Commentary
And when He, glorified and exalted is He, completed what was required by the purpose of this surah from the fundamentals of religion and its branches, and the warning against its overwhelming power by mentioning some of its examples, He concluded with the misguidance of those who did not respond to the caller. He alerted that the clearest evidence of His encompassing majesty and beauty, and His ability over the appointed term for which He created creation, is what He clarified at the beginning of the surah through the creativity of the two horizons and what is in them of clear signs for the ear and the eye. He said, reproaching them for their misguidance from responding to the caller, denying them, and admonishing them, guiding with kindness towards what is not mentioned, until the estimation is: Did not these misguided ones see what We established in this surah from the signs of evidence and clear messages regarding the objectives and means? He added to this His saying, glorified and exalted is He, in response to the section of the surah by affirming the resurrection at its beginning which confirms the initiation of the creation of the two realms [with truth: 'Did they not see' meaning: they know knowledge that is in clarity like sight] [that Allah] and indicated this greatest name by His saying: [the One who created the heavens] according to what they contain of which description is unable to convey the lessons [and the earth] according to what it encompasses of signs that are perceived by sight and report [and He did not tire] meaning: He did not become unable. It is said: He tired of the matter - when he did not find the way to his intention or was unable to do it, and could not manage it. Al-Zajjaj said: It is said: I tired of the matter - when you do not know its way, and I became weary: I became tired. In the dictionary: And he became unable regarding the matter: he became exhausted. [By creating them] meaning: because of it; for if anything of that had occurred, it would have led to a deficiency in them or in one of them. And He emphasized the denial that includes negation by the addition of the preposition in the scope of 'that' saying, glorified and exalted is He: [with ability] meaning: with great, complete, and profound ability [to resurrect] meaning: in the manner of renewal continuously [the dead] and the matter in them is due to it being a resurrection and due to them being a small recompense from it. He mentioned His creation, which is of lesser significance and easier to produce.
And when this interrogative denial is in the meaning of negation, He answered it with His saying, glorified and exalted is He: [Indeed] they have certainly known that He is capable of that with knowledge that is in its perfection like sight with the eye; for they know that He is the creator of that, and that the resurrection is easier than the initiation in their customary practices. But they are heedless of that because they are turning away from it. And when they, with these clear evidences which are greater than what is witnessed by sight, deny what this creation indicates of the encompassing power, He explained that, confirming it with His saying, affirming the power in a general manner that includes the resurrection which was mentioned at the beginning of the surah that He created this creation only for its sake to conclude with what He began with [Indeed, He is over all things] meaning: He is worthy that the power be related to Him [capable].
Explore Other Scholars on This Verse
Compare different scholarly perspectives on Surah Al-Ahqaf verse 33