In the name of God, the Lord of Grace, the Ever Merciful
All praise is due to God, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, who assigns angels to be messengers, endowed with wings, two, or three, or four. He adds to His creation what He pleases. Indeed God has power over all things.
Whatever grace God opens up to man, none can withhold it; and whatever He withholds, none other than Him can release. He alone is Almighty, Wise. (The Originator, Fatir, 35: 1-2)
This Makkan surah possesses a special character both in its subject and style. It perhaps best compares with Surah 13, Thunder, in the way in which it addresses the human heart, using, from start to finish, a fascinating rhythm employing various beats. It moves us into contemplation of the great universe and the numerous signs to be found in every nook and cranny. Man thus remembers God’s blessings and appreciates the grace and favor He bestows on all His creatures. He also visualizes the end suffered by earlier communities and their fate on the Day of Judgement. He thus feels humbled as he looks at the countless marvels that constitute God’s work. He also recognizes that there is only one truth and one law running through all existence, and that this is controlled by God’s hand. The surah imparts all this in a style and rhythm that leave a profound and powerful effect on our minds.
The surah is a complete unit with interlinked rings, making it hard to divide into parts addressing separate subjects. In fact it has only one subject, but it plays its rhythm on the strings of the human heart so as to fill our souls, calling us to believe and submit ourselves to God.
The most distinctive feature of the surah is that it puts all these strings in God’s hand, showing how they work, being pulled or stretched, separated or combined, without restriction or influence. We note this distinctive feature at the outset, and it runs through the surah to its very end.
The great universe, with its limitless expanse, has been brought into existence by God, according to His design: “All praise is due to God, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, who assigns angels to be messengers, endowed with wings, two, or three, or four. He adds to His creation what He pleases. Indeed God has power over all things.” (Verse 1)
This strong hand of God opens up to send us flowing mercy without restriction, and then clinches to stop it at source. No one can alter this: “Whatever grace God opens up to man, none can withhold it; and whatever He withholds, none other than Him can release. He alone is Almighty, Wise.” (Verse 2)
To follow guidance and to be in error are two opposite ends of the mercy spectrum: the first is flowing, the other withheld: “God lets go astray him that wills (to go astray), just as He guides him that wills (to be guided).” (Verse 8) “God can make hear whoever He wills, whereas you cannot make those who are in their graves hear you. You are only a warner.” (Verses 22-23)
It is this very able hand that makes life in the first place, and then brings the dead back to life in the hereafter: “It is God who sends forth the winds, so that they raise clouds, and We drive them to a dead land and thereby give life to the earth after it had been lifeless. Thus shall resurrection be.” (Verse 9)
Power and glory belong to Him alone. Whoever wants any of this must derive it from Him alone: “Whoever desires might and glory should know that all might and glory belong to God alone.” (Verse 10)
Creation and giving shape and form to creatures, giving them offspring and determining their life duration are all within God’s grasp, never let loose: “It is God who creates you all out of dust, then out of a gamete. He then makes you into two sexes. No female conceives or gives birth without His knowledge. No one attains to old age or has his life cut short unless it be thus laid down in (God’s) decree. All this is easy for God.” (Verse 11)
Also in His grasp are all the controls to the heavens, the earth, and other celestial bodies: “He causes the night to pass into the day, and the day to pass into the night; and He has made the sun and the moon subservient (to His laws), each running its course for an appointed term. Thus is God, your Lord: to Him belongs all dominion, while those whom you invoke instead of Him do not own even the skin of a date-stone.” (Verse 13)
God’s able hand works in this universe according to its own inspiring fashion, adding color to man, animals, plants and inanimate objects: “Are you not aware that God sends down water from the skies, with which We bring forth fruits of different colors? In the mountains there are streaks of white and red of various shades, as well as others jet-black. Similarly, human beings, beasts and cattle have various colors. (Verses 27-28)
The same hand puts human beings on the move, making one generation succeed another: “We have given this Book to such of Our servants as We chose.” (Verse 32) “It is He who made you inherit the earth.” (Verse 39) It holds this universe, protecting it lest it deviate: “It is God alone who holds the celestial bodies and the earth, lest they deviate (from their courses). If they should ever deviate, no one else could uphold them after Him.” (Verse 41) He holds everything in control, nothing stands in defiance of His will: “God can never be foiled by anything whatever in the heavens and the earth.” (Verse 44)
Throughout the surah God’s different attributes are emphasized. He is the One who has power over all things; the Almighty; the Wise; to whom all things return; who knows all that they do; to whom all dominion belongs; who is free of all wants, worthy of all praise; with whom all journeys end; much-forgiving; most appreciative; all-aware; all-seeing; who knows all that is hidden in the heavens and earth; fully aware of what is in people’s hearts; ever-forbearing; infinite in His power and who has all His servants in His sight.
These verses and the comments at the end of each create the special ambience of the surah and the overall effect it has on our hearts. Despite its being a single whole, with continuous beats, we have chosen to divide it into six sections to enable easier discussion.
