Tafsir al-Sadi - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (909)

Tafsir al-SadiAbd al-Rahman al-Sadi’

(27–33) “Are you more difficult to create, or the heaven? He built it, raised its height and fashioned it perfectly, darkened its night and brought forth its daylight. After that, He spread out the earth, brought forth from it its water and pasture, and firmly anchored the mountains—all as provision for you and your livestock.”

The Most High presents a clear proof to those who deny the resurrection and consider Allah’s restoration of bodies far-fetched: “Are you,” O human beings, “more difficult to create, or the heaven,” with its immense mass, mighty construction, and breathtaking height? “He built it”—Allah did.

“He raised its height”—that is, its structure and form—“and fashioned it perfectly,” with such precision and perfection that minds are bewildered and intellects astounded. “He darkened its night”—that is, He made it dark, so darkness encompassed [all] the reaches of heaven and the face of the earth became dark. “And brought forth its daylight”—that is, He manifested therein the great light when He brought forth the sun, so people went forth (1) to pursue the interests of their religion and worldly lives.

“And after that, the earth”—that is, after creating the heaven—“He spread it out,” meaning that He placed its benefits within it.

He explained this by saying: “He brought forth from it its water and pasture, and firmly anchored the mountains”; that is, He fixed them firmly in the earth. Thus, He spread out the earth after creating the heaven, as these [noble] verses explicitly state. As for the creation of the earth itself, that preceded the creation of the heaven, as the Most High said: “Say: Do you indeed disbelieve in the One who created the earth in two days?”—until He said: “Then He turned to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth, ‘Come willingly or unwillingly.’ They said, ‘We come willingly.’” (2) ⦗910⦘ The One who created the mighty heavens and all the lights and celestial bodies within them, as well as the solid, dust-covered earth and all it contains of necessities and benefits for created beings, must surely resurrect those of His creation who are morally accountable and recompense them for their deeds. Whoever does good shall receive the finest reward, while whoever does evil should blame only himself. For this reason, He next mentioned the resurrection and recompense (3), saying:

(1) In B: “spread out.” (2) The shaykh—may Allah have mercy on him—made a slip of the pen here, writing: “until He said, ‘Then He turned to the heaven and fashioned them into seven heavens.’” The correct wording is what I have established in the text. (3) In B: “After this, he mentioned the rising of the Hour, followed by recompense.”

﴿٢٧ - ٣٣﴾ ﴿أَأَنْتُمْ أَشَدُّ خَلْقًا أَمِ السَّمَاءُ بَنَاهَا * رَفَعَ سَمْكَهَا فَسَوَّاهَا * وَأَغْطَشَ لَيْلَهَا وَأَخْرَجَ ضُحَاهَا * وَالأرْضَ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ دَحَاهَا * أَخْرَجَ مِنْهَا مَاءَهَا وَمَرْعَاهَا * وَالْجِبَالَ أَرْسَاهَا * مَتَاعًا لَكُمْ وَلأنْعَامِكُمْ﴾ . يقول تعالى مبينا دليلا واضحا لمنكري البعث ومستبعدي إعادة الله للأجساد: ﴿أَأَنْتُمْ﴾ أيها البشر ﴿أَشَدُّ خَلْقًا أَمِ السَّمَاءُ﴾ ذات الجرم العظيم، والخلق القوي، والارتفاع الباهر ﴿بَنَاهَا﴾ الله. ﴿رَفَعَ سَمْكَهَا﴾ أي: جرمها وصورتها، ﴿فَسَوَّاهَا﴾ بإحكام وإتقان يحير العقول، ويذهل الألباب، ﴿وَأَغْطَشَ لَيْلَهَا﴾ أي: أظلمه، فعمت الظلمة [جميع] أرجاء السماء، فأظلم وجه الأرض، ﴿وَأَخْرَجَ ضُحَاهَا﴾ أي: أظهر فيه النور العظيم، حين أتى بالشمس، فامتد (١) الناس في مصالح دينهم ودنياهم. ﴿وَالأرْضَ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ﴾ أي: بعد خلق السماء ﴿دَحَاهَا﴾ أي: أودع فيها منافعها. وفسر ذلك بقوله: ﴿أَخْرَجَ مِنْهَا مَاءَهَا وَمَرْعَاهَا وَالْجِبَالَ أَرْسَاهَا﴾ أي: ثبتها في الأرض. فدحى الأرض بعد خلق السماء، كما هو نص هذه الآيات [الكريمة] . وأما خلق نفس الأرض، فمتقدم على خلق السماء كما قال تعالى: ﴿قُلْ أَئِنَّكُمْ لَتَكْفُرُونَ بِالَّذِي خَلَقَ الأرْضَ فِي يَوْمَيْنِ﴾ إلى أن قال: ﴿ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى إِلَى السَّمَاءِ وهي دخان فقال لها وللأرض ائتيا طوعا أو كرها قالتا أتينا طائعين﴾ (٢) ⦗٩١٠⦘ فالذي خلق السماوات العظام وما فيها من الأنوار والأجرام، والأرض الكثيفة الغبراء، وما فيها من ضروريات الخلق ومنافعهم، لا بد أن يبعث الخلق المكلفين، فيجازيهم على أعمالهم، فمن أحسن فله الحسنى ومن أساء فلا يلومن إلا نفسه، ولهذا ذكر بعد هذا القيام الجزاء (٣) ، فقال:

(١) في ب: فانتشر. (٢) وقع هنا سبق قلم من الشيخ ﵀ فقال: إلى أن قال "ثم استوى إلى السماء فسواهن سبع سموات" وصواب ذلك ما أثبته. (٣) في ب: ذكر بعد هذا قيام الساعة ثم الجزاء.