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Tafsir

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

Al-Jathiyah 45:5

Word by word

وَٱخْتِلَـٰفِ ٱلَّيْلِ وَٱلنَّهَارِ وَمَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مِن رِّزْقٍ فَأَحْيَا بِهِ ٱلْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا وَتَصْرِيفِ ٱلرِّيَـٰحِ ءَايَـٰتٌ لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ

And [in] the alternation of night and day and [in] what Allāh sends down from the sky of provision [i.e., rain] and gives life thereby to the earth after its lifelessness and [in His] directing of the winds are signs for a people who reason.

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

Which was revealed in Makkahبِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

A Directive to contemplate over Allah's Ayat

Allah directs His servants to contemplate His favors and gifts, as well as His great power that is demonstrated by His creating the heavens and the earth and the various types and categories of creatures in them. There are the angels, Jinns, humans, animals, birds, beasts, carnivores, insects and various kinds of sea creatures. The night and day alternate, each follows the other in succession, never ceasing to come, as decreed. One brings darkness and one brings light. Allah the Exalted also sends down the rain from the clouds when it is most needed. He is calling the rain, `provision', because it is the resource that produces various provisions,فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الاٌّرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا(and revives therewith the earth after its death,) after it was dry and had no vegetation or life of any kind. Allah said next,وَتَصْرِيفِ الرِّيَـحِ(and in the turning about of the winds,) sometimes towards the south and sometimes towards the north. Some are easterly winds and some are westerly winds, some bringing sea breezes and some blow from the land, some coming at night and some by day.

Some winds bring rain, some cause pollination and some winds just revive the soul, while some others bear no benefit. Allah said first.لاّيَـتٍ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ(are signs for the believers), thenيُوقِنُونَ(who have faith with certainty), thenيَعْقِلُونَ(who understand), thus ascending from one honorable stage to what is more honorable and higher in grade.

These Ayat are similar to an Ayah in Surat Al-Baqarahإِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ وَاخْتِلَـفِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَالْفُلْكِ الَّتِى تَجْرِى فِى الْبَحْرِ بِمَا يَنفَعُ النَّاسَ وَمَآ أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ مِنَ السَّمَآءِ مِن مَّآءٍ فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الاٌّرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ دَآبَّةٍ وَتَصْرِيفِ الرِّيَـحِ وَالسَّحَابِ الْمُسَخَّرِ بَيْنَ السَّمَآءِ وَالأَرْضِ لآيَـتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ (Verily, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, and the ships which sail through the sea with that which is of use to mankind, and the water which Allah sends down from the sky and makes the earth alive therewith after its death, and the moving creatures of all kinds that He has spread therein, and in the veering of winds and clouds which are held between the sky and the earth, are indeed signs for people of understanding.) (2:164)

Ma'arif al-Qur'an

Mufti Muhammad Shafi

إِنَّ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْ‌ضِ لَآيَاتٍ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ("Surely in the heavens and the earth, there are signs for those who have faith.. ..45:3) " The purpose of this verse, and similar other verses, is to affirm the Oneness of Allah. Similar verses are available in [ 2:164] إِنَّ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْ‌ضِ ("Surely, in the creation of heavens and earth..." ) where their detailed commentary will be found. How the two verses prove the Oneness of Allah is also explained on that occasion. In the two places, there is a slight difference in the argumentation: Scholars interested might find the finer points of the difference discussed by Imam Razi in his Tafsir Kabir rather interesting. It is worth noting that in all these verses reference is made to the various signs in nature and a concluding statement is made on each occasion: Here it concludes: ` there are signs for those who have faith', in another place it concludes: ` there are signs for those who believe' and in a third place it concludes: ` there are signs for those who understand'.

In all these cases, there are stylistic variations, but in addition the current verse points to the fact that only those people will be able to benefit who have faith. In the second case, it will be beneficial to those people who might not immediately embrace the Faith, but they do develop certainty in their hearts, in that these signs do point to the Oneness of Allah. Possibly this certainty one day or the other will turn into ` Faith'. In the third case, it could benefit those who may not be immediate believers or firm in belief, but they do have sound heart to understand. If they search into the signs with deep insight, they will inevitably end up with faith and firm belief. However, people devoid of sound intellect or unwilling to use it will remain unconvinced, even if thousands of evidence or arguments are put forward to them.

Tafsir Muyassar

Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Saudi Arabia

وفي اختلاف الليل والنار وتعاقبهما عليكم وما أنزل الله من السماء من مطر، فأحيا به الأرض بعد يُبْسها، فاهتزت بالنبات والزرع، وفي تصريف الرياح لكم من جميع الجهات وتصريفها لمنافعكم، أدلةٌ وحججٌ لقوم يعقلون عن الله حججه وأدلته.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

واختلاف الليل والنهار في تعاقبهما دائبين لا يفتران ، هذا بظلامه وهذا بضيائه ، وما أنزل الله تعالى من السحاب من المطر في وقت الحاجة إليه ، وسماه رزقا ; لأن به يحصل الرزق ، ( فأحيا به الأرض بعد موتها ) أي : بعد ما كانت هامدة لا نبات فيها ولا شيء .وقوله : ( وتصريف الرياح ) أي : جنوبا وشآما ، ودبورا وصبا ، بحرية وبرية ، ليلية ونهارية . ومنها ما هو للمطر ، ومنها ما هو للقاح ، ومنها ما هو غذاء للأرواح ، ومنها ما هو عقيم [ لا ينتج ] .وقال أولا ) لآيات للمؤمنين ) ، ثم ) يوقنون ) ثم ) يعقلون ) وهو ترق من حال شريف إلى ما هو أشرف منه وأعلى . وهذه الآيات شبيهة بآية " البقرة " وهي قوله : ( إن في خلق السموات والأرض واختلاف الليل والنهار والفلك التي تجري في البحر بما ينفع الناس وما أنزل الله من السماء من ماء فأحيا به الأرض بعد موتها وبث فيها من كل دابة وتصريف الرياح والسحاب المسخر بين السماء والأرض لآيات لقوم يعقلون ) [ البقرة : 164 ] . وقد أورد ابن أبي حاتم هاهنا عن وهب بن منبه أثرا طويلا غريبا في خلق الإنسان من الأخلاط الأربعة .

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.