens and the earth, then pass!" (Ar-Rahman: 33). It is also said: "Nor those who are in the heaven," as Hassan (may God be pleased with him) said: Is he who mocks the Messenger of God among you, and he who praises and defends him, the same?

It is also possible that it means: You will not escape Him however much you descend into the depths and chasms of the earth, or ascend into the towers and fortresses reaching into the sky, like His saying: "Even if you should be within towers of lofty construction" (An-Nisa: 78). Or, you will not escape His command that runs through the heaven and the earth, so that it might befall you, striking you with a calamity that emerges from the earth or descends from the heaven.

"And those who disbelieve in the signs of God and His meeting—those have despaired of My mercy, and those will have a painful punishment."