56. Surah Al-Waqiah

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:




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نَحْنُ خَلَقْنَاكُمْ فَلَوْلَا تُصَدِّقُونَ ﴿٥٧﴾

56: 57.  It is We Who have created you:

why will ye not witness the Truth?

C5249. Man is apt to forget his Creator, and even the fact that he, man, is a created being. The seed of his body, out of which his physical life starts, is not created by man, but by Allah in the process of the unfoldment of the world. Why will not man recognise and bear witness of this fact by a life of obedience to Allah's Law?

أَفَرَأَيْتُم مَّا تُمْنُونَ ﴿٥٨﴾

56: 58.  Do ye then see? -- the (human seed) -- that ye throw out, --

أَأَنتُمْ تَخْلُقُونَهُ أَمْ نَحْنُ الْخَالِقُونَ ﴿٥٩﴾

56: 59.  Is it ye who create it, or are We the Creators?

نَحْنُ قَدَّرْنَا بَيْنَكُمُ الْمَوْتَ ...

56: 60.  We have decreed Death to be your common lot,

C5250. Just as Allah has created this life that we see, so He has decreed that Death should be the common lot of all of us. Surely, if He can thus give life and death, as we see it, why should we refuse to believe that He can give us other forms when this life is over?

The Future Life, though indicated by what we know now, is to be on a wholly different plane. (R).

... وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمَسْبُوقِينَ ﴿٦٠﴾

and We are not to be frustrated

عَلَى أَن نُّبَدِّلَ أَمْثَالَكُمْ وَنُنشِئَكُمْ فِي مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴿٦١﴾

56: 61.  From changing your Forms and creating you (again) in (Forms) that ye know not.

وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْتُمُ النَّشْأَةَ الْأُولَى فَلَوْلَا تَذكَّرُونَ ﴿٦٢﴾

56: 62.  And ye certainly know already the first form of creation:

why then do ye not celebrate His praises?

 

أَفَرَأَيْتُم مَّا تَحْرُثُونَ ﴿٦٣﴾

56: 63.  See ye the seed that ye sow in the ground?

C5251. Having appealed to our own nature within us, He appeals now to the external nature around us, which should be evidence to us

Three examples are given :

أَأَنتُمْ تَزْرَعُونَهُ أَمْ نَحْنُ الزَّارِعُونَ ﴿٦٤﴾

56: 64.  Is it ye that cause it to grow, or are We the Cause?

لَوْ نَشَاء لَجَعَلْنَاهُ حُطَامًا فَظَلَلْتُمْ تَفَكَّهُونَ ﴿٦٥﴾

56: 65. Were it Our Will, we could crumble it to dry powder, and ye would be left in wonderment,

إِنَّا لَمُغْرَمُونَ ﴿٦٦﴾

56: 66.   (Saying), "We are indeed left with debts (for nothing):

C5252. The cultivator contracts debts for seed and gives labour for ploughing, sowing, watering, and weeding, in the hope of reaping a harvest.

Should he not give thanks to Allah when his harvest is in?

بَلْ نَحْنُ مَحْرُومُونَ ﴿٦٧﴾

56: 67.  "Indeed are we shut out (of the fruits of our labor)."

 

أَفَرَأَيْتُمُ الْمَاء الَّذِي تَشْرَبُونَ ﴿٦٨﴾

56: 68.  See ye the water which ye drink?

أَأَنتُمْ أَنزَلْتُمُوهُ مِنَ الْمُزْنِ أَمْ نَحْنُ الْمُنزِلُونَ ﴿٦٩﴾

56: 69.  Do ye bring it Down (in rain) from the Cloud, or do We?

لَوْ نَشَاء جَعَلْنَاهُ أُجَاجًا ...

56: 70.  Were it Our Will, We could make it salt (and unpalatable):

C5253. The mystery of the two streams of water, one sweet and the other salt, constantly mingling, and yet always separate, is referred to more than once.

The never-ending circuit is established by streams and rivers mingling with the ocean, the ocean sending forth mists and steam through a process of evaporation which forms clouds, and the clouds by condensation pouring forth rain to feed the streams and rivers again: see notes 3111-2 to 25:53, and n. 5185 to 55:19, and the further references given there.

... فَلَوْلَا تَشْكُرُونَ ﴿٧٠﴾

then why do ye not give thanks?

أَفَرَأَيْتُمُ النَّارَ الَّتِي تُورُونَ ﴿٧١﴾

56: 71.  See ye the Fire which ye kindle?

أَأَنتُمْ أَنشَأْتُمْ شَجَرَتَهَا ...

56: 72.  Is it ye who grow the tree which feeds the fire,

C5254. The relation of Fire to Trees is intimate. In nearly all the fire that we burn, the fuel is derived from the wood of trees. Even mineral coal is nothing but the wood of prehistoric forests petrified under the earth through geological ages. Fire produced out of green trees is referred to in 36:80; and n. 4026 there gives instances.

... أَمْ نَحْنُ الْمُنشِؤُونَ ﴿٧٢﴾

or do We grow it?

Asad’s Version:



56:57 IT IS WE who have created you, [O men:] why, then, do you not accept the truth?


(56:58) Have you ever considered that [seed] which you emit? 21


(56:59) Is it you who create it or are We the source of its creation?


56:60) We have [indeed] decreed that death shall be [ever- present] among you: but there is nothing to prevent Us


(56:61) from changing the nature of your existence 22 and bringing you into being [anew] in a manner [as yet] unknown to you.


56:62 And [since] you are indeed aware of the [miracle of your] coming into being in the first instance - why, then, do you not bethink yourselves [of Us]?

(56:63) Have you ever considered the seed which you cast upon the soil?

(56:64) Is it you who cause it to grow - or are We the cause of its growth?

(56:65) [For,] were it Our will, We could indeed turn it into chaff, and you would be left to wonder [and to lament], (56:66) "Verily, we are ruined!

(56:67) Nay, but we have been deprived [of our livelihood)! "


56:68 Have you ever considered the water which you drink?

(56:69) Is it you who cause it to come down from the clouds - or are We the cause of its coming down?

(56:70) [It comes down sweet - but] were it Our will, We could make it burningly salty and bitter: why, then, do you not give thanks [unto Us] ?


56:71 Have you ever considered the fire which you kindle?

(56:72) Is it you who have brought into being the tree that serves as its fuel 23 - or are We the cause of its coming into being?


Yuksel’s version


Observe, Question, Reflect and Appreciate

56:57 We have created you, if you could only acknowledge!

56:58 Have you noted the semen that you produce?

56:59 Did you create it, or were We the Ones who created it?

56:60 We have predetermined death for you. Nothing can stop Us,

56:61 From transforming your forms, and establishing you in what you do not know.

56:62 You have come to know about the first creation. If only you would remember.

56:63 Have you noted the crops you reap?

56:64 Did you grow them, or were We the Ones who grew them?

56:65 If We wished, We could turn them into hay. Then you would be left in wonderment:

56:66 "We are lost."

56:67 "No, we are deprived!"

56:68 Have you noted the water you drink?

56:69 Did you send it down from the clouds, or was it We who sent it down?

56:70 If We wished, We could make it salty. If only you would give thanks.

56:71 Have you noted the fire you kindle?

56:72 Did you initiate its tree, or was it We who initiated it?



[[ Asad’s notes -

20 See note 22 on 37:62.


21 This refers to both the male semen and the female ovum, and thus, by implication, to the awe- inspiring, complex phenomenon of procreation as such.


22 Lit., "changing your likenesses (amthal)". However, the term mathal signifies also, tropically, the state, condition and the qualities (sifat) of a thing or person - in brief, "the nature of his [or its] existence". ]]


23 Lit., "its tree": a metonym pointing to the plant-origin, direct or indirect, of almost all the known fuels, including mineral fuels like coal, which is but petrified wood, or petroleum, which is a liquefied residue of plant-nourished organisms buried in the earth for millions of years.