Tafsir

Commentary

Mentioned in the previous verses was how obstinate and unmindful of consequences the disbelievers and polytheists were. Since such evils are caused when people remain unaware of Allah and His unmatched knowledge and power, the present four verses provide the antidote. Here, Allah Ta’ ala cites some samples of His Knowledge and Power, and of blessings and favours bestowed on human beings, a little reflection in which would make every sensible person admit that feats of such magnitude cannot be accomplished by any power other than that of Almighty Allah.

In the first verse (95), it was said: إِنَّ اللَّـهَ فَالِقُ الْحَبِّ وَالنَّوَىٰ (Surely, Allah is the one who splits the seed and the pit). Pointed to here is a marvel of creation. Splitting a dry seed and pit and bringing out from it a living green tree is the act of that Most Sacred Being who is the Creator of the Universe. Human input has nothing to do with it. The most a farmer can do is to remove impediments or things harmful away from the growth path of the tender bud or shoot rising from inside the seed or pit, a tribute to the great power of the Creator. Of course, there are processes of ploughing, cleaning, softening, leveling, fertilizing and watering of land - but, the maximum these efforts can achieve is to make sure that the tender newcomer has to face no hurdle on its way up. The rest of the job, the real job, that the seed and pit split, that a bud or shoot sprout out from it, that come leaves of many wonderful kinds and colour, that come flowers and fruits (of mindboggling colours, varieties, smells and tastes), is a job taken care of by someone else.

This is art and power alive which no human ingenuity can even come close to by making one leaf, one petal in that manner. Therefore, at another place in the Qur'an, it was said: أَفَرَ‌أَيْتُم مَّا تَحْرُ‌ثُونَ ﴿63﴾ أَأَنتُمْ تَزْرَ‌عُونَهُ أَمْ نَحْنُ الزَّارِ‌عُونَ ﴿64﴾ that is, ` Do you see the seed that you sow? Do you make it grow, or are We the One who makes it grow [ the real Creator to whom its growth has to be attributed ]? - 56-63.'Then, it was said: يُخْرِ‌جُ الْحَيَّ مِنَ الْمَيِّتِ وَمُخْرِ‌جُ الْمَيِّتِ مِنَ الْحَيِّ (He brings forth the living from the dead, and He is the one who brings forth the dead from the living). The ` dead' or lifeless refers to cell or egg which serves to create human and animal life forms. Similarly, the expression: ` dead from the living' refers to the same cell or egg which issues forth from the living.

After that, it was said: ذَٰلِكُمُ اللَّـهُ ۖ فَأَنَّىٰ تُؤْفَكُونَ (That is Allah. Whereto, then, are you straying away?). In other words, the sense is that all these things have been done by Allah Ta` ala alone, yet here you are knowlingly straying away to strange directions, such as, taking self-carved idols as your removers of difficulties and fulfillers of needs and thus the objects of your worship.