⦗1-3⦘ “In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. Ha Mīm. * The revelation of the Book is from Allah, the Almighty, the All-Wise. * We did not create the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them except in truth and for an appointed term. Yet those who disbelieve turn away from that of which they were warned.”
This is praise from Allah Most High for His glorious Book and a declaration of its greatness. Implicit in this is guidance to His servants to follow its light, devote themselves to reflecting upon its verses, and draw out its treasures.
After mentioning the revelation of His Book, which contains commands and prohibitions, He mentioned His creation of the heavens and the earth, thus bringing creation and command together: “Surely, His alone are creation and command.” Allah Most High also says: “Allah is the One who created seven heavens, and of the earth their like. His command descends among them.” He also says: “He sends down the angels with revelation by His command upon whomever He wills of His servants, saying, ‘Warn that there is no deity except Me, so fear Me.’ He created the heavens and the earth in truth.”
Allah Most High is the One who created morally accountable beings and their dwellings, and subjected to their service all that is in the heavens and the earth. He then sent His messengers to them, revealed His Books to them, commanded them, and prohibited them. He informed them that this world is an abode of deeds and a place of passage for those who labor, not a permanent home from which its inhabitants will never depart. They will move from it to the abode of permanent residence and lasting settlement, the home of eternal and everlasting life. There they will find the recompense for the deeds they performed in this world, complete and undiminished.
Allah Most High established the proofs for that Abode and gave His servants a foretaste of immediate reward and punishment, so that they would be more inclined to seek what is desirable and flee what is feared. He therefore says here: “We did not create the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them except in truth”—that is, not pointlessly or in vain, but so that His servants might recognize the greatness of their Creator, infer His perfection, and know that the One who created them despite their vastness is able to restore His servants to life after their death for recompense. Their creation and continued existence have been ordained until “an appointed term.”
Having informed them of this—and He is the most truthful of speakers—established the proof, and illuminated the way, He also informed them that a group of His creatures refused everything but turning away from the truth and rejecting the messengers’ call. He says: “Yet those who disbelieve turn away from that of which they were warned.” As for those who believed, when they understood the reality of the matter, they accepted their Lord’s instructions with submission and assent, responding to them with obedience and reverence. Thus they attained every good, and every evil was kept from them.