Surah al-Jathiyah. Meccan. (1)

In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.

Ha-Mim. (1) The revelation of the Book is from Allah, the Almighty, the All-Wise. (2) Indeed, in the heavens and the earth are signs for the believers. (3) And in your creation, and in the creatures He disperses throughout the earth, are signs for a people who have certainty. (4) And in the alternation of night and day, and in the provision Allah sends down from the sky—thereby bringing the earth to life after its death—and in the directing of the winds, are signs for a people who understand. (5) These are the verses of Allah which We recite to you in truth. So in what statement, after Allah and His verses, will they believe? (6) Woe to every sinful, habitual liar. (7)

“Ha-Mim. The revelation of the Book is from Allah, the Almighty, the All-Wise. Indeed, in the heavens and the earth are signs for the believers. And in your creation, and in the creatures He disperses throughout the earth, are signs”: Hamzah, al-Kisa’i, and Ya‘qub recited ayat (“signs”) and “and in the directing of the winds, ayat” with the final ta’ in the genitive case in both instances, in coordination with His statement, “surely signs,” which is grammatically in the accusative position. The others recited both in the nominative case, as independent clauses. For the Arabs say: “Indeed, I have wealth owed to me by you, and your brother has wealth owed to me,” rendering the second phrase either accusative or nominative. “For a people who have certainty”: that there is no god besides Him.

“And in the alternation of night and day, and in the provision Allah sends down from the sky”: that is, the rain, which is the means of His servants’ provision. “Thereby bringing the earth to life after its death, and in the directing of the winds, are signs for a people who understand.”

“These are the verses of Allah which We recite to you in truth”: that is, this account of Allah’s signs which We have related to you, We relate to you in truth. “So in what statement, after Allah”: after the Book of Allah, “and His verses, will they believe?” Ibn ‘Amir, Hamzah, al-Kisa’i, Abu Bakr, and Ya‘qub recited tu’minun (“will you believe”) with the second-person ta’, in the sense: Say to them, O Muhammad, “So in what statement will you believe?” The others recited it with the third-person ya’.

“Woe to every sinful, habitual liar”: a liar given to sin—meaning al-Nadr ibn al-Harith.