The Angels, Originator, The Creator — Verse 38

هُوَ الَّذِى جَعَلَكُمْ خَلَـئِفَ فِى الاٌّرْضِ (He it is Who has made you successors generations after generations in the earth,) meaning, all people succeed one another, generation after generation. This is like the Ayah: وَيَجْعَلُكُمْ حُلَفَآءَ الاٌّرْضِ (and makes you inheritors of the earth, generations after generations) (27:62). فَمَن كَفَرَ فَعَلَيْهِ كُفْرُهُ (so whosoever disbelieves, on him will be his disbelief.) means, he and no one else will have to bear the consequences of that. وَلاَ يَزِيدُ الْكَـفِرِينَ كُفْرُهُمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ إِلاَّ مَقْتاً (And the disbelief of the disbelievers adds nothing but hatred of their Lord.) means, the longer they persist in their disbelief, the more Allah hates them, and the longer they persist in it, the more they and their families will lose on the Day of Resurrection. This is in contrast to the believers, for the longer they live and do good deeds, the higher their status in Paradise will be, the greater their reward, and the more beloved they will be to their Creator.

Truly God is Knower of the Unseen of the heavens and the earth; truly He knows well what is in the breasts what is in the hearts — thus there is all the more reason that He should also have knowledge of other things given the way people are.

إن الله مطَّلع على كل غائب في السماوات والأرض، وإنه عليم بخفايا الصدور، فاتقوه أن يطَّلع عليكم، وأنتم تُضْمِرون الشك أو الشرك في وحدانيته، أو في نبوة محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم، أو أن تَعْصوه بما دون ذلك.

يخبر تعالى بعلمه غيب السموات والأرض وأنه يعلم ما تكنه السرائر وما تنطوي عليه الضمائر وسيجازي كل عامل بعمله.

ثم ختم - سبحانه - الآيات الكريمة ببيان سعة علمه . فقال : ( إِنَّ الله عَالِمُ غَيْبِ السماوات والأرض إِنَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصدور ) .أى : إن الله - تعالى - لا يخفى عليه شئ سواء أكان هذا الشئ فى السماوات أم فى الأرض ، إنه - سبحانه - عليم بما تضمره القلوب ، وما تخفيه الصدور ، وما توسوس به النفوس .

القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَالِمُ غَيْبِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ إِنَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ (38)يقول تعالى ذكره: فَذُوقُوا نار عذاب جهنم الذي قد صَلِيتموه أيها الكافرون بالله فَمَا لِلظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ نَصِيرٍ يقول: فما للكافرين الذين ظلموا أنفسهم فأكسبوها غضب الله بكفرهم بالله في الدنيا من نصير ينصرهم من الله ليستنقذهم من عقابه. وقوله ( إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَالِمُ غَيْبِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأرْضِ ) يقول تعالى ذكره: إن الله عالم ما تخفون أيها الناس في أنفسكم وتضمرونه، وما لم تضمروه ولم تنووه مما ستنوونه، وما هو غائب عن أبصاركم في السماوات والأرض، فاتقوه أن يطلع عليكم، وأنتم تضمرون في أنفسكم من الشك في وحدانية الله أو في نبوة محمد، غير الذي تبدونه بألسنتكم، (إِنَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ).

"إن الله عالم غيب السموات والأرض إنه عليم بذات الصدور".

إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَالِمُ غَيْبِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ إِنَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ (38) جملة { إن الله عالم غيب السماوات والأرض } استئناف واصل بين جملة { إن الله بعباده لخبير بصير } [ فاطر : 31 ] وبين جملة { قل أرأيتم شركاءكم الذين تدعون من دون الله أروني ماذا خلقوا من الأرض } [ فاطر : 40 ] الآية ، فتسلسلت معانيه فعاد إلى فذلكة الغرض السالف المنتقل عنه من قوله : { وإن يكذبوك فقد كذب الذين من قبلهم } إلى قوله : { إن اللَّه بعباده لخبير بصير } [ فاطر : 25 31 ] ، فكانت جملة { إن الله عالم غيب السماوات والأرض } كالتذييل لجملة { إن اللَّه بعباده لخبير بصير } .وفي هذا إيماء إلى أن الله يجازي كل ذي نية على حسب ما أضمره ليزداد النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم يقيناً بأن الله غير عالم بما يكنه المشركون .وجملة { إنه عليم بذات الصدور } مستأنفة هي كالنتيجة لِجملة { إن الله عالم غيب السماوات والأرض } لأن ما في الصدور من الأمور المغيبة فيلزم من علم الله بغيب السموات والأرض علمه بما في صدور الناس .و «ذات الصدور» ضمائر الناس ونِيَّاتهم ، وتقدم عند قوله تعالى : { إنه عليم بذات الصدور } في سورة الأنفال ( 43 ) .وجيء في الإِخبار بعلم الله بالغيب بصيغة اسم الفاعل ، وفي الإِخبار بعلمه بذات الصدور بصيغة المبالغة لأن المقصود من إخبار المخاطبين تنبيههم على أنه كناية عن انتفاء أن يفوت علمَه تعالى شيءٌ . وذلك كناية عن الجزاء عليه فهي كناية رمزية .

لما ذكر تعالى جزاء أهل الدارين، وذكر أعمال الفريقين، أخبر تعالى عن سعة علمه تعالى، واطلاعه على غيب السماوات والأرض، التي غابت عن أبصار الخلق وعن علمهم، وأنه عالم بالسرائر، وما تنطوي عليه الصدور من الخير والشر والزكاء وغيره، فيعطي كلا ما يستحقه، وينزل كل أحد منزلته.

قوله تعالى : إن الله عالم غيب السماوات والأرض إنه عليم بذات الصدور .تقدم معناه في غير موضع . والمعنى : علم أنه لو ردكم إلى الدنيا لم تعملوا صالحا ، كما قال ولو ردوا لعادوا لما نهوا عنه . و ( عالم ) إذا كان بغير تنوين صلح أن يكون للماضي والمستقبل ، وإذا كان منونا لم يجز أن يكون للماضي .

In this verse, being given ‘the earth to inherit’ (khalifah) means that ‘after the decline of the previous nations, a new nation was settled on the earth in their place.’ It is the way by which God gives a nation the opportunity to settle and make progress on the earth. If the nation proves itself incapable, He replaces it by another nation. This process of the transfer of power shall continue right until Doomsday. The advancements in the present age have made it possible even to take photographs in the dark and make an apparently inaudible sound audible to the human ear. Such possibilities indicate that the Creator of this universe is a Being who knows the unknown and is aware of the secrets hidden in one’s heart. Man therefore, is accountable before the all-knowing and all-powerful God from whom no offence remains concealed.

When the people in Jahannam will plead with their Lord that they be delivered from its punishment, so that they could do good deeds then, and not do the bad ones they did earlier, at that time they will be told: أَوَلَمْ نُعَمِّرْ‌كُم مَّا يَتَذَكَّرُ‌ فِيهِ مَن تَذَكَّرَ‌ وَجَاءَكُمُ النَّذِيرُ‌ "Did We not give you an age in your life in which lesson could have been learnt by the one who wished to take lesson - 37) Sayyidna Ibn Husain Zain ul-` Abidin رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہ said, "It means the age of seventeen years." And Qatadah (رح) gave the age as eighteen years, meaning thereby the age of puberty. And the difference of seventeen and eighteen is possible in determining the age of puberty, as someone may reach puberty at the age of seventeen and someone else at, eighteen. In the Shari'ah, the age of puberty is the first line of demarcation after having crossed which a person is Divinely blessed with enough reason, so that one can understand what is good or bad in his or her case. Therefore, this address will be to disbelievers at large irrespective of their ages being long or short. However, the one who had a long lease of life, yet did not come to his senses, saw all sorts of physical proofs scattered around and heard the teachings of the prophets, still did not recognize the truth - so then, this one will be more blameworthy. In short, the person who saw nothing beyond the age of puberty, he too was given enough power of discrimination by nature that he could have used to distinguish between the true and the false. When he failed to do that, he too is deserving of censure and punishment. But, the person who was given long years to live, the warning of Allah stood served against him in a more conclusive degree. Then, if he could still not shake off his disbelief and disobedience, he would be more deserving of punishment and blame. Sayyidna Ali al-Murtada ؓ said, 'The age whereupon Allah Ta’ ala has asked His sinning servants to beware is that of sixty years.' Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ ، according to one narration, has given it as forty years while, according to another narration, as sixty. He has said that this is the age when the argument and warrant of Allah stands served conclusively on an erring person who, then, is left with no room for making excuses. Ibn Kathir has given preference to the second Hadith of Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ . From the presentation made above, it is clear that there is no contradiction in the narrations pointing out to the age of seventeen, eighteen and sixty. Though, someone at the age of seventeen/eighteen is able to distinguish between the true and the false. Therefore, one has been obligated with precepts of the Shari` ah from this benchmark this very age of puberty. But, the age of sixty is such a long period of time that, should one still fail to recognize the truth, there remains no room for making any more excuses. Against such a person, the argument of Allah stands firmly established. Therefore, the aggregate ages of people in this blessed ummah are destined to be between sixty and seventy years - as said in Hadith: اَعمَارُ اُمَّتِی مَا بَین السِّتِّینَ اِلَی السَّبعِین وَ اَقَلُّھُم مَّن یَّجُوز ذلِکَ The ages of my ummah will be in between sixty and seventy and there will be few of those who will exceed that - reported by al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah, Ibn Kathir. Towards the end of the verse (37), it was said: وَجَاءَكُمُ النَّذِيرُ‌ (And (furthermore) the warner had (also) come to you.). Given here is a hint that Allah Ta’ ala gives one from the age one attains puberty enough ability to rationalize and recognize at least his or her creator and master and then goes on to live a life the purpose of which is to seek His pleasure. To do only this much, human reason alone would have been sufficient. But, Allah Ta’ ala did not leave it simply at that. In fact, He sent His special people called: نَذِیر (nadhir) to help them reason it out. This word is usually translated as 'one who warns' or 'warner' in English (the later, though, not formally admissible in the language, but is still used in the absence of a suitable equivalent). In fact, a nadhir is a person who, by virtue of his mercy and compassion, asks his people to stay away from things that are likely to bring harm to them or cause their total ruination as a people and tries to instill the fear of such things in their hearts, lest it actually happens. In terms of its well-recognized meaning, it refers to the noble prophets علیہم السلام and to the ` Ulama' who carry out their mission as their deputies. The outcome of the verse is: 'We gave them reason to recognize the true from the false. Along with it, We also sent Our prophets who would guide them on the path of truth and keep them safe from the false.' And it has been reported from Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas, ` Ikrimah and Imam Ja'far Baqir that nadhir means the gray hair of the old age. When they flare up, they give a message to human beings: Here comes the time to go! This statement too is not contradictory to the first one for gray hair might as well serve as the standard bearers of warning along with Anbiya' and ` Ulama'. And the truth of the matter is that all conditions faced by human beings after their age of puberty and all minor and major changes that take place in their persons and in that they are surrounded with are, all of them, heralds of warning for human beings.

(Lo! Allah is the knower of the Unseen of the heavens and the earth) He knows that were they to be returned to the life of this world, they would still engage in that which they were forbidden from. (Lo! He is Aware of the secret of (men's) breasts) He knows what is in the hearts whether it is good or evil.