Tafsir al-Sadi - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (368)

Tafsir al-SadiAbd al-Rahman al-Sadi’

⦗66–67⦘ “Surely, to Allah belongs everyone in the heavens and everyone on earth. Those who invoke others besides Allah are not truly following partners. They follow nothing but conjecture, and they do nothing but fabricate. He is the One who made the night for you so that you may rest in it, and the day bright. Surely, in this are signs for people who listen.”

The Exalted declares that all those in the heavens and on earth are His by creation and ownership and are His servants. He governs them through whatever decrees He wills (1). They are all owned by Allah, subjected to His authority and governed by Him. They deserve no worship whatsoever and are in no respect partners with Allah. Hence He says: “Those who invoke others besides Allah are not truly following partners. They follow nothing but conjecture,” which is of no avail against the truth, “and they do nothing but fabricate” concerning this—their conjecture being lies ⦗369⦘, falsehood, and slander.

If they are truthful in claiming that these are partners with Allah, let them show what qualities they possess that entitle them to even an atom’s weight of worship. They will never be able to do so. Is there anyone among them who creates anything, provides sustenance, possesses any created thing, or governs the night and day, which Allah has made a means of sustaining people’s lives?

“He is the One who made the night for you so that you may rest in it”—sleeping and resting because of the darkness that covers the face of the earth. Were daylight to continue without interruption, they would neither settle nor rest.

“And” Allah made “the day bright”—that is, illuminated, so that people may see by it and pursue their livelihoods and the affairs that benefit their religion and worldly lives.

“Surely, in this are signs for people who listen” to Allah with understanding, acceptance, and a desire for guidance—not with intransigence and obstinacy. In all this are signs from which those who listen infer that He alone deserves worship, that He is the true God, that the divinity of all besides Him is false, and that He is the Most Kind, the Most Merciful, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

(1) In manuscript *Bāʾ*: “by whatever He wills.”

﴿٦٦ - ٦٧﴾ ﴿أَلا إِنَّ لِلَّهِ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَنْ فِي الأرْضِ وَمَا يَتَّبِعُ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ شُرَكَاءَ إِنْ يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلا الظَّنَّ وَإِنْ هُمْ إِلا يَخْرُصُونَ * هُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ اللَّيْلَ لِتَسْكُنُوا فِيهِ وَالنَّهَارَ مُبْصِرًا إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَسْمَعُونَ﴾ . يخبر تعالى: أن له ما في السماوات والأرض، خلقًا وملكًا وعبيدًا، يتصرف فيهم بما شاء (١) من أحكامه، فالجميع مماليك لله، مسخرون، مدبرون، لا يستحقون شيئًا من العبادة، وليسوا شركاء لله بوجه الوجوه، ولهذا قال: ﴿وَمَا يَتَّبِعُ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ شُرَكَاءَ إِنْ يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلا الظَّنَّ﴾ الذي لا يغني من الحق شيئًا ﴿وَإِنْ هُمْ إِلا يَخْرُصُونَ﴾ في ذلك، خرص كذب ⦗٣٦٩⦘ وإفك وبهتان. فإن كانوا صادقين في أنها شركاء لله، فليظهروا من أوصافها ما تستحق به مثقال ذرة من العبادة، فلن يستطيعوا، فهل منهم أحد يخلق شيئًا أو يرزق، أو يملك شيئًا من المخلوقات، أو يدبر الليل والنهار، الذي جعله الله قياما للناس؟. و ﴿هُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ اللَّيْلَ لِتَسْكُنُوا فِيهِ﴾ في النوم والراحة بسبب الظلمة، التي تغشى وجه الأرض، فلو استمر الضياء، لما قروا، ولما سكنوا. ﴿وَ﴾ جعل الله ﴿النَّهَارَ مُبْصِرًا﴾ أي: مضيئًا، يبصر به الخلق، فيتصرفون في معايشهم، ومصالح دينهم ودنياهم. ﴿إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَسْمَعُونَ﴾ عن الله، سمع فهم، وقبول، واسترشاد، لا سمع تعنت وعناد، فإن في ذلك لآيات، لقوم يسمعون، يستدلون بها على أنه وحده المعبود وأنه الإله الحق، وأن إلهية ما سواه باطلة، وأنه الرءوف الرحيم العليم الحكيم.

(١) في ب: بما يشاء.