Commentary
And in your creation and what He spreads of creatures are signs for a people who are certain. And the alternation of night and day. [Al-Jathiya: 5] That is: in the entrance of one into the other with the gentlest connection and the most binding separation. The sun should not overtake the moon, nor does the night precede the day. [Ya-Sin: 40] Then He alerted to the consideration of the sending down of water from the sky and called it provision by which He said: And whatever Allah has sent down from the sky as provision, and He revives the earth with it after its death. [Al-Jathiya: 5] Then He said: And the turning of the winds are signs for a people who understand. [Al-Jathiya: 5] The inference from these verses requires an extensive elaboration. Then He said: Those are the signs of Allah, which We recite to you in truth. [Al-Jathiya: 6] That is: His signs and evidences. And there is nothing except that it glorifies Him with praise. [Al-Isra: 44] Then He said: So in what statement after Allah and His signs will they believe? [Al-Jathiya: 6] Is it further than what they have witnessed from the witness of the Book and what it contains of the creation of the heavens and the earth and what is in them and between them of the amazing clear signs for those of understanding? If they do not take heed from any of that, then what will they take heed from? Then He followed with a reprimand and rebuke for their insistence despite the clarity of the matter, saying: Woe to every slanderer, sinful one. [Al-Jathiya: 7] The three verses. Then He said: This is guidance. [Al-Jathiya: 11] And He referred to the Book and made it the essence of guidance for encompassing all means of guidance and all its directions. Then He warned those who disbelieved in it. Then He followed that by mentioning His blessings and favors so that this would increase in their rebuke. The verses joined together supporting this purpose of reprimand, rebuke, warning, and threat until the end of the Surah. The end.
And when He, glorified and exalted is He, mentioned the contemplation of the signs in the horizons, He followed it with the signs of the selves and said: ﴿And in your creation﴾ meaning: the creation that is different from the creation of the earth from which you are by choice, intellect, spreading, and the ability to do good and harm. ﴿And what He spreads﴾ meaning: [He spreads and] distributes by the voluntary movement, spreading in a way that is renewed and continuous. ﴿Of creatures﴾ of what you know and of what you do not know, with what is in that of your participation in movement by choice and guidance to benefits by perceiving the particulars and your difference in form and intellect and perceiving the universals, and other than that from the difference of shapes, benefits, natures, and so forth. ﴿Signs﴾ [meaning] regarding the attributes of perfection, especially might and wisdom. This is according to the reading of Hamzah, Al-Kisai, and Ya'qub with the accusative here, and in what follows, the two verses are connected to the scope of 'Indeed' [in] the first verse of the subject and the predicate. Thus, this verse has a regard for emphasis, and it is according to the reading of the majority an introductory statement connected to 'Indeed' and what is in its scope. It is more eloquent because it indicates that what is in the depiction of the animal and all of its affairs is of the wondrous creation, evident in its indication of Allah, [He is] in a way that no one denies it. So, it is independent of emphasis, and it may be that the verse according to the reading of the accusative is from the overlap: it first omitted the creation by what was indicated by the second, and secondly, the selves by what was indicated by the selves of the heavens first.
And when the signs of the selves are more precise and indicative of ability and choice due to their renewal and difference, He said: ﴿For a people﴾ meaning: in them is the capacity to carry out what they attempt. ﴿Who are certain﴾ meaning: they are renewed with the ascent in the degrees of faith until they reach the honor of certainty, so no doubt mixes with them regarding His oneness; Al-Harali said in the interpretation of ﴿Or like one who passed by a town﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 259] that the verse of the self is a reminder of the verse of the senses, and the verse of the senses is a reminder of the verse of the self, except that the verse of the self is more connected, for it is therefore more guiding. The ultimate goal of the verse of the horizons is faith, and the ultimate goal of the verse of the self is certainty.
Explore Other Scholars on This Verse
Compare different scholarly perspectives on Surah Al-Jathiyah verse 4