Commentary
And when He, glorified and exalted is He, summarized in the beginning of this verse the first of their matters, its middle, and its end in the manner that has preceded, that it is a warning that disbelief should be from the kind that is prevented due to the overwhelming evidence against it. He began to detail it in a way that calls them to His presence by bestowing various forms of kindness, with a matter that is higher in conveying the intended meaning than what came before it, in accordance with the Quran's usual progression from the higher to the highest. So, He, glorified and exalted is He, presented the beginning of creation, which is one of the greatest proofs of His oneness, as a means of bestowing favors upon His servants with what contains their benefits, so that it serves as an invitation to His oneness from two aspects: the fact that it indicates a significant impact and the perfection of His power, and that it is a kindness to His servants and gentleness towards them. Indeed, hearts are inclined towards loving those who have been kind to them. He said: "He is," and al-Harali said: It is a word whose meaning is the exalted hiddenness of the divinity that encompasses everything, which is not apparent to anything. His essence is always hidden, and His apparentness is the names that are manifested from the exalted encompassing name of Allah to the descending name of the King. What is between them are the manifested names. Then he said: When the address ended with the mention of their return to Allah, and this was a specific address to the one who persists in his disbelief, he followed upon his turning away and his retreat with this decree as a threat, casting it between their shoulders and causing it to be tied to them, and it was extended to them as if it were loosened for the cause that is intended to draw them in, either by a kindness that overtakes him so that he returns willingly, or it is intended to be coercive at the end of the extent of his retreat. And the conclusion of the verse of invitation was organized in a manner similar to its beginning, except that this is at the end of the separation between its two ends, and that is at the clearest coherence. Thus, they were distanced in this, all distance, by attributing the matter to a name that is the hidden name of Allah, and to Him was attributed the creation of what was created for them in the earth, which is the most apparent thing to the senses. It has ended.
"Which created for you" a religion and a world as a kindness to you. "What is in the earth" means after He made them seven. Al-Harali said: And His saying: "All together" indicates that the need of man cannot be fulfilled by anything without something else, but rather it is fulfilled by the entirety of what is in the earth, so that if something were to cease from it, the rest would collapse. It has ended. And the verse is a proof that the original state of things is permissibility, so nothing is prohibited except by evidence.
And when the sky was more honorable in terms of the elevation that cannot be aspired to, and the essence that reaches perfection in precision, and the beautiful adornment of order, which is based on great benefits and many advantages; He expressed its matter with "Then He turned to the sky". This means that He honored that direction of elevation with the same direction, beauty, purity, and abundance of benefits. Then He linked His will and intention to its creation without the slightest deviation or consideration of anything else. He magnified its matter by ambiguity and then interpretation, and the singularity suitable for the direction of elevation, as a reminder of honor, and for the good kind that is suitable for abundance. For this reason, He returned the pronoun in the plural. Thus, the creation of the earth and its preparation for what is intended from it occurred before the creation of the sky, and its spreading after the creation of the sky; noting that "Then" is for magnification, not for arrangement, so there is no confusion. The precedence of the earth here is because it is more indicative of the intensity of connection and directness. Al-Harali said: The highest address is by mentioning the turning to the sky, which is the place of fear for them due to the descent of fears from it upon them. It was said to them: This place that you fear is the one He turned to. The course of the word "turning" in rank and status is more deserving of its meaning than its location in place and testimony. In general, the most deserving of the course of the words is their occurrence as news about the first truth, then their occurrence as news about what is in His matter and His dominion, then their occurrence as news about what is in His ownership and His witnessing. Therefore, the truth of the word cannot be confined to the apparent tangible things in the kingdom without the truths that lie beyond them in the realm of the dominion. What has manifested the kingdom and the dominion from the news of Allah about Himself regarding the turning and similar matters in the news of Allah about Himself is more deserving of the truth. Then the news about it concerning the spirit, for example, and its turning over the body, then over the head, for example, and its turning over the body; the appearances do not deserve the truths of the words over their inner realities, but rather the inner realities are more deserving of the entitlement of the words. Thus, much of the confusion in the address is dispelled for those who limit the truths of the words to their tangible realities. "So He made them equal"; the equality is giving each part of a thing its share for the perfection of that thing's form. "Seven heavens"; He gave each one of them its share. "And He inspired in every heaven its command" [Fussilat: 12]. The verse is from the art of interlocking; it first omitted the fact that the earths are seven for the indication of the second to it, and secondly, the fact that what is in the sky is for us for the indication of the first to it. This is a rare and precious art, and I have compiled a good book in which I mentioned its definition and its source from the language and what examples of it from the Noble Book and the words of the jurists came to me, and I named it 'The Understanding of the Art of Interlocking'.
And when the creation is in this manner, it is an evident indication of the complete ability of its Creator. And since knowledge of this is based on understanding, it is enriched in the passage of the verse by His saying: ﴿And He is All-Knowing of everything﴾. That is to say, He is capable of everything.
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