Tafseer Ibn Kathir of FAATHIR [9]

9. And it is Allah Who sends the winds, so that they raise up the clouds, and We drive them to a dead land, and revive therewith the earth after its death. As such (will be) the Resurrection! 10. Whosoever desires Al-`Izzah then to Allah belongs Al-`Izzah. To Him ascend the good words, and the righteous deeds exalt it, but those who plot evils, theirs will be a severe torment. And the plotting of such will perish. 11. And Allah did create you from dust, then from Nutfah, then He made you pairs. And no female conceives or gives birth but with His knowledge. And no aged man is granted a length of life nor is a part cut off from his life, but is in a Book. Surely, that is easy for Allah. Often Allah refers to the Resurrection by using the analogy of the earth coming back to life after it has died, as in the beginning of Surat Al-Hajj, where He urges His servants to draw the lesson of the former from the latter. For the earth is dead and lifeless, with nothing growing in it, then He sends to it clouds which bring water, which He sends down upon it,

(it is stirred (to life), and it swells and puts forth every lovely kind (of growth)) (22:5). So too, when Allah wishes to resurrect the bodies, He will send rain from beneath the Throne which will cover the whole earth, and the bodies will grow in their graves like seeds grow in the earth. It says in the Sahih:

(Every part of the son of Adam will disintegrate apart from the coccyx, from which he was created and from him he will be made anew.) Allah says:

As such (will be) the Resurrection! According to the HÙ„ad0th of Abu Raz0n: I said, O Messenger of Alla0h, how will Alla0h bring the dead back to lifeØŸ What is the sign of that in His creationØŸ He said:

(O Abu Razin, do you not pass through the valley of your people (and see it) arid and barren, then you pass through it (and see it) stirred (to life) and green) I said, `Yes.' He said:

(Thus will Allah bring the dead back to life.)''  

(Whosoever desires Al-`Izzah then to Allah belongs all Al-`Izzah.) means, whoever desires honor, power and glory in this world and the next, let him be obedient towards Allah, may He be exalted. This will help him reach his goal, for Allah is the Sovereign of this world and the Hereafter, and to Him belong all honor, power and glory. This is like the Ayat:

(Those who take disbelievers for protectors instead of believers, do they seek Al-`Izzah with them Verily, then to Allah belongs all honor, power and glory.) (4:139)

(And let not their speech grieve you, for all Al-`Izzah belongs to Allah) (10:65).

(But Al-`Izzah belongs to Allah, and to His Messenger, and to the believers, but the hypocrites know not) (63:8). Mujahid said:

(Whosoever desires Al-`Izzah) means, by worshipping idols,

(then to Allah belongs Al-`Izzah).

(Whosoever desires Al-`Izzah then to Allah belongs Al-`Izzah.) means, let him seek honor, power and glory through obeying Allah, may He be glorified.

(To Him ascend the good words,) means, words of remembrance, recitation of Qur'an, and supplications. This was the view of more than one of the Salaf. Ibn Jarir recorded that Al-Mukhariq bin Sulaym said that ”`Abdullah bin Mas`ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said to them, ”If we tell you a Hadith, we will bring you proof of it from the Book of Allah. When the Muslim servants says, `Glory and praise be to Allah, there is no god worthy of worship except Allah, Allah is Most Great and blessed be Allah,' an angel takes these words and puts them under his wing, then he ascends with them to the heaven. He does not take them past any group of angels but they seek forgiveness for the one who said them, until he brings them before Allah, may He be glorified.'' Then `Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him, recited:

(To Him ascend the good words, and the righteous deeds exalt it).'' Imam Ahmad recorded that An-Nu`man bin Bashir, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ”The Messenger of Allah said:

(Those who remember Allah and glory Allah by saying, `Glory be to Allah, Allah is most Great, all praise is due to Allah and La ilaha illallah, these words go around the Throne buzzing like bees, mentioning those who said them. Would one of you not like to have something with Allah mentioning him)'' This was also recorded by Ibn Majah.

and the righteous deeds exalt it. Ali bin Abi TÙ„alhÙ„ah reported that Ibn Abba0s, may Alla0h be pleased with him, said, The good word is the remembrance of Alla0h, may He be exalted, which is taken up to Alla0h, and the righteous deed is the performance of obligatory duties. Whoever remembers Alla0h when doing an obligatory duty, his deed carries his remembrance of Alla0h and takes it up to Alla0h, may He be exalted. Whoever remembers Alla0h and does not perform the obligatory duties, his words will be rejected, as will his deed.

but those who plot evils, Muja0hid, Sa 0d bin Jubayr and Shahr bin HÙ„awshab said, This refers to those who show off by their actions, i.e., they deceive the people by giving the impression that they are obeying Alla0h, when in fact they are hated by Alla0h for showing off. Alla0h says:

(theirs will be severe torment. And the plotting of such will perish.) meaning, it will fail and vanish, for their reality is apparent from up close to those who have insight and wisdom. No one conceals a secret but Allah will cause it to become known, on his face or by a slip of the tongue, or He will cause the person to wear it like a cloak (so that everyone will see it). If it is good, then the consequences will be good, and if it is bad, then the consequences will be bad. The person who shows off cannot continue to deceive anyone but the fool, but the believers who have insight are not deceived by that; from up close, they soon discover it. And nothing at all can be hidden from the Knower of the Unseen (Allah).

(And Allah did create you from dust, then from Nutfah,) means, He initiated the creation of your father Adam from dust, then He created his offspring from semen of worthless water.

then He made you pairs. means, male and female, as a kindness and a mercy from Him, He gave you partners from your own kind, that you may find repose in them.

(And no female conceives or gives birth but with His knowledge.) means, He knows about that and nothing is hidden from Him at all, but,

(not a leaf falls, but He knows it. There is not a grain in the darkness of the earth nor anything fresh or dry, but is written in a Clear Record.) (6:59) We have already discussed in this respect in the Ayah:

(Allah knows what every female bears, and by how much the wombs fall short or exceed. Everything with Him is in (due) proportion. All-Knower of the unseen and the seen, the Most Great, the Most High.) (13:8-9).

(And no aged man is granted a length of life nor is a part cut off from his life, but is in a Book.) means, some of those sperm are granted a long life, which He knows and it is recorded with Him in the First Book.

nor is a part cut off from his life, Here the pronoun (his) refers to mankind in general, not to a specific person, because the long life which is recorded in the Book and is known by Alla0h will not be cut off. It was reported via Al- Awfi that Ibn Abba0s said concerning the A0yah,

(And no aged man is granted a length of life nor is a part cut off from his life, but is in a Book. Surely, that is easy for Allah.) There is no one for whom Allah has decreed a long life but he will reach the age that has been decreed for him. When he reaches the time that has been decreed for him, he will not surpass it. And there is no one for whom Allah has decreed a short life but it will end when he reaches the age that has been decreed for him. Allah says:

(nor is a part cut off from his life, but is in a Book. Surely, that is easy for Allah.) He said, ”That is recorded in a Book with Him.'' This was also the view of Ad-Dahhak bin Muzahim. On the other hand, some of them said, ”The phrase

(And no aged man is granted a length of life) means, what He decrees for him of life, and

nor is a part cut off from his life means, his time is constantly decreasing. All of this is known to Alla0h year after year, month after month, week after week, day after day, hour after hour. Everything is written with Alla0h in His Book. This was reported by Ibn Jar0r from Abu Ma0lik, and was also the view of As-Suddi and Atلa0 Al-Khura0sa0ni. In the Tafsir of this Ayah, An-Nasa'i recorded that Anas bin Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ”I heard the Messenger of Allah say:

(Whoever would like to have ample provision and a long life, let him uphold the ties of kinship.)'' It was also recorded by Al-Bukhari, Muslim and Abu Dawud.

Surely, that is easy for Alla0h. means, that is very easy for Him, and He has detailed knowledge of all His creation, for His knowledge encompasses all things, and nothing at all is hidden from Him.