﷽
*Surah Al-Baqara, Verse 117:*
بَدِيعُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَإِذَا قَضَىٰ أَمْرًا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ
The Originator of the heavens and the earth. When He decrees a matter, He only says to it: "Be!" - and it is.
*COMMENTARY*
The previous verse told us that everything in heaven and earth celebrates the glory of Allāh. Lest anyone should think that the heavens and the earth were themselves primeval and eternal, we are now told that they themselves are creatures of Allāh's will and design. Compare chapter vi, verse 102, where the word bada'a is used as here for the creation of the heavens and the earth, and khalaqa is used for the creation of all things. Bada'a goes back to the very primal beginning, as far as we can conceive it. The materialists might say that primeval matter was eternal; other things, i.e the forms and shapes as we see them now, were called into being at some time or other, and will perish. When they perish, they dissolve into primeval matter again, which stands as the base of all existence. We go further back. We say that if we postulate such primeval matter, it owes its origin itself to Allāh. If this is conceded, we proceed to argue that the process of Creation is not then completed. "All things in the heavens and on the earth" are created by gradual processes. In "things" we include abstract as well as material things. We see the abstract things and ideas actually growing before us. But that also is Allāh's creation, to which we can apply the word khalaqa, for in it is involved the idea of measuring, fitting it into a scheme of other things. Compare chapter liv, verse 49; also chapter xxv, verse 59. On the hand, the "amr" (=Command, Direction, Design) is a single thing, unrelated to Time, "like the twinkling of an eye" (chapter liv, verse 50). Another word to note in this connection is ja'ala "making" which seems to imply new shapes and forms, new dispositions, as the making of the Signs of the Zodiac in the heavens, or the setting out of the sun and moon for light, or the establishment of the succession of day and night (chapter xxv, verses 61-62). A further process with regard to the soul is described in the word sawwā, bringing it to perfection (chapter xci, verse 7) but this we shall discuss in its place. Fatara (chapter xlii, verse 11) implies, like bada'a, the creating of a thing out of nothing and after no pre-existing similitude, but perhaps fatara implies the creation of primeval matter to which further processes have to be applied later, as when one prepares dough but leaves the leavening to be done after. Badaa (without the 'ain), chapter xxx, verse 27, implies beginning the process of creation: this is made further clear in chapter xxxii, verse 7 where the beginning of the creation of pristine man from clay refers to his physical body, leaving the further processes of reproduction and the breathing in of the soul to be described in subsequent verses. Lastly, baraa is creation implying liberation from pre-existing matter or circumstances, e.g., man's body from clay (chapter liv, verse 24) or a calamity from previously existing circumstances (chapter lvii, verse 22).
﷽
*Surah Al-Baqara, Verse 118:*
وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ لَوْلَا يُكَلِّمُنَا اللَّهُ أَوْ تَأْتِينَا آيَةٌ كَذَٰلِكَ قَالَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِم مِّثْلَ قَوْلِهِمْ تَشَابَهَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ قَدْ بَيَّنَّا الْآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يُوقِنُونَ
And those who have no knowledge say: "Why does not Allāh speak to us (face to face) or why does not a sign come to us?" So said the people before them words of similar import. Their hearts are alike, We have indeed made plain the signs for people who believe with certainty.
*Surah Al-Baqara, Verse 117:*
بَدِيعُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَإِذَا قَضَىٰ أَمْرًا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ
The Originator of the heavens and the earth. When He decrees a matter, He only says to it: "Be!" - and it is.
*COMMENTARY*
The previous verse told us that everything in heaven and earth celebrates the glory of Allāh. Lest anyone should think that the heavens and the earth were themselves primeval and eternal, we are now told that they themselves are creatures of Allāh's will and design. Compare chapter vi, verse 102, where the word bada'a is used as here for the creation of the heavens and the earth, and khalaqa is used for the creation of all things. Bada'a goes back to the very primal beginning, as far as we can conceive it. The materialists might say that primeval matter was eternal; other things, i.e the forms and shapes as we see them now, were called into being at some time or other, and will perish. When they perish, they dissolve into primeval matter again, which stands as the base of all existence. We go further back. We say that if we postulate such primeval matter, it owes its origin itself to Allāh. If this is conceded, we proceed to argue that the process of Creation is not then completed. "All things in the heavens and on the earth" are created by gradual processes. In "things" we include abstract as well as material things. We see the abstract things and ideas actually growing before us. But that also is Allāh's creation, to which we can apply the word khalaqa, for in it is involved the idea of measuring, fitting it into a scheme of other things. Compare chapter liv, verse 49; also chapter xxv, verse 59. On the hand, the "amr" (=Command, Direction, Design) is a single thing, unrelated to Time, "like the twinkling of an eye" (chapter liv, verse 50). Another word to note in this connection is ja'ala "making" which seems to imply new shapes and forms, new dispositions, as the making of the Signs of the Zodiac in the heavens, or the setting out of the sun and moon for light, or the establishment of the succession of day and night (chapter xxv, verses 61-62). A further process with regard to the soul is described in the word sawwā, bringing it to perfection (chapter xci, verse 7) but this we shall discuss in its place. Fatara (chapter xlii, verse 11) implies, like bada'a, the creating of a thing out of nothing and after no pre-existing similitude, but perhaps fatara implies the creation of primeval matter to which further processes have to be applied later, as when one prepares dough but leaves the leavening to be done after. Badaa (without the 'ain), chapter xxx, verse 27, implies beginning the process of creation: this is made further clear in chapter xxxii, verse 7 where the beginning of the creation of pristine man from clay refers to his physical body, leaving the further processes of reproduction and the breathing in of the soul to be described in subsequent verses. Lastly, baraa is creation implying liberation from pre-existing matter or circumstances, e.g., man's body from clay (chapter liv, verse 24) or a calamity from previously existing circumstances (chapter lvii, verse 22).
﷽
*Surah Al-Baqara, Verse 118:*
وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ لَوْلَا يُكَلِّمُنَا اللَّهُ أَوْ تَأْتِينَا آيَةٌ كَذَٰلِكَ قَالَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِم مِّثْلَ قَوْلِهِمْ تَشَابَهَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ قَدْ بَيَّنَّا الْآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يُوقِنُونَ
And those who have no knowledge say: "Why does not Allāh speak to us (face to face) or why does not a sign come to us?" So said the people before them words of similar import. Their hearts are alike, We have indeed made plain the signs for people who believe with certainty.
Comments
Post a Comment