(61–65) “Allah is the One who made the night for you so that you may rest in it, and the day bright. Allah is indeed bountiful to mankind, but most people are not grateful. * That is Allah, your Lord, the Creator of all things. None has the right to be worshipped except Him. How, then, are you turned away? * Thus are those who used to reject Allah’s signs turned away. * Allah is the One who made the earth a stable abode for you and the sky a canopy, formed you and made your forms excellent, and provided you with wholesome things. That is Allah, your Lord. Blessed is Allah, Lord of all worlds. * He is the Ever-Living; none has the right to be worshipped except Him. So call upon Him, devoting religion sincerely to Him. All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all worlds.”
Reflect upon these noble verses, which demonstrate the vastness of Allah’s mercy and the abundance of His favor, the obligation to thank Him, the perfection of His power, the greatness of His sovereignty, the vastness of His dominion, His creation of all things, the perfection of His life, and His worthiness of praise for every perfect attribute He possesses and every excellent deed He performs. They also demonstrate the perfection and exclusivity of His Lordship, and that all governance of the upper and lower worlds—past, present, and future—is in the hand of Allah Most High. No one has any share in command or power.
It therefore follows that He alone is the God who must be worshipped, and that no one deserves any share of worship, just as no one has any share of Lordship. It also results in hearts becoming filled with knowledge of Allah Most High, love for Him, fear of Him, and hope in Him. These two matters—knowing Him and worshipping Him—are the very purpose for which Allah created all beings and the ultimate end He intends for His servants. They lead to every good, success, rectitude, and happiness in this world and the Hereafter. They are the noblest gifts that the Most Generous grants His servants and the highest of all delights. If they are lost, every good is lost and every evil becomes present.
We therefore ask Him Most High to fill our hearts with knowledge of Him and love for Him, and to make all our inward and outward actions sincerely for His Face and in conformity with His command. No request is too great for Him, and no act of giving exhausts Him.
His words, “Allah is the One who made the night for you,” mean that Allah made the night dark for your benefit, “so that you may rest in it” from your activities, which would harm you if they continued without interruption. You retire to your beds, and Allah casts sleep upon you, through which the heart and body find rest. Sleep is a human necessity without which a person cannot live. Loved ones also find repose with one another, the mind becomes composed, and distractions diminish.
“And the day bright”: Allah Most High made the day radiant through the sun, which moves continuously through its orbit. You therefore rise from your beds to attend to your religious and worldly occupations: one person devotes himself to remembering Allah and reciting His Book; another to prayer; another to seeking and studying knowledge; another to buying and selling; another to construction, smithing, or a similar trade; another to traveling by land or sea; another to farming; and another to tending his animals.
“Allah is indeed bountiful”—that is, His bounty is immense, as indicated by the indefinite form—“to mankind,” for He has bestowed these and other blessings upon them and warded afflictions away from them. This obliges them to thank and remember Him fully. “But most people are not grateful” because of their ignorance and wrongdoing. “Few of My servants are truly grateful.” They are those who acknowledge their Lord’s blessings, humble themselves before Allah, love Him, and use those blessings in obedience to their Master and in pursuit of His good pleasure.
“That is”—the One who has done all of this—“Allah, your Lord”; that is, He alone possesses divinity and Lordship. His exclusive bestowal of these blessings is an aspect of His Lordship, while their requiring gratitude is an aspect of His divinity. “None has the right to be worshipped except Him” confirms that He alone deserves worship and has no partner, while “the Creator of all things” confirms His Lordship.
He then explicitly establishes the command to worship Him, saying, “How, then, are you turned away?” That is: How can you be turned away from worshipping Him alone, without partner, after He has made the proof clear to you and illuminated the path for you?
“Thus are those who used to reject Allah’s signs turned away.” As punishment for rejecting Allah’s signs and transgressing against His messengers, they were turned away from monotheism and sincerity. Allah Most High says:
“Whenever a surah is revealed, they look at one another, asking, ‘Can anyone see you?’ Then they turn away. Allah has turned their hearts away because they are a people who do not understand.”
“Allah is the One who made the earth a stable abode for you”; that is, firm and still, and prepared for everything that serves your interests. You are able to cultivate and plant it, build upon it, travel across it, and reside on it.
“And the sky a canopy”—a roof over the earth upon which you live. Allah has placed in it lights and signs from which you benefit and by which people find their way through the darkness of land and sea.
“He formed you and made your forms excellent.” Among all species of animals, none has a form more beautiful than that of the children of Adam. Allah Most High says, “We have certainly created man in the finest form.”
If you wish to recognize the beauty of the human being and the perfection of Allah Most High’s wisdom in creating him, examine him limb by limb. Can you find any limb that would be fitting or appropriate anywhere other than its proper place? Consider also the mutual affection Allah has placed in people’s hearts. Do you find its like among beings other than humankind? Consider as well what Allah has granted human beings exclusively: reason, faith, love, and knowledge—the finest inner qualities suited to the most beautiful outward forms.
“And provided you with wholesome things.” This encompasses every wholesome thing, including food ⦗742⦘ and drink, marriage, clothing, sights, sounds, and all the other wholesome things that Allah has made readily available to His servants and whose means He has facilitated for them. He has forbidden them impure things, which are their opposites and which harm their bodies, hearts, and religion.
“That is”—the One who governs all affairs and has bestowed these blessings upon you—“Allah, your Lord. Blessed is Allah, Lord of all worlds.” That is, He is supremely exalted, and His goodness and beneficence are abundant. He nurtures all worlds through His blessings.
“He is the Ever-Living,” whose life is perfect and complete. His life necessarily entails all the essential attributes without which it could not be complete, including hearing, sight, power, knowledge, speech, and all His other attributes of perfection and qualities of majesty.
“None has the right to be worshipped except Him”; that is, none is rightfully worshipped except Him, whose Face is noble. “So call upon Him.” This includes calling upon Him through worship and asking Him for one’s needs. “Devoting religion sincerely to Him”; that is, seek the Face of Allah Most High through every act of worship, supplication, and deed. Sincerity is what has been commanded, as Allah Most High says, “They were commanded only to worship Allah, devoting religion sincerely to Him and inclining to the truth.”
“All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all worlds.” That is, every expression of praise, commendation, and extolling—whether through speech, as when creation mentions Him, or through action, as in their worship of Him—belongs to Allah Most High alone, without partner, because of the perfection of His attributes and deeds and the completeness of His blessings.