Section Al-Furqan – Part 39

We are expected to study the Qur’an to benefit from it and apply to our practical living. We must be satisfied with what we are studying so that we can have confidence in our belief, satisfaction in our hearts and mind. By studying the verses of the Qur’an, we are expected to conclude that these verses can only come from the Creator of the universe, who is also the Owner of human beings. 

We are studying Section Al-Furqan of the Qur’an and last investigated the verse mentioning to trust in the Ever-Living One, who never dies. He knows all His creatures’ thoughts, imaginations, actions, and knows them completely inside out. He deserves to be glorified with praise, and I must learn to put my trust in Him. 

I start wondering on How can I trust Him, who is He that is the Ever Living One and never dies, knows everything? We will study the next verse which connects to the previous verse by introducing further to me who this Ever Living One is:

ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا فِى سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍۢ ثُمَّ ٱسْتَوَىٰ عَلَى ٱلْعَرْشِ ۚ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنُ فَسْـَٔلْ بِهِۦ خَبِيرًۭا

25:59 He, who has created the heavens and the earth and all that is in between them in six eons (days) and is established on the throne of His Almightiness: the Most Merciful One. Ask, then, about Him, the One who is truly aware.

This verse connects with the previous verse on who this Ever Living One is. By seeing the evidence in the universe, I can comfortably conclude that my life is from Him. He is the One who provides everything for me. He is the One who has created the heavens and the earth, the whole universe. We must always remember that belief in God means to believe in “Ghaib” in the language of the Qur’an, meaning the One who is not like anything of the heavens and the earth but the Creator of all in the universe. We must say that “the One who creates” based on our observation where we can see that the universe needs to be created. I can trust this Creator of the universe as everything else needs to be created and are transient beings like me.

The Qur’an grammatically allows reading a verse in one way or another making it possible to read with both or more meanings. For example, in this verse, one way is: “the One who is established on the throne of His Almightiness is the Most Merciful One. The creation of the universe is the result of His Mercy.” Another way of reading this verse is that “the Most Gracious One is the One I must ask about and He is the One who is truly aware.”  Yet another way of understanding this verse is, “That is He, who has created the heavens and the earth and all that is in between them in six stages and is established on the throne of His Almightiness. Ask the verses of the Qur’an which are truly aware of the reality of what you need to know.”

What do we understand from “ٱلْعَرْشِ” (the throne)? This is not to be imagined as a huge throne of a king but refers to His Almightiness on everything, His authority over everything. It is not possible to imagine the Creator, but I must see that the whole universe is His throne where He is creating it, maintaining it, sustaining it, destroying it, treating it as He wants. The Qur’an speaks to human beings and human beings can understand that the universe belongs to someone who continuously gives  a new meaningful, purposeful existence to it. I can ask who can be this someone? All that I see in the universe are qualities of creatorship, lordship, providence. Every being created manifests all the qualities in it. For example, let’s take a plant where the plant is His throne. When I look at the plant, I see in its creation, the way it is brought into existence, it is given life, shape, smell, decorated in a way where conscious beings are made to love it. I as a conscious being can communicate with the plant. The One who created the plant is introducing Himself as He created the plant within the context of the whole universe, including my feelings. The creation of the plant not only benefits me but other beings as well. All connections of the plant with other beings are established in the existence of the plant. The universe is His throne, His authority, ownership, creatorship manifests there. Each being in the universe such as the plant is the throne of His almightiness and the whole universe is equally His throne. This creator must thus be an Absolute Being who must have absolute qualities, the One who created the universe from the beginning, space and time wise; His throne is on everything manifests at every moment yet another way. Wherever I focus on, His throne is there. For example, when I reflect on the solar system, His throne is found in all planets, the sun, the moon and the stars. This means that no other authority has any power over them other than this Absolute Being.

Why does the verse specifically use “ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنُ”, translated as “The Most Merciful”? From our study of Section Al-Fatiha, we saw the usage of the Most Merciful One being applied to every creation in the universe. In comparison, the word “ٱلْرَّحِيْمُ” signifies eternally Merciful One. The universe is created out of His Mercy, where He is the Owner of everything. He gives everything I need abundantly, freely as much as I need. Every creation refers to His Absoluteness, His Infinity. He is the One who can satisfy my feelings that yearn for eternal satisfaction. The word “ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنُ” encompasses all beings’ satisfaction in this world whereas “ٱلْرَّحِيْمُ” is not only for this world but for my eternal satisfaction that extends to the next world. I can see that the way He creates, He gives us the news through His manifestation of the universe which demonstrates in a way the declaration of every being that my Creator is an Absolute, Self Existing, Ever Living Being.

Let’s understand the denier’s attitude when he gets a gift that is beautifully prepared, and he says that he doesn’t appreciate it and claims that it is just dropped in his hand accidentally and throws it away. Will anyone want to give him a gift again? The person no longer deserves another gift. When one says that things exist by themselves, what mercy are you talking about? The Qur’an mentions things in black and white terms, which is why it says that Hell is eternal and will be devoid of any mercy. If one denies mercy in the creation of certain beings, then that denial deserves the deprivation of mercy in those beings.  After this body dies, our spirit must be granted a new form—one that delights in joy as much as it reveres the merciful creation of the Absolute Being while living in this world of education and training. In contrast, belief by definition deserves eternal pleasure of mercy. I must be careful in my living not to be an ungrateful person and leave the result to my Creator as to what I deserve. I must be modest enough to accept that I have been created, and everything is provided to me freely by the One who is conscious of my needs, deliberately preparing it without any intermediaries.

The phrase “فَسْـَٔلْ بِهِۦ خَبِيرًۭا” is translated as “ask the One who is truly aware”. We must pay attention to the conciseness of the expression of the Qur’an.  The literal translation of the phrase is “ask with it”. What is the “it”? If I want to know anything, I should ask one or a thing which penetrates the reality of what I need to know. If you want to know who is the source of existence of this universe: “Ask about Him, He who is fully aware of everything.”

There are four options for what this “بِهِ” or “it or He” refers to:

1. Ask then the One who is truly aware, God himself as He explains who He is in the Qur’an. I must study the Qur’an which is His speech where He introduces Himself to me. His speech explains who He is. I must thus go and study the Qur’an if I want to know about Him.

1. Ask about Him the reality of everything from what He has created out of His Mercy. All the acts of creation in the universe must be investigated, which discloses who their creator is. I will thus get to know the Creator of the universe from the way the universe is created.

1. Ask the prophets about the reality of our existence and its Creator, God. The Qur’an was revealed to the prophet (pbuh) who received the message first, understood it and practiced in his life. Through his practice, he (pbuh) is among me now. All the narrations from him (pbuh) are available to me now, a huge heritage for us to study. I can ask him (pbuh), the one who brings the message to me from the one who created me, and he will answer me when I study his narrations.

1. Ask anyone I think who knows about the reality of creation and its Source of existence. I can ask those who know more than I do, and search for a teacher who will teach me according to my level of understanding. 

1. All of the above. If I can study the Qur’an, I should do that. I can also study the universe which also tells me about its Creator. I can also look at the hadith narrations that show me how to communicate with God. I can also look for someone who knows better than I do. 

Most of the people fall into the 4th category. The bottom line is that we must do something. The phrase “خَبِيرًۭا” is related to the receiving of news. If I want any of that news pertaining to who the Creator of the universe is, then I can investigate through the above 5 categories. This news is not published in social media which narrates only negative news that would put me into distress. What the verse means is that the news will make me comfortable and confident. Have we heard of any news from the media about how billions of beings are enjoying the sun today?

One of the recent commentators of the Qur’an, Ibn-Ashur says on the phrase “فَسْـَٔلْ بِهِ”: The phrase “فَسْـَٔلْ بِهِ” means “fas al anhu” which means to ask from Him or it, i.e. ask from Him. It can also mean to ask about Him.

But it is possible to be “bihi khabeeran”, which is “Ask Him” or “Ask with the Qur’an”. 

For the word “خَبِيرًۭا”, Ask “a One who is fully aware”, not “the One”. It is nakrah therefore means “”il addalaalati ‘ala al-’umoom”. Anyone who has more knowledge than you do about the thing you want to learn.

If read according to God, we cannot ask God Himself as He is the Absolute Being. However, He reveals Himself to us through His creation as well as via the Revelation. Or I can ask His prophets who are sent as teachers.

The phrase “سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ” is translated as “six eons” which is also translated as “days” by some translators. This can be understood as periods of time. We see in the Qur’an the word “day” refers to “doomsday”, sometimes it is referred to as the “hour” with the word “الساعة”. That is the moment when the universe is not created anymore, i.e. ceases to exist. This word “yawm” (literally, day)  may mean “a moment”. This is also described in some verses as 50,000 days that we count in our conditions on earth (The Qur’an, 70: 4 and 22: 47). The exact number is not really the point as the Qur’an speaks with concrete examples to allow the perception of the individual to imagine a period of time. In a day, I can count it as 50,000 days, that means a huge span of time. 

From the beginning to the end of the universe is also referred to as “day”. The Qur’an asks the question, how long have humans lived in the universe, a day or some part of a day? (2:259) The Qur’an speaks according to human perception. The six eons thus can mean 6 periods of creation. For example, I can see my life in my mother’s womb as 1 day of existence, my childhood as another day, my teenage years is 3, adulthood is 4, middle age is 5, and old age is 6. I can categorize my life in this way. According to a scientist’s perception, he would see the different stages of creation starting from the beginning of creation referred to them as the “big bang”. 

The day has all sorts of meanings and all of them are true. However, I can be sure that the creation is not static but dynamic, continuously changing.