41. Fussilat (Clearly Spelled Out/Expounded)

Mecca Period 61 [54 ayats]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:



إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَهُمْ أَجْرٌ غَيْرُ مَمْنُونٍ ﴿٨﴾

41: 8. For those who believe and work deeds of righteousness is a reward that will never fail.

C4469. But blessed are those who have Faith. They will have a Future and a Bliss that will never fail.

قُلْ أَئِنَّكُمْ لَتَكْفُرُونَ بِالَّذِي خَلَقَ الْأَرْضَ فِي يَوْمَيْنِ ...

41: 9. Say:

Is it that ye Deny Him Who created the earth in two Days?

C4470. This is a difficult passage, describing the primal creation of our physical earth and the physical heavens around us.

If we count the two Days mentioned in this verse, the four Days, mentioned in verse 10, and the two Days mentioned in verse 12, we get a total of eight Days, while in many passages the creation is stated to have taken place in six Days:

see 7:54, n. 1031; and 32:4, n. 3632.

The Commentators understand the "four Days" in verse 10 to include the two Days in verse 9, so that the total for the universe comes to six Days. This is reasonable, because the processes described in verses 9 and 10 form really one series.

In the one case it is the creation of the formless matter of the earth; in the other case it is the gradual evolution of the form of the earth, its mountains and seas, and its animal and vegetable life, with the "nourishment in due proportion", proper to each.

Cf. also 15:19-20.

... وَتَجْعَلُونَ لَهُ أَندَادًا...

And do ye join equals with Him?

...ذَلِكَ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿٩﴾

He is the Lord of (all) the Worlds.

وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا رَوَاسِيَ مِن فَوْقِهَا وَبَارَكَ فِيهَا...

41: 10. He set on the (earth), Mountains standing firm, high above it, and bestowed blessings on the earth,

C4471. Cf. 13:3 and 16:15, n. 2038.

High above it: the highest mountains are 29,000 feet above sea-level, and the lowest depths of the bottom of the ocean are 31,600 feet below sea-level, so that the vertical difference between the highest and lowest points on the solid crust of the earth is about 11-1/2 miles. The highland areas are the main sources of the water-supply in all the regions of the earth, and vegetable and animal life depends on water-supply.

...وَقَدَّرَ فِيهَا أَقْوَاتَهَا فِي أَرْبَعَةِ أَيَّامٍ ...

and measured therein all things to give them nourishment in due proportion, in four Days,

C4472. See n. 4470 above.

... سَوَاء لِّلسَّائِلِينَ ﴿١٠﴾

in accordance with (the needs of) those who seek (sustenance).

C4473. Sailin may mean either

If the former meaning is adopted, the clause means that everything is apportioned to the needs and appetites of Allah's creatures.

If the latter, it means that the needs of enquirers are sufficiently met by what is stated here.


Asad’s Version:



41:8 [But,] verily, they who have attained to faith and do good works shall have a reward unending!


41:9 SAY: "Would you indeed deny Him who has created the earth in two aeons? 7 And do you claim that there is any power that could rival Him, 8 the Sustainer of all the worlds?"

(41:10) For He [it is who, after creating the earth,] placed firm mountains on it, [towering] above its surface, and bestowed [so many] blessings on it, and equitably apportioned' its means of subsistence to all who would seek it: [and all this He created] in four aeons. 10



[[ Asad’s notes - 7 For the above rendering of the term yawm (lit., "day"), as "aeon", see last third of note 43 on 7:54. As in so many verses of the Qur'an which relate to cosmic events, the repeated mention of the "six aeons" during which the universe was created "two" of which, according to the above verse, were taken by the evolution of the inorganic universe, including the earth has a purely allegorical import: in this case, I believe, an indication that the universe did not exist "eternally" but had a definite beginning in time, and that it required a definite time-lapse to evolve to its present condition.


8 Lit., "do you give Him compeers (andad)?" For an explanation, see note 13 on 2:22.


9 I.e., in accordance with divine justice, and not with human concepts of "equity" or "need".


10 Almost all the classical commentators agree in that these "four aeons" include the "two" mentioned in the preceding verse: hence my interpolation of the words "and all this He created". Together with the "two aeons" of verse 12, the entire allegorical number comes to six. ]]