'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Tafsir of Surah Al-Jathiya

This surah is Meccan, there is no disagreement in that.

His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿Ha-Mim﴾ ﴿The revelation of the Book is from Allah, the Almighty, the Wise﴾ ﴿Indeed, in the heavens and the earth are signs for the believers﴾ ﴿And in your creation and what He spreads of living creatures are signs for a people who are certain﴾ ﴿And the alternation of night and day and what Allah has sent down from the heavens of provision, and He gives life to the earth after its death, and the directing of the winds are signs for a people who understand﴾ ﴿These are the signs of Allah; We recite them to you in truth. So in what statement after Allah and His signs will they believe?﴾

The discussion of the disjointed letters at the beginning of the surahs has preceded. And 'The revelation' is elevated by the beginning or on an implied beginning news. And 'the Almighty': its meaning is: general in the severity of His taking when He avenges, and His defense when He is angered and supports, and other than that. And 'the Wise': the One who is precise in matters. And He mentioned the signs that are in the heavens and the earth in a general manner, not detailed, as if it is a reference to mysteries that thought provokes, and much of it is informed by the Sharia. Therefore, He made it for the believers, as within faith is reason and affirmation. Then He mentioned the creation of humans and animals, and as if He alluded to what He referred to earlier and summarized more, so He made it for those who are certain, who have insight that leads them to certainty in their beliefs. Then He mentioned the alternation of night and day and the lesson in rain and winds, and He made that for a people who understand, as every rational person comprehends this and understands its significance.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And although this perspective is not necessary and must be, the wording gives it.

And 'spreads' means: is disseminated in the earth, and a living creature is every animal that crawls, or in which it is possible to crawl, which includes birds and fish. The evidence for birds is the poet's saying:

....................... ∗∗∗ Its lightning is for their birds a crawling.

And the saying of another:

........................ ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ The crawling of the quail in every watering place.

And the evidence for fish is the saying of Abu Musa: 'And the sea has cast a creature like the zarab.' And the term for sea creatures is a well-known term in the language.

And Hamza and Al-Kisai read: 'signs' in the accusative in the other two places. This is the reading of Al-Jahdari and Al-Amash, while the rest and the majority read: ﴿'signs'﴾ in the nominative in both. As for those who read in the accusative, they took 'signs' in both places on the accusative of 'Indeed' in His saying, exalted and majestic is He: ﴿Indeed, in the heavens and the earth are signs﴾. And there is no objection in this to the conjunction on two factors which Sibawayh and many grammarians do not permit, as we estimate 'in' to be repeated in His saying, exalted and majestic is He: ﴿And in the alternation of night and day﴾. And likewise it is in the Mushaf of Ibn Mas'ud: 'And in the alternation,' as if He, exalted and majestic is He, said - according to the reading of the majority -: 'And in the alternation of night,' and that is because its mention has preceded in His saying, exalted and majestic is He: ﴿'And in your creation'﴾. So when the mention of the preposition has preceded, it is permissible to omit it from the second, and it is estimated to be affirmed, as Sibawayh estimated in the poet's saying:

Is every person you think of a person, and a fire kindled at night a fire?

That is: and every fire, and as the other said:

I advised from a noble heart, good to the dog and bad to the stepmother.

This objection is all in the second 'Ayat', because the first has a clear preposition before it. In the recitation of Ubayy ibn Ka'b and Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with them, in the three places: 'For Ayat'. Abu Ali said: This indicates that the speech is carried on 'Indeed' in the recitation of those who omitted the lam in the last two.

As for those who raised 'Ayat' in the two places, its reason is the conjunction to the place of 'Indeed' and what it has acted upon, because its place was raised by the beginning. Another reason is that His saying, the Exalted, 'And in your creation and what He spreads of creatures' is an independent statement, and the speech is a sentence conjoined to a sentence. Some people said: It is permissible for it to be a sentence in the place of the condition, so it would not be strange in this.

And 'the alternation of night and day' is either by light and darkness, or by their being opposites. And 'the provision sent down from the heavens': it is the rain, He called it provision by its outcome, because all that is provided comes from the rain. And 'the directing of the winds': it is by their being easterly, westerly, southern, and northern, and also by their being sometimes mercy and sometimes punishment, as said by Qatadah. Also, by their gentleness and severity, and their heat and cold. Talhah and Isa read: 'And the directing of the wind' in the singular, and likewise in all of the Qur'an except where there are glad tidings. Isa differed in Al-Hijr and read: 'the winds as bringers of rain.'

And His saying, the Exalted: 'These are the Ayat of Allah' refers to what has been mentioned. And His saying: 'We recite them' has an omitted addition, meaning: we recite their matter, and their interpretation, and the explanation of the lesson in them. It is possible that He means by 'the Ayat of Allah': the Qur'an revealed in these meanings, so there would be no omitted addition in 'We recite them.' And His saying: 'with truth' means: with truthfulness and informing of the realities of matters in themselves. And His saying: 'So in what statement' is a rebuke and reprimand, and in it is the strength of the threat.

Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Asim, Abu Amr, Abu Ja'far, Al-A'raj, and Shaiba, (p-591) and Qatadah read: 'they believe' with a 'ya' from below. And Ibn Amer, Hamzah, Al-Kisai, Asim also, and Al-Amash read: 'you believe' with a 'ta' addressing the disbelievers. And Talhah ibn Musarif read: 'you are certain' with a 'ta' from above from certainty.