Section Ya-Seen – Part 19

We will continue to study section Ya-Seen of the Qur’an from where we last left off and investigate the following verse:

وَلَوْ نَشَآءُ لَطَمَسْنَا عَلَىٰٓ أَعْيُنِهِمْ فَٱسْتَبَقُوا۟ ٱلصِّرَٰطَ فَأَنَّىٰ يُبْصِرُونَ

36:66 Had it been Our will, We could have taken away their sight. They would have struggled to find the way, but how could they have seen [the objects and Truth]?

The word “بصرٌ” which means “sight” is not only seeing with the physical eyes but also infers the meaning of seeing as having insight of a thing. In the commentary of the Qur’an by Ibn Abbas, it is mentioned to understand this phrase as being able to see the truth which is appropriate to the meaning of the verse in this context. We will understand this phrase as “their seeing is blocked, i.e. their seeing is taken away and they will struggle to find their way to the truth.” We are created with eyes to see things and get to know the truth. 

Is there any “natural” reason that we must have free will, eyes, power of sight or any other human qualities that we have now? Is it inherent to our nature to be given these? There is no reason or no one can show any reason for it. However, the One who gave us our existence willed us to be in the way that I am in now. There is no reason in the elements of my body which necessitate for all these symmetrical arrangements of our eyes and other parts to be the way they are. This physical existence of the eyes and the insight, to reason and understand are impossible to be explained by any physical reason within this universe. They can only be explained by whoever creates me, must have willed them to exist in this way, arranged my tools in perfect coordination to work together perfectly. This is how the Qur’an comfortably asks the question in the verse: “Had not God created them with these qualities, how could they see the object or realize the Truth?”

People make up stories that in the course of time things have developed. For example, I may see a seed grow into a plant. It doesn’t mean that the material body of the seed, even the recordings found on it, has the qualities to choose, know, decide to function in the way it does. All these qualities necessitate consciousness. How can they say that this is naturally happening which necessitates that they exist by themselves. This means that the thing must have all the qualities to make itself. No one can show any consciousness, all these qualities which are necessary as belonging to matter which cannot choose anything by itself. 

The tricky language to explain existence is by stating “that is how we observe it”. By observing something does not mean that the thing is happening by itself, is an accident, or originated from itself which are interpretations and need to be substantiated. Like claiming that “we observed an automobile is running and it is how it exists and is acting on its own; its existence as an automobile does not need to be explained by referring to an ‘unknown’ engineer. We see no engineers, look, it works by itself.” There is no evidence for such interpretations. These observations in the universe are usually presented to people by adding their personal interpretations which have no evidence to be acceptable.

Similar reasoning applies in the following verse as well.

وَلَوْ نَشَآءُ لَمَسَخْنَـٰهُمْ عَلَىٰ مَكَانَتِهِمْ فَمَا ٱسْتَطَـٰعُوا۟ مُضِيًّۭا وَلَا يَرْجِعُونَ

36:67 And had We willed, We could have given them a different nature, so they could neither progress [pursuing the Truth] forward nor turn back [from misguidance.]

The translation gives a general meaning of the message which is difficult to translate into English. There are diacritical elements in the phrase that indicate a continuous movement happening where the misguided are unable to return.  The same understanding is inferred in this verse as the one earlier where we can understand this verse in two ways addressing our bodily qualities and human qualities. The demonstration of the qualities physically within the conditions of this universe acts as evidence but the purpose of the Qur’an is not to make physical analysis of this universe as it is not a Geology or Physics book. The physical demonstrations in the universe are to fulfill its mission which is to convey the message to human beings so that they can relate their existence to an Absolute Being. I can realize and relate my being to this Absolute Being by using the evidence in physical form manifested in this world. We communicate through the physical aspect of the universe through our body and at the same time use our human feelings to communicate with the meaningful existence of the universe that reflects the qualities of its Maker. Both sides of the human being, body and feelings are applicable to these kinds of verses. 

The phrase “لَمَسَخْنَـٰهُمْ عَلَىٰ مَكَانَتِهِمْ” translated as “given them a different nature”. This can be understood in both ways, body, and spirit. If God had not given us the ability to move, perform physical actions, investigate the creation, and ability to reason about their existence, we would not be able to find the Truth.  The Qur’an speaks to human beings and their consciousness without which we cannot make progress to pursue the Truth, nor can we turn back from our mistakes, we fall into misguidance by ourselves. We are sent the message to find Him, connect our existence to Him, entertain the presence of His existence in this universe through the qualities manifested here, so that in whatever I do I feel confident and satisfied that I belong to the Lord of the universe. That is the purpose of the Qur’an: to help me connect my existence to the Lord of the universe, to satisfy my feelings when I realize who is my source of existence.

وَمَن نُّعَمِّرْهُ نُنَكِّسْهُ فِى ٱلْخَلْقِ ۖ أَفَلَا يَعْقِلُونَ

36:68 Anyone We grant long life to, We reverse them in creation. Will they not use their reason?

The phrase “ نُنَكِّسْهُ فِى ٱلْخَلْقِ” is translated as “We reverse them in Creation” is describing the human journey in this world. This encourages me to think about this reversing activity happening in my body and human qualities such as power of sight, hearing, touching, and memory. From one side, receiving a long life is a blessing from my Creator but on the other side I wonder why I am going backwards in my being with certain weaking abilities as I pass a certain stage of my life and get older. I am given birth, grow into a strong young man and then after certain maturity I start declining where the speed of decline continuously increases. The rate of decline is not a circle but elliptical where the curve goes sharply towards the end. God is giving me lots of opportunities in life at a young age and once I start declining in my being becoming weaker, I am not given that many opportunities. 

This verse reminds me to reason for my existence even when I am young and don’t see any reversing activity happening. I know by looking at my parents and grandparents, other examples in my town, in the hospitals and see the reality of our life in this world. As a baby and young child, we don’t even realize that we exist. We go through stages of existence where God says that “I made you through these stages of existence where you did not realize what was going on when you were a baby and young  child. Now, I will turn you back to the same situation by giving you a longer life and you will experience this within your own existence.” May Allah preserve my memory where I can remember what is created for me, think about it, and have an insight into it. God forbid for anyone to be created in a situation where one does not remember anything, Hafizahullah. There are many examples in this world and may Allah protect us.  

One may ask what is the wisdom of God in creating us through stages from baby to a very old age? We cannot stop our existence; we do not own our body. I have been given consciousness, given free will, the opportunity to choose within the orderly creation where I cannot stop my existence. How can unconscious matter change their creation? How do some materialist minded scientists claim that matter is responsible for the change? One may say that they are working hard to investigate and publish their findings and we consume their detailed, complex publications with their interpretations explaining the existence of the universe. This is the crux of the matter: is “matter” the agent or is the agent the source of existence of the universe who cannot be a part of the work He demonstrated which is the universe? By definition, the agent cannot be looked for within the work that He did. I can see the signs on the work and conclude that they point to the qualities of its agent who cannot be of the nature of the universe. This reasoning must be repeated and kept in mind. In Qur’anic terms, this is the foundation of “la ilaha illallah”.  Every verse of the Qur’an that we study must be under this framework.

The elements of our body cannot stop their being changed by an external agent. We are created through stages, consciously being created, and changed in our existence by a conscious being. The other option which is non-existent is for the universe to be static and the things coming into existence stay the same forever. This idea of the universe existing eternally is promoted by some biased Physicists. However, we observe the universe is subject to continuous change where it has no quality to keep its existence going perfectly and eternally. Everything is subject to change, and no one can stop their existence from changing. To change one’s creation, endless qualities are needed, and none of them exist in “matter.”

They say that energy in “matter” is responsible for the change. “Matter” is created and also energy needs to be created separately. They are two different entities. Like my body needs to be created and my life also needs to be created which are also two different entities. When life is taken from my body, the body still exists. We cannot claim “matter” to be the source of existence of energy, it has no quality to produce anything but it itself needs to be given existence. We have to conclude that “matter” is created and energy is created at the same time, both of them cannot exist by themselves. We observe energy and name it as “energy”, which has no consciousness. This is how observation is used to explain the source of the existence of the universe. Observations only demonstrate the qualities manifested in what we observe that point to the agent of those qualities. They ignore this agent and relate the things to matter and this universe only. For example, they say the eyes see and the brain is the agent behind that. A dead person still has those eyes and brain, but they are no longer working. We understand from our experience that the members of our body are tools for me, who has an independent existence, called human spirit, uses those tools. 

Why are we reversed in creation if we are given a long life? This was discussed earlier. We are given the tools gradually in our existence such as when we were a baby and child, we did not realize much about what our existence is. Upon maturity, we are given the perfect tools in our being to benefit from them where our spirit functions optimally. We are given the opportunity to see what the change looks like. At a certain age, we encounter elderly people and realize that they are like babies now where they need help. If we are given a long life, we get to experience that old age as well where I am given existence to review my childhood.

Qur’an does not say “We are changing you” but says “We are reversed in ‘creation’”. We observe change in beings which are referred to as creation, “خَلْقِ”. Why is this important? We think that we are changing automatically. Every time we are changed, we experience a different existence. We can understand this using the analogy of a film displaying frame by frame. That is why the Qur’an uses the word “خَلْقِ”, creation to point out that I experience a different existence, we call it as change that is actually a new creation. Every moment of my change is a new creation, which can be summarized as “continuous orderly existence of creation”.

وَمَا عَلَّمْنَـٰهُ ٱلشِّعْرَ وَمَا يَنۢبَغِى لَهُۥٓ ۚ إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا ذِكْرٌۭ وَقُرْءَانٌۭ مُّبِينٌۭ

36:69 We have not imparted to him [Prophet the gift of] poetry, nor would [poetry] have suited this [message]: it is but a reminder and a “Divine Discourse,” (The Qur’an) clear in itself and clearly showing the truth,

Most of the classical scholars refer this to the Prophet, whereas it can also refer to the quality of the Qur’an. The phrase “لَهُٓ” in the Arabic language can either refer to “him” or “it”, so the verse can be understood in both ways, either the prophet (pbuh) as referred to in this translation, or the Qur’an. According to the grammatical rule of the Qur’an both are correct, but it makes more sense to see it as referring to the message of the Qur’an.

The phrase “ذِكْرٌۭ وَقُرْءَانٌۭ” is usually translated as “Reminder and a Qur’an”. In the above translation “Qur’an” is translated as “Divine Discourse” to make it descriptive. The word “مُّبِينٌۭ” (mubeen) has two meanings, it can either be an active particle or passive particle in meaning: clear in itself, and clearly showing the truth.  There are many names of God taught to us with this construction of having two meanings at the same time such as “Raheem, Haleem, Kareem”.  

Metaphoric and figurative teachings of the Qur’an should not be confused with the exaggerated imagination of poetry which uses figurative language with exaggeration. The Qur’an uses hyperbole to demonstrate the significance of the message whereas imaginative exaggeration is not the reality of creation. For example, the Qur’an mentions “ٱلْعَذَابَ ٱلْأَلِيمَ”, describing grievous suffering which is the reality of my feelings when there is no Absolute Being in my life. Another example is the phrase “ٱلْمُوقَدَةُ” and the phrase “ٱلْأَفْـِٔدَةِ” from Section Al-Humazah of the Qur’an that describes every feeling in the heart, the deep feelings that we cannot describe as opposed to apparent feelings such as touching, seeing, thinking, smelling, but the deep desires, inner insight, very fine feelings we have within us. This is how the Qur’an relates to us our reality which we may not be paying attention to. 

Majority of the people understood the first part of the verse as related to the Prophet and the latter part to the Qur’an. We can take both at the same time and more so for the message of the Qur’an, in not being poetry but a reminder to my reality.

The Prophet has never been a poet in his entire life. Otherwise, the people around him would know him as a poet during 40 years of his life before the Qur’an was revealed, before he declared his messengership. It is impossible for a person to never have displayed any poetry for 40 years and then come up suddenly with incredible verses which were beyond the known level of the poetry of that time and more so later times. The people around the Prophet were ready to sacrifice their life for the message he conveyed. Why? They changed their life radically from scratch to having a completely new character, becoming the most civilized people in 5 to 10 years. They saw that the Prophet was just reminding what one’s human reality is; he is not compelling anyone to follow it, but he himself is obeying the Qur’an without the slightest negligence. This person is not expecting any status or respect in society but expecting respect to the message. The message of the Qur’an makes sense to my spirit which is looking for that truth. The Qur’an brings meaning and purpose to one’s life. Without the Qur’an, I would be living in a completely dark position, ignorant of my reality and the reality of this universe. 

لِّيُنذِرَ مَن كَانَ حَيًّۭا وَيَحِقَّ ٱلْقَوْلُ عَلَى ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ

36:70 to warn those whose [hearts] are alive, and that the Word [of God] be proved against all who deny the truth [the deniers: outer and inner egoistic tendencies]

When the Qur’an says “ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ” translated as deniers, it has two meanings: those people out there shamelessly speaking trash and the second within myself with my egoistic tendencies. We are given two options to make the distinction between right and wrong: by comparison we can make sure what is right.

How can a heart be dead while living in this world? We condition ourselves where our feelings stop seeking the true answer which our egoistic side does not like. I may shut my feelings and follow egoistic tendencies. The Qur’an refers to this condition as the “heart is dead”. We should not block our mind and heart with biases but keep ourselves alive and open, i.e. ready to receive the Truth.

Life is worth it and makes sense when our heart and spirit are alive. My spirit cannot operate if the body is dead. To keep my body alive is in God’s hands but to keep my feelings alive is up to me where I can either choose to follow egoistic tendencies or not.