(190–194) “Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day are signs for people of understanding—those who remember Allah while standing, sitting, and lying on their sides, and who reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth, saying, ‘Our Lord, You did not create all this in vain. Glory be to You! Protect us from the punishment of the Fire. * Our Lord, whoever You admit into the Fire, You have surely disgraced, and the wrongdoers will have no helpers. * Our Lord, we have heard a caller calling to faith: “Believe in your Lord,” and so we believed. Our Lord, forgive us our sins, efface our evil deeds, and cause us to die among the righteous. * Our Lord, grant us what You promised us through Your messengers, and do not disgrace us on the Day of Resurrection. Surely You never break Your promise.’”
The Most High informs us that “Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day are signs for people of understanding.” Implicit in this is an exhortation to His servants to reflect upon them, discern their signs, and contemplate their creation. He left the word “signs” unrestricted and did not say that they point to any one particular matter, thereby indicating their abundance and universal scope. They contain wondrous signs that astonish those who observe them, convince those who reflect, attract the hearts of the sincere, and alert enlightened minds to every truth concerning Allah. As for detailing everything they contain, no created being could enumerate it or fully comprehend even a portion of it.
In general, their grandeur and vastness, and the ordered course and movement within them, attest to the greatness of their Creator, the greatness of His dominion, and the all-encompassing nature of His power. Their precise and perfect design, wondrous craftsmanship, and subtle workings attest to Allah’s wisdom, His placing everything in its proper place, and the vastness of His knowledge. The benefits they contain for creation attest to the vastness of Allah’s mercy, the universality of His bounty, the all-encompassing nature of His benevolence, and the obligation to give thanks to Him.
All of this shows that the heart must attach itself to their Creator and Originator, strive earnestly to please Him, and associate none with Him—none who possesses so much as an atom’s weight in the earth or the heavens, whether for himself or for anyone else.
Allah specifically associates these signs with people of understanding, meaning those endowed with intellect, because they are the ones who benefit from them and contemplate them with their minds, not merely with their eyes.
He then describes people of understanding as those who “remember Allah” in every state: “while standing, sitting, and lying on their sides.” This encompasses every form of remembrance by tongue and heart. It also includes performing prayer while standing; if one is unable, then while sitting; and if one is unable, then while lying on one’s side. They also “reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth,” meaning that they use them as evidence of the purpose behind them. This shows that reflection is an act of worship and a characteristic of Allah’s devoted servants who truly know Him. When they reflect upon them, they recognize that Allah did not create them aimlessly, and so they say: “Our Lord, You did not create all this in vain. Glory be to You!” You are far above everything unbefitting Your majesty. Rather, You created them in truth and for truth, and they embody truth.
“Protect us from the punishment of the Fire” by safeguarding us from sins and enabling us to perform righteous deeds, so that we may thereby attain deliverance from the Fire.
This implicitly includes a request for Paradise, for if Allah protects them from the punishment of the Fire, they will attain Paradise. However, because fear had taken hold of their hearts, they supplicated Allah regarding what concerned them most: “Our Lord, whoever You admit into the Fire, You have surely disgraced.” This is because he has incurred Allah’s wrath and the indignation of His angels and devoted servants, and has fallen into an ignominy from which there is neither escape nor deliverance. He therefore says, “The wrongdoers will have no helpers” to rescue them from His punishment. This indicates that they entered it because of their wrongdoing.
“Our Lord, we have heard a caller calling to faith”—namely Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace—meaning that he calls people to faith and encourages them to embrace both its fundamentals and its branches.
“And so we believed,” meaning: We readily answered him and hastened to embrace it. In saying this, they acknowledge Allah’s favor toward them, glory in His blessing, and use it as a means of beseeching Him to forgive their sins and efface their evil deeds, for good deeds erase evil deeds. The One who favored them with faith will also favor them with perfect security.
“And cause us to die among the righteous.” This supplication includes asking to be enabled to do good and forsake evil—through which a servant becomes one of the righteous—and to continue steadfastly upon that path until death.
After mentioning that Allah had enabled them to believe and using this as a means of beseeching Him to complete His favor upon them, they asked Him to reward them for it and to fulfill what He had promised them through His messengers: victory and ascendancy in this world and, in the Hereafter, the triumph ⦗162⦘ of attaining Allah’s pleasure and Paradise. For the Most High never breaks His promise. Allah therefore answered their supplication and accepted their humble entreaty. He therefore says: