(15–18) “O humanity, it is you who stand in need of Allah, whereas Allah alone is the Self-Sufficient, the Praiseworthy. If He wills, He can do away with you and bring forth a new creation. That is not difficult for Allah. No bearer of burdens will bear another’s burden. If a heavily burdened soul calls upon another to carry its load, nothing of it will be carried, even by a close relative. You can warn only those who fear their Lord though unseen and establish prayer. Whoever purifies himself does so only for his own benefit, and to Allah is the final return.”
Allah Most High addresses all people, informing them of their condition and describing them as being in need of Allah in every respect:
They need Him to bring them into existence, for had He not brought them into existence, they would not exist.
They need Him to equip them with faculties, organs, and limbs; had He not equipped them [with these], they would not have been capable of performing any deed whatsoever.
They need Him to provide them with food, sustenance, and blessings, both outward and inward. Were it not for His grace, beneficence, and facilitation of their affairs, they would receive nothing [of] sustenance and blessings.
They need Him to avert afflictions from them, ward off what they dislike, and remove distress and hardship. Were it not for His protection, His relief of their distress, and His removal of their hardship, adversity and affliction would persist for them.
They need Him to nurture them in every way and to manage all their affairs.
They need Him in their adoration of Him, their love for Him, their worship of Him, and their sincere devotion of worship to Him Most High. Had He not granted them success in this, they would have perished, and their souls, hearts, and circumstances would have become corrupt.
They need Him to teach them what they do not know and enable them to do what will set them right. Had He not taught them, they would never have learned; and had He not granted them success, they would never have been set right.
They are therefore inherently dependent upon Him in every sense and from every perspective, whether or not they are conscious of some forms of this dependence. The one granted divine success is he who remains mindful of his dependence in every circumstance, in both his religious and worldly affairs. He humbly implores Allah, asks Him not to leave him to himself even for the blink of an eye, seeks His assistance in all his affairs, and keeps this awareness with him at all times. Such a person is more likely to receive perfect aid from his Lord and God, who is more merciful to him than a mother is to her child.
“Whereas Allah alone is the Self-Sufficient, the Praiseworthy.” That is, He possesses perfect self-sufficiency in every respect. He has no need for anything His creation needs, nor does He depend upon anything on which creation depends. This is because His attributes are perfect—all of them are attributes of perfection, majesty, and grandeur.
Part of His self-sufficiency is that He enriches creation in this world and the Hereafter. He is Praiseworthy in His essence and in His names, for they are the most beautiful; in His attributes, for they are the loftiest; in His actions, for they are grace, beneficence, justice, wisdom, and mercy; and in His commands and prohibitions. He is therefore Praiseworthy for all that pertains to Him and all that proceeds from Him. He is Praiseworthy in His self-sufficiency [and Self-Sufficient in His praiseworthiness].
“If He wills, He can do away with you and bring forth a new creation.” This may mean: If He wills, He can do away with you, O people, and replace you with other people who are more obedient to Allah than you. This contains a threat that they may be destroyed and eradicated, for His will is fully capable of doing so.
It may also mean that this affirms resurrection: Allah Most High’s will takes effect in all things, including recreating you after your death as a new creation. Yet this has an appointed time decreed by Allah, which will be neither advanced nor delayed.
“That is not difficult for Allah.” That is, it is neither impossible for Him nor beyond His power.
The latter meaning is supported by what He mentions next: “No bearer of burdens will bear another’s burden.” That is, on the Day of Resurrection, everyone will be requited for his own deeds, and no one will bear another person’s sin. “If a heavily burdened soul calls”—that is, a soul weighed down by sins and misdeeds calls for help from someone to carry some of its burdens—“nothing of it will be carried, even by a close relative.” No one will bear anything on behalf of even a close relative. The condition of the Hereafter is not like that of this world, where an intimate friend helps his companion and a friend helps his friend. Rather, on the Day of Resurrection, a servant will wish that he had a claim against someone, even his parents or relatives.
“You can warn only those who fear their Lord though unseen and establish prayer.” These are the people who heed the warning and benefit from it: those who fear Allah in private and in public, whether in the presence or absence of others, and those who establish prayer with its prescribed limits, conditions, pillars, obligations, and humility. Fear of Allah requires the servant to perform deeds whose neglect he fears would incur punishment and to avoid whatever he fears would, if committed, ⦗688⦘ bring torment. Prayer, moreover, calls to goodness and restrains from indecency and wrongdoing.
“Whoever purifies himself does so only for his own benefit.” That is, whoever purifies his soul by cleansing it of faults such as showing off, arrogance, lying, cheating, scheming, deceit, hypocrisy, and similar reprehensible traits, and adorns himself with excellent qualities such as truthfulness, sincerity, humility, gentleness, sincere goodwill toward Allah’s servants, and a heart free of rancor, envy, and other moral evils—the benefit of his purification returns to him, and he himself attains its intended purpose. Nothing of his deeds will be lost.
“And to Allah is the final return.” He will requite all creatures for what they sent ahead and call them to account for what they put forward and did. He will leave neither a small deed nor a great one without recording it.