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Tafsir

Scholarly commentary explaining a verse — its context, its meaning and how the scholars have understood it.

Fatir 35:13

Word by word

يُولِجُ ٱلَّيْلَ فِى ٱلنَّهَارِ وَيُولِجُ ٱلنَّهَارَ فِى ٱلَّيْلِ وَسَخَّرَ ٱلشَّمْسَ وَٱلْقَمَرَ كُلٌّ يَجْرِى لِأَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى ۚ ذَٰلِكُمُ ٱللَّهُ رَبُّكُمْ لَهُ ٱلْمُلْكُ ۚ وَٱلَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِهِۦ مَا يَمْلِكُونَ مِن قِطْمِيرٍ

He causes the night to enter the day, and He causes the day to enter the night and has subjected the sun and the moon - each running [its course] for a specified term. That is Allāh, your Lord; to Him belongs sovereignty. And those whom you invoke other than Him do not possess [as much as] the membrane of a date seed.

Ibn Kathir (Abridged) English Ma'arif al-Qur'an English Tafsir Muyassar Arabic Tafsir Ibn Kathir Arabic All sources

Ibn Kathir (Abridged)

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

The gods of the Idolators do not even own a Qitmir

Another aspect of His perfect power and might is that He has subjugated the night with its darkness and the day with its light. He takes from the length of the one and adds it to the shortness of the other, until they become equal. Then He takes from the latter and adds to the former, so one becomes long and the other becomes short, so they take from one another in summer and in winter.وَسَخَّرَ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ(And He has subjected the sun and the moon,) and the stars and planets, with their light. All of them run in their appointed courses and in the manner prescribed for them, as decreed by the Almighty, All-Knowing.كُـلٌّ يَجْرِى لاًّجَـلٍ مُّسَـمًّىeach runs its course for a term appointed. means, until the Day of Resurrection.ذَلِكُـمُ اللَّهُ رَبُّـكُمْSuch is Allah, your Lord؟

means, the One Who has done all this is the Almighty Lord besides Whom there is no other true God.وَالَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِهِ(And those, whom you invoke or call upon instead of Him,) means, `the idols and false gods whom you claim to be in the form of angels who are close to Allah,'مَا يَمْلِكُونَ مِن قِطْمِيرٍown not even a Qitلm0r. Ibn Abba0s, may Allah be pleased with him, Muja0hid, Ikrimah, Ata0 , Atلiyah Al- Awfi, Al-Hلasan, Qata0dah and others said, This is the thread that is attached to the pit of a date. In other words, they do not possess anything in the heavens or on earth, not even anything equivalent to this Qitلm0r.

Then Allah says:إِن تَدْعُوهُمْ لاَ يَسْمَعُواْ دُعَآءَكُمْ(If you invoke them, they hear not your call;) means, `the gods upon whom you call instead of Allah, do not hear your supplication, because they are inanimate and have no soul in them.'وَلَوْ سَمِعُواْ مَا اسْتَجَابُواْ لَكُمْ(and if (in case) they were to hear, they could not grant it to you.) means, `they are not able to do any of the things that you ask them for.'وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَـمَةِ يَكْفُرُونَ بِشِرْكِـكُمْAnd on the Day of Resurrection, they will disown your worshipping them means, `they will disown you.' This is like the Ayat:وَمَنْ أَضَلُّ مِمَّن يَدْعُو مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ مَن لاَّ يَسْتَجِيبُ لَهُ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَـمَةِ وَهُمْ عَن دُعَآئِهِمْ غَـفِلُونَ - وَإِذَا حُشِرَ النَّاسُ كَانُواْ لَهُمْ أَعْدَآءً وَكَانُواْ بِعِبَادَتِهِمْ كَـفِرِينَ (And who is more astray than one who calls on besides Allah, such as will not answer him till the Day of Resurrection, and who are (even) unaware of their calls to them And when mankind are gathered, they (false deities) will become their enemies and will deny their worshipping.) (46:5-6), andوَاتَّخَذُواْ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ ءالِهَةً لِّيَكُونُواْ لَهُمْ عِزّاً كَلاَّ سَيَكْفُرُونَ بِعِبَـدَتِهِمْ وَيَكُونُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ ضِدّاً (And they have taken gods besides Allah, that they might give them honor, power and glory.

Nay, but they will deny their worship of them, and become opponents to them.) (19:81-82)وَلاَ يُنَبِّئُكَ مِثْلُ خَبِيرٍ(And none can inform you like Him Who is the All-Knower.) means, no one can tell you about the consequences of things and how they will end like the One Who is the All-Knower of them. Qatadah said, "He is referring to Himself, may He be blessed and exalted, for He undoubtedly tells the truth."

Ma'arif al-Qur'an

Mufti Muhammad Shafi

In the next verse: وَمِن كُلٍّ تَأْكُلُونَ لَحْمًا طَرِ‌يًّا وَتَسْتَخْرِ‌جُونَ حِلْيَةً تَلْبَسُونَهَا (And from each, you eat fresh meat, and derive ornaments that you wear - 35:12), it is being said that one gets fresh meat, that is, fish to eat from both waters, sweet or brackish. In this verse, by alluding to fish as meat, the hint released is that fish is meat, already halal by itself. One does not have to slaughter it. This is contrary to the case of the animals found on land. Unless one slaughters them with the name of Allah, they do not become halal. Fish does not have this condition. It is meat, ready to eat. And the word: حِلْيَةً (hilyah) means ornament and refers to pearls. The verse tells us that the way pearls are found in brackish waters, they are also found in sweet waters, something contrary to the general belief, since it is well known that pearls are harvested from the brackish water of the seas.

However, the reality is what is evident from the words of the Qur'an that they form in both - yes, much less in sweet waters and far more in the brackish waters of the sea. That they are found in seas excessively contributed to the popular belief that pearls come only from brackish waters.

By using the masculine form in the last word: تَلْبَسُونَهَا (talbasunaha: that you wear), a hint is being released that the use of pearls is permissible for men as well - contrary to gold and silver, the use of which as an ornament is not permissible for men. (Ruh-ul-Ma’ ani)

Tafsir Muyassar

Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Saudi Arabia

واللهُ يدخل من ساعات الليل في النهار، فيزيد النهار بقَدْر ما نقص من الليل، ويُدخل من ساعات النهار في الليل، فيزيد الليل بقَدْر ما نقص من النهار، وذلل الشمس والقمر، يجريان لوقت معلوم، ذلكم الذي فعل هذا هو الله ربكم له الملك كله، والذين تعبدون من دون الله ما يملكون مِن قطمير، وهي القشرة الرقيقة البيضاء تكون على النَّواة.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

وهذا أيضا من قدرته التامة وسلطانه العظيم ، في تسخيره الليل بظلامه والنهار بضيائه ، ويأخذ من طول هذا فيزيده في قصر هذا فيعتدلان . ثم يأخذ من هذا في هذا ، فيطول هذا ويقصر هذا ، ثم يتقارضان صيفا وشتاء ، ( وسخر الشمس والقمر ) أي : والنجوم السيارات ، والثوابت الثاقبات بأضوائهن أجرام السماوات ، الجميع يسيرون بمقدار معين ، وعلى منهاج مقنن محرر ، تقديرا من عزيز عليم .( كل يجري لأجل مسمى ) أي : إلى يوم القيامة .( ذلكم الله ربكم ) أي : الذي فعل هذا هو الرب العظيم ، الذي لا إله غيره ، ( والذين تدعون من دونه ) أي : من الأنداد والأصنام التي هي على صورة من تزعمون من الملائكة المقربين ، ( ما يملكون من قطمير ) .قال ابن عباس ، ومجاهد ، وعكرمة ، وعطاء وعطية العوفي ، والحسن ، وقتادة وغيرهم : القطمير : هو اللفافة التي تكون على نواة التمرة ، أي : لا يملكون من السماوات والأرض شيئا ، ولا بمقدار هذا القطمير .

Tafsir is provided for educational reference. Paragraph breaks are added for readability — the wording of each commentary is unchanged. For religious guidance, consult a qualified scholar.