Salaam and welcome to another episode of our weekly series titled “Path towards Enlightenment” which is an endeavour to make you and us familiar with an easy and fluent explanation of God’s Final Scripture to all mankind, the holy Qur’an that was revealed to the Last and Greatest of all Messengers, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).

As you know, we have started explanation of “Surah Rahman, which is considered the crown of the Holy Qur’an since it opens with the word “Ar-Rahman” or the “All-Beneficent”, thus proclaiming one of the most beautiful attributes of the Almighty Creator. This Surah highlights the All-Merciful Lord’s wonders of creation, describes the end of the material world, and paints an evocative picture of the delights of Paradise. Hell is briefly contrasted in Ayah 43 with the joys that await the righteous. The refrain فبای آلاء ربکما تکذبان     which means “So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both (mankind and jinn) deny?” runs throughout the Surah.

We continue from where we left you in our last episode of this series a fortnight ago, and here are Ayahs 14, 15, and 16 of the said Surah:

“He created man out of dry clay, like the potter’s (clay),

“And created the jinn out of a flame of fire;

“So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?”

If you might recall, last Friday in our explanation of the previous Ayahs of this Surah we said that among the Divine blessings is the creation of Planet Earth with all its wondrous forms of life and inanimate objects as the cradle for the comfort and flourishing of human beings, who have been granted different types of provisions to eat and enjoy, such as a variety of fruits and vegetables, and grains, including wheat, rice, barley, millets, etc., as well as various fragrant plants and flowers to take pleasure from. Divine bounties encompass all our life and the environment around us, which means the humans and the other somewhat intelligible but invisible species call ‘jinn’ should be careful not to deny these blessings which are irrefutable proofs of God Almighty’s Omnipotence, Graciousness, and Mercy.

The Ayahs that we recited to you now, refer to the creation of mankind and jinn, and indicate God’s Omnipotence and also provides everyone with lessons, saying: mankind has been created from the ingredient “salsaal”, which is Arabic for dry clay that is molded with a sprinkling of water, like the clay of pottery as denoted by the Arabic word “fakhkhaar” is applied to any kind of pottery which rattles or makes sounds upon being touched. Thus, God Almighty created the human being from a seemingly unworthy matter and granted it intellect and the power of speech, thereby providing mankind the opportunity to become the noblest of all species of creatures by striving towards perfection through the recognition of the manifest truth and by abstaining from all forbidden and indecent things and acts, including disbelief and ingratitude.

Ayah 15 describes the creation of jinn from the flame of fire as is evident by the use of the Arabic phrase “maarejin min naar” which is indicative of the different colours the flames of a blazing fire – fanned by wind – may assume, such as red, yellow, blue, and white. This species, which has been granted moderate intelligence and ability to speak, is invisible to the physical eye of the human beings, and is capable of assuming various shapes and sizes, as per the Will of God Almighty.

Therefore, it is crystal clear that the source of human creation was earth and water while that of jinn was fire and wind.

Ayah 16 is reiteration of the rhetorical question – posed after every few Ayahs – as a reminder to make both mankind and genies reflect upon the blessings of the All-Merciful Creator by opening their minds’ eye and taking stock of themselves and their deeds, instead of denying or ignoring such manifest truths.

These Ayahs teach us that:

1. Elements like earth, water, fire and air have no life of their own or any intellect, and it is the Almighty Creator Who molded out of these species of two different creatures and granted them the spirit that regulates their motions and the mind that determines their actions.
2. Mankind and jinn are both creatures of this planet formed out of material substances, and are accountable for their beliefs and deeds in view of the gifts of the intellect and speech they have been granted, in order to justify reward or punishment for them.
3. It is gross ignorance to deny the existence of things that cannot be seen by the physical eye or are hidden from our limited senses, such as the invisible species called jinn or genies.
4. Ingratitude towards Divine bounties is a cardinal sin from which both mankind and jinn should abstain.

Now we invite you to listen to Ayahs 17 and 18 of Surah Rahmān as the concluding ayahs of this episode:

“Lord of the two easts and Lord of the two wests (That is, the points of sunrise and sunset at the winter and summer solstices)!

“So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?”

Ayah 17 draws attention to another Divine blessing saying God Almighty is the Lord of two easts and two wests, which is a reference to the two slightly differing positions the Sun seems to assume in the two six-month seasonal winter and summer solstices of the year, while rising in the east and setting in west, as Planet Earth orbits around the Sun, while rotating on its own axis to determine the day and the night. It could be said that each and every day in a year's time the sun rises from a point and sets in another; hence the number of easts and wests equals the number of the days of a year, but taking into account the maximum northern and southern axes on the horizon, the broad definition is of two easts and two wests.

Generally speaking, this Ayah reflects the precise order of creation that requires a balanced amount of light, darkness, heat and cold, which is indeed a great blessing of God. That is the reason the next Ayah repeats the rhetorical question: “So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?”

From these Ayahs we learn the following points:

1. The holy Qur’an revealed by the Almighty Creator almost a millennium-and-a-half ago, gives a wondrous description of the sky, the celestial bodies, and the nature of the earth, which modern science is now trying to discover through trial and error.
2. The seasonal cycle, the differing duration of days and nights, and the varying degrees of heat and cold throughout the year are not accidental, but function according to a precise plan determined by the Divine Administrator of the universe.
3. Truth is undeniable even if the disbelievers and the ingrates try to ignore it.

Now we listen to Ayahs 19, 20, and 21 of the same Surah:

“He merged the two seas (sweet and salty), meeting each other.

“There is a barrier between them which they do not overstep.

“So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?”

These Ayahs point to the fact that among the blessings of God Almighty is the creation of two distinct types of water bodies, one of palatable water and the other bitter and unpalatable, yet both are productive. Although these waters meet each other, they do not intermingle, since there is a discrete barrier between them, as could be visible from “a bird's eye view” or seen from a height. This spectacle is clearly evident at the estuaries where rivers of fresh water flow into the large seas of salt water, drawing a clearly visible line at the meeting point due to different degrees of the thickness of the two that gives them a distinct shade of colour, in addition to their respective warmth or cold that keeps their joint flow separate and affects the climatic conditions of the adjoining lands.

Ayah 21 is again a warning to mankind and jinn against denial of Divine blessings.

These Ayahs teach us the following:

1. The world of nature, including the water bodies and the ecosystem, is a manifestation of the Almighty Creator’s infinite power and mercy.
2. The perfect order of the natural environment that enables life to flourish on Planet Earth requires both sweet and salty waters.
3. The human beings and the jinn are again cautioned against indulging in disbelief and denial of Divine blessings.

Here we present you Ayahs 22, 23, 24, and 25 of Surah Rahmān in conclusion of this Friday’s episode of Path towards Enlightenment:

“From them emerge the pearl and the coral.

“So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

“His are the sailing ships (or watercrafts) on the sea (appearing) like landmarks.

“So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?”

Ayah 22 means to say that among the many yields of the two types of water bodies (both sweet and salty) where abundant fish thrive, are pearls and corals that are used as ornaments, in addition to their medical use and several other benefits accrued from them. Pearls differ in quality depending on their size, lustre, and shades of mostly white or cream colour, while the best kind of coral is red, and the darker the better. We should not deny these manifest Divine bounties.

Ayah 24 refers to the important role of the rivers, the seas and the oceans through which sail vessels of various types, including large ships built by human beings through proper use of the brain and the brawn gifted by God, for travel and transportation of merchandize between different lands.

Then, how can we deny the bounties and blessings of our All-Merciful Lord!

From these Ayahs we learn that:

1. Although mankind is land-based, the watercourses, including lakes, rivers, seas, and oceans serve as sources of sustenance and development.
2. It is the power of the brain, coupled with physical strength, which enable human beings to build ships and other means of travel and transportation – on land, sea, and in the air.
3. The disbelievers and the deniers are thus in gross ignorance to neglect such manifest signs of Divine favours.

RM/AS/SS