The Twenty-Ninth Surah
Al-'Ankabut (The Spider)
Period Uncertain
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
أَوَلَمْ
يَرَوْا
كَيْفَ يُبْدِئُ
اللَّهُ الْخَلْقَ
ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُ...
29. 19. See they not how Allah originates creation, then repeats it:
C3440. The originating of creation is the creation of primeval matter.
The repetition of the process of creation goes on constantly, for at every moment new processes are being called into being by the creative power of Allah, and according to His Laws.
And the final creation as far as man is concerned will be in the Ma'ad, when the whole world as man sees it will be entirely newly created on a different plane.
As far as Allah is concerned, there is nothing final, no first and last, for He is infinite. He was before our First and will be after our Last.
...إِنَّ ذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ ﴿١٩﴾
truly that is easy for Allah.
قُلْ
سِيرُوا
فِي الْأَرْضِ
فَانظُرُوا
كَيْفَ بَدَأَ
الْخَلْقَ...
29. 20. Say:
"Travel through the earth and see how Allah did originate creation:
C3441. Travel through the earth: again, literally as well as symbolically.
If we actually go through this wide earth, we shall see the wonderful things in His Creation;
- the Grand Canyon and the Niagaras in America,
- beautiful harbors like that at Sydney in Australia,
- mountains like Fujiyama, the Himalayas, and Elburz in Asia,
- the Nile with its wonderful cataracts in Africa, the Fiords of Norway, the Geysers of Iceland,
- the city of the midnight sun in Tromsoe,
- and innumerable wonders everywhere.
But wonders upon wonders are disclosed in the constitution of matter itself, the atom, and the forces of energy, as also in the instincts of animals, and the minds and capacities of man. And there is no limit to these things.
Worlds upon worlds are created and transformed every moment, within and presumably beyond man's vision. From what we know we can judge of the unknown.
...ثُمَّ اللَّهُ يُنشِئُ النَّشْأَةَ الْآخِرَةَ...
so will Allah produce a later creation:
...إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ ﴿٢٠﴾
for Allah has power over all things.
يُعَذِّبُُ
مَن يَشَاء
وَيَرْحَمُ
مَن يَشَاء...
29. 21. "He punishes whom He pleases, and He grants mercy to whom He pleases,
...وَإِلَيْهِ تُقْلَبُونَ ﴿٢١﴾
and towards Him are ye turned.
C3442. I think ilaihi tuqlabun is better translated "towards Him are ye turned" than "towards Him will be your return", as it implies not only the return of man to Allah in the Hereafter (turja'un in verse 17 above) but also the fact explained in verse 22 that man's needs are always to be obtained from Allah:
man cannot frustrate Allah's designs, and can have no help or protection except from Allah: man has always to face Allah, whether man obeys Allah or tries to ignore Allah.
Man will never be able to defeat Allah's Plan. According to His wise Will and Plan, He will grant His grace or withhold it from man.
وَمَا
أَنتُم
بِمُعْجِزِينَ
فِي الْأَرْضِ
وَلَا فِي
السَّمَاء...
29. 22. "Not on earth nor in heaven will ye be able (fleeing) to frustrate (His plan),
...وَمَا لَكُم مِّن دُونِ اللَّهِ مِن وَلِيٍّ وَلَا نَصِيرٍ ﴿٢٢﴾
nor have ye, besides Allah, any protector or helper."
وَالَّذِينَ
كَفَرُوا
بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ
وَلِقَائِهِ
أُوْلَئِكَ
يَئِسُوا مِن
رَّحْمَتِي...
29. 23. Those who reject the Signs of Allah and the Meeting, with Him (in the Hereafter), it is they who shall despair of My mercy:
...وَأُوْلَئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ ﴿٢٣﴾
it is they who will (suffer) a most grievous Penalty.
C3443. The emphasis is on "they" (ulaika).
It is only the people who ignore or reject Allah's Signs and reject a Hereafter, that will find themselves in despair and suffering.
Allah's Mercy is open to all, but if any reject His Mercy, they must suffer.
Asad’s Version:
29:19
ARE, THEN, they [who deny the truth] not aware of how God creates (life] in the first
instance, and then brings it forth anew?" This, verily, is easy for God!
(29:20) Say: "Go all over the earth and behold how [wondrously) He has created [man) in the first instance: 15 and thus, too, will God bring into being your second life - for, verily, God has the power to will anything!
29:21 "He causes to suffer whomever He wills, and bestows His mercy on whomever He wills; and unto Him you shall be made to return:
(29:22) and never - not on earth and not in the skies - can you (hope to) elude Him; and you have none to protect you from God, and none to bring you succour."
(29:23) And [thus it is:] they who are bent on denying the truth of God's
messages and of their [ultimate] meeting with Him - it is they who abandon all hope of My grace and mercy: and it is they whom grievous suffering [azabun alim] awaits (in the life to come]. 16
[[ Asad’s note - 16 Implying that such people deprive themselves of God's grace and mercy (which is the twofold significance of the term rahmah in this context) by rejecting all belief in His existence: in other words, belief in God - or one's readiness to believe in Him - is, in and by itself, already an outcome of His grace and mercy, just as suffering in the hereafter is an outcome of one's be~ing "bent on denying the truth".]]
Yuksel’s version –
29:23 Those who rejected God's signs and in meeting Him, they have forsaken My mercy, and they will have a painful retribution.