Creation Repeated

29. Al-'Ankabut (The Spider)

Period Uncertain

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا كَيْفَ يُبْدِئُ اللَّهُ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُ...

29:19. See they not how Allah originates creation, then repeats it:

...إِنَّ ذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ ﴿١٩﴾

truly that is easy for Allah.

قُلْ سِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَانظُرُوا كَيْفَ بَدَأَ الْخَلْقَ...

29: 20. Say:

"Travel through the earth and see how Allah did originate creation:

...ثُمَّ اللَّهُ يُنشِئُ النَّشْأَةَ الْآخِرَةَ...

so will Allah produce a later creation:

...إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ ﴿٢٠﴾

for Allah has power over all things.

يُعَذِّبُُ مَن يَشَاء وَيَرْحَمُ مَن يَشَاء...

29: 21. "He punishes whom He pleases, and He grants mercy to whom He pleases,

...وَإِلَيْهِ تُقْلَبُونَ ﴿٢١﴾

and towards Him are ye turned.

C3442. I think ilaihi tuqlabun is better translated "towards Him are ye turned" than "towards Him will be your return", as it implies not only the return of man to Allah in the Hereafter (turja'un in verse 17 above) but also the fact explained in verse 22 that man's needs are always to be obtained from Allah:

man cannot frustrate Allah's designs, and can have no help or protection except from Allah: man has always to face Allah, whether man obeys Allah or tries to ignore Allah.

Man will never be able to defeat Allah's Plan. According to His wise Will and Plan, He will grant His grace or withhold it from man.

وَمَا أَنتُم بِمُعْجِزِينَ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا فِي السَّمَاء...

29: 22. "Not on earth nor in heaven will ye be able (fleeing) to frustrate (His plan),

...وَمَا لَكُم مِّن دُونِ اللَّهِ مِن وَلِيٍّ وَلَا نَصِيرٍ ﴿٢٢﴾

nor have ye, besides Allah, any protector or helper."

وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ وَلِقَائِهِ أُوْلَئِكَ يَئِسُوا مِن رَّحْمَتِي...

29: 23. Those who reject the Signs of Allah and the Meeting, with Him (in the Hereafter), it is they who shall despair of My mercy:

...وَأُوْلَئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ ﴿٢٣﴾

it is they who will (suffer) a most grievous Penalty.

C3443. The emphasis is on "they" (ulaika).

It is only the people who ignore or reject Allah's Signs and reject a Hereafter, that will find themselves in despair and suffering.

Allah's Mercy is open to all, but if any reject His Mercy, they must suffer.

أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا كَيْفَ يُبْدِئُ اللَّهُ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُ.

...إِنَّ ذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ ﴿١٩﴾

Asad’s Version:

(29:20) Say: "Go all over the earth and behold how [wondrously) He has created [man) in the first instance: 15 and thus, too, will God bring into being your second life - for, verily, God has the power to will anything!

29:21 "He causes to suffer whomever He wills, and bestows His mercy on whomever He wills; and unto Him you shall be made to return:

(29:22) and never - not on earth and not in the skies - can you (hope to) elude Him; and you have none to protect you from God, and none to bring

you succour."

(29:23) And [thus it is:] they who are bent on denying the truth of God's

messages and of their [ultimate] meeting with Him - it is they who abandon all hope of My grace and mercy: and it is they whom grievous suffering awaits (in the life to come]. 16

[[ Asad’s notes – 14 This passage - consisting of verses 19-23 - is parenthetically placed in the midst of the story of Abraham, connecting with the latter's reference to resurrection at the end of verse 17 ("unto Him you shall be brought back"). The ever-recurring emergence, decay and re-emergence of life, so vividly exemplified in all organic nature, is often cited in the Qur'an not merely in support of the doctrine of resurrection, but also as evidence of a consciously-devised plan underlying creation as such - and, thus, of the existence of the Creator.

15 Cf, for example, 23:12-14, which alludes to maris coming into existence out of most primitive elements, and gradually evolving into a highly complex being endowed not only with a physical body but also with a mind, with feelings, and instincts.

16 Implying that such people depnve themselves of God's grace and mercy (which is the twofold significance of the term rahmah in this context) by rejecting all belief in His existence: in other words, belief

in God - or one's readiness to believe in Him - is, in and by itself, already an outcome of His grace and mercy, just as suffering in the hereafter is an outcome of one's be~ing "bent on denying the truth".

[[ali’s notes - C3440. The originating of creation is the creation of primeval matter.

The repetition of the process of creation goes on constantly, for at every moment new processes are being called into being by the creative power of Allah, and according to His Laws.

And the final creation as far as man is concerned will be in the Ma'ad, when the whole world as man sees it will be entirely newly created on a different plane.

As far as Allah is concerned, there is nothing final, no first and last, for He is infinite. He was before our First and will be after our Last.

C3441. Travel through the earth: again, literally as well as symbolically.

If we actually go through this wide earth, we shall see the wonderful things in His Creation;

- the Grand Canyon and the Niagaras in America,

- beautiful harbors like that at Sydney in Australia,

- mountains like Fujiyama, the Himalayas, and Elburz in Asia,

- the Nile with its wonderful cataracts in Africa, the Fiords of Norway, the Geysers of Iceland,

- the city of the midnight sun in Tromsoe,

- and innumerable wonders everywhere.

But wonders upon wonders are disclosed in the constitution of matter itself, the atom, and the forces of energy, as also in the instincts of animals, and the minds and capacities of man. And there is no limit to these things.

Worlds upon worlds are created and transformed every moment, within and presumably beyond man's vision. From what we know we can judge of the unknown. ]]]

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[[[……That the verb yuiduhu (He brings him forth a new) refers here to the individual resurrection of human beings obvious form the sequence. The noun Khalq primarily denotes “creation” (i.e., the bringing into being of something that did not exist before);

subsequently, it denotes the result or object of creation, i.e., a “created beings”; finally, it is used in the sense of “man” in the generic connotation of this word, i.e, “mankind”.]

30. Ar-Rum (The Byzantines)

Mecca Period [6-7 years before Hijra]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

اللَّهُ يَبْدَأُ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُ ...

30:11. It is Allah Who begins (the process of) creation; then repeats it;

... ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ ﴿١١﴾

then shall ye be brought back to Him.

وَلَهُ مَن فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ...

30:26. To Him belongs every being that is in the heavens and on earth:

...كُلٌّ لَّهُ قَانِتُونَ ﴿٢٦﴾

all are devoutly obedient to Him.

C3532. All nature in Creation not only obeys Allah, but devoutly obeys Him, i.e., glories in its privilege of service and obedience.

وَهُوَ الَّذِي يَبْدَأُ الْخَلْقَ ...

30:27. It is He Who begins (the process of) creation;

C3533. Cf. 30:11 above, where the same phrase began the argument about the beginning and end of all things being with Allah.

This has been illustrated by reference to various Signs in Creation, and now the argument is rounded off with the same phrase.

... ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُ وَهُوَ أَهْوَنُ عَلَيْهِ...

then repeats it; and for Him it is most easy.

...وَلَهُ الْمَثَلُ الْأَعْلَى فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ...

To Him belongs the loftiest similitude (We can think of) in the heavens and the earth:

C3534. Allah's glory and Allah's attributes are above any names we can give to them. Human language is not adequate to express them. We can only form some idea of them at our present stage by means of Similitudes and Parables.

But even so, the highest we can think of falls short of the true Reality. For Allah is higher and wiser than the highest and wisest we can think of.

...وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ ﴿٢٧﴾

for He is Exalted in Might, Full of Wisdom.

Asad’s Version:

30:11

GOD CREATES [man] in the first instance, and then brings him forth anew:' and, in the end, unto Him you all will be brought back. (30:12) And when the Last Hour dawns, those who were lost in sin will be broken in spirit: (30: 13) for they will have no intercessors in the beings to whom they were wont to ascribe a share in God's divinity, 10 seeing that [by then] they themselves will have ceased to believe in their erstwhile blasphemous fancies. 11

30:26 For, unto Him belongs every being that is in the heavens and on earth; all things devoutly obey His will.

(30:27) And He it is who creates [all life] in the first instance, and then brings it forth anew: 18 and most easy is this for Him, since His is the essence of all that is most sublime in the heavens and on earth, 19 and He alone is almighty, truly wise.

Other Versions:

30:11

[[Asad’s notes - 9 I.e., He will bring him forth anew: cf 10:4 and the corresponding note 8. (A more general formulation of the same statement is found inverse 27 of this surah.)

[[ Ali’s note - C3517. Nothing exists of its own accord or fortuitously. It is Allah Who originates all creation.

What appears to be death may be only transformation: for Allah can and does recreate. And His creative activity is continuous. Our death is but a phenomenal event. What we become after death is the result of a process of recreation by Allah, Who is both the source and the goal of all things.

When we are brought back to him, it will be as conscious and responsible beings, to receive the consequences of our brief life on this earth.]]

[[Asad’s notes:-

1 8 Although this statement is phrased in almost exactly the same words as in verse 1 1 above (as well as in 10:4), it evidently has here a more general purport, relating not only to man and maris individual resurrection but to the creation and constant re-creation of all life.

19 Primarily, the term mathal denotes a "likeness" or "similitude", and hence is often used in the Qur'an (e.g., in the next verse) in the sense of "parable". Occasionally, however, it is synonymous with sifah, which signifies the intrinsic "attribute", "quality" or "nature" of a thing, concept or living being (cf the reference to "the nature of Jesus" and "the nature of Adam" in 3:59). With reference to God, who is "sublimely exalted above anything that men may devise by way of definition"

(see 6 : 1 00 and the corresponding note 88), the expression mathal clearly points to a quality of being entirely different from all other categories of existence, inasmuch as there is "nothing like unto Him" (42: 1 1) and "nothing that could be compared With Him" (1 12:4): hence, the rendering of mathal as 'essence" is most appropriate in this context. ]]