The Twenty-Ninth Surah

Al-'Ankabut (The Spider)

Period Uncertain [Transition between Mecca and Median]

[[Ruby’s Notes – This verse revealed during the transitional phase from Mecca to Medina, may be before migration [hijra] is preparing the believers to leave the place of blockade or beyond salvaging at that time. Whenever there is such a stagnation it is recommended to move to somewhere where one can serve God better. It is implied that God’s earth is spacious and believers can serve God from any place. The main thrust or spirit of this verse is the internationalism instilled in it is also implied that the highest allegiance for a believer is to God and he/she can move to this wide earth to serve God, there is no hindrance as to different culture, creed, ethnicity or geographical barriers. In faith one should overcome these man-made barriers and reach out to the inherent commonality of all human beings. ]]

[Asad’s version]

29:56 O YOU servants of Mine who have attained to faith! Behold, wide is Mine earth: worship Me, then, Me alone! 53

يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّ أَرْضِي وَاسِعَةٌ فَإِيَّايَ فَاعْبُدُونِ ﴿٥٦﴾

29:56 [Ali]. O My servants who believe! truly, spacious is My Earth: therefore serve ye Me -- (and Me alone)!

C3489. There is no excuse for any one to plead that he could not do good or was forced to evil by his circumstances and surroundings, or by the fact that he lived in evil times.

We must shun evil and seek good, and Allah's Creation is wide enough to enable us to do that, provided we have the will, the patience, and the constancy to do it.

It may be that we have to change our village or city or country; or that we have to change our neighbors or associates; or to change our habits or our hours, our position in life or our human relationships, or our callings. Our integrity before Allah is more important than any of these things, and we must be prepared for exile (or Hijrah) in all these senses. For the means with which Allah provides us for His service are ample, and it is our own fault if we fail.

(29:57) Every human being is bound to taste death, [and] in the end unto Us shall all be brought back:

(29:58) whereupon unto those who have attained to faith and wrought good works We shall most certainly assign mansions in that paradise through which running waters flow, therein to abide: how excellent a reward for those who labour –

(29:59) those who are patient in adversity and in their Sustainer place their trust!

29:60 And how many a living creature is there that takes no thought of its own sustenance, 54 [the while] God provides for it as [He provides] for you since He alone is all-hearing, all-knowing.

(29:61) And thus it is [with most people]: if 5 thou ask them, "Who is it that has created the heavens and the earth, and made the sun and the moon subservient [to His laws]?" they will surely answer, "God." How perverted, then, are their minds! [ 56

29:62 God grants abundant sustenance, or gives it in scant measure, to whichever He wills of His creatures: for, behold, God has full knowledge of every -thing. 57

[[ Asad’s notes -

53 Implying that since the earth offers innumerable, multiform facilities to human life, there is no excuse for forgetting God "owing to the pressure of adverse circumstances". Whenever or wherever the worship of God in its essential, and not merely liturgical sense - becomes impossible, the believer is obliged to "forsake the domain of evil" (which, as explained in note 124 on 4:97, is the innermost meaning of the concept of hijrah) and to "migrate unto God", that is, to a place where it is possible to live in accordance with one's faith. ]]

Ali’s version

كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ...

29:57. Every soul shall have a taste of death:

C3490. Cf. 3:185, n. 491, and 21:35 and n. 2697.

...ثُمَّ إِلَيْنَا تُرْجَعُونَ ﴿٥٧﴾

in the end to Us shall ye be brought back.

وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَنُبَوِّئَنَّهُم مِّنَ الْجَنَّةِ غُرَفًا...

58. But those who believe and work deeds of righteousness -- to them shall We give a Home in Heaven, -- lofty mansions

C3491. The goodly homes mentioned in 16:41 referred to this life, but it was stated there that the reward of the Hereafter would be greater.

Here the simile of the Home is referred to Heaven:

- it will be beautiful;

- it will be picturesque, with the sight and sound of softly-murmuring streams;

- it will be lofty or sublime; and

- it will be eternal.

... تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا...

beneath which flow rivers, -- to dwell therein for aye; --

...نِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعَامِلِينَ ﴿٥٨﴾

an excellent reward for those who do (good)! --

الَّذِينَ صَبَرُوا وَعَلَى رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ ﴿٥٩﴾

59. Those who persevere in patience, and put their trust in their Lord and Cherisher.

وَكَأَيِّن مِن دَابَّةٍ لَا تَحْمِلُ رِزْقَهَا ...

60. How many are the creatures that carry not their own sustenance?

C3492. If we look at the animal creation, we see that many creatures seem almost helpless to find their own food or sustain their full life, being surrounded by many enemies. Yet in the Plan of Allah they find full sustenance and protection. So does man. Man's needs-as well as helplessness-are by many degrees greater. Yet Allah provides for him as for all His creatures.

Allah listens to the wish and cry of all His creatures and He knows their needs and how to provide for them all. Man should not therefore hesitate to suffer exile or persecution in Allah's Cause.

... اللَّهُ يَرْزُقُهَا وَإِيَّاكُمْ...

It is Allah Who feeds (both) them and you:

...وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ ﴿٦٠﴾

for He hears and knows (all things).

وَلَئِن سَأَلْتَهُم ...