Surah 25. Al-Furqan

causing the shade to retreat gradually?¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 This means that one of the great miracles of Allah is that He allows the sun to rise in the morning, causing darkness to retreat. He could have stopped the sun and the earth from rotating, so half of the world would be engulfed in complete darkness, leading to an imbalance in the earth’s eco-systems and endangering life on the planet.

Then We draw it in towards Ourselves a contraction by easy stages. ^{3101 3102}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

As the sun rises higher and higher, the shadows contract. In regions where the sun gets actually to the zenith at noon, there is no shadow left at that time. Where does it go to? It was but a shadow cast by a substance and it gets absorbed by the substance which produced it.

The shadows are constantly in a state of flux; so are all things in Creation, all things we see or covet in this life. Allah, if He wills, can give some of them greater fixity or comparative stability.

He is the One Who has made the night for you as a cover, and 'made' sleep for resting, and the day for rising.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And He it is Who makes the Night as a Robe for you; and Sleep as Repose and makes the Day (as it were) a Resurrection. ³¹⁰³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

It is still the contrast between Light and Shade; but the shade of Night is as a Robe to cover and screen us and give us Repose from activity; and the Light of Day is for striving, work, activity. Or again, the Night is like Death, our temporary Death before Judgment, the time during which our senses are as sealed in Sleep; and the Day is like the renewal of Life at the Resurrection.

And He is the One Who sends the winds ushering in His mercy, and We send down pure rain from the sky,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And He it is Who sends the Winds as heralds of glad tidings going before His Mercy and We send down purifying water from the sky ^{3104 3105}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. vii. 57. The Winds are heralds of Joy, ushering in Rain, which is one form of Allah's Mercy. Again, the symbolism presents a fresh point of view. Heat (which is connected with light) sets up currents in the atmosphere, besides sucking up moisture from the seas, and distributing it by means of Winds over wide surfaces of the earth. In the physical world we know the beneficent action of heat on life, and by contrast, we also know how intolerable high temperatures may become, and how the cloud-bearing Winds come as welcome heralds of rain.

Rain water (in pure air) is not only pure water distilled in air and sky, but it is the best purifying and sanitating agent on the largest scale known to US.

giving life to a lifeless land, and providing water for countless animals and humans of Our Own creation.

  - Mustafa Khattab

That with it We may give life to a dead land and slake the thirst of things We have created cattle and men in great numbers. ³¹⁰⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The whole cycle of water,-sea, clouds, rain or hail or snow, rivers, and sea again,-is a remarkable illustration of the processes of nature making Allah's providence visible to us. The salts of the sea sanitate and purify all the filth that pours into it. Water action, in the form of rain, frost, glaciers, rivers, lakes, etc., is responsible for the building up and configuration of the crust of the earth, and is the chief agent in physical geography. A parched desert quickly comes to life under the action of water. All drinking water, whether derived from rivers, canals, lakes, reservoirs, springs, wells, or water-works of any kind, are ultimately traceable to rain. The connection of life with water is intimate. The physical basis of life itself, protoplasm, is in great part water; see xxv. 54 below.

We certainly disperse it among them so they may be mindful, but most people persist in ungratefulness.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And We have distributed the (water) amongst them in order that they may celebrate (Our) praises but most men are averse (to aught) but (rank) ingratitude. ^{3107 3108}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The water is distributed all over the world, in order that all life may receive its support according to its needs. In xxv. 48-50, we have the argument of contrasts stated in another way. Water is life, and is made available to sustain life all over the world; this is a physical fact which all can see. But water is also the symbol of spiritual life, whose sustaining principle is the Will of Allah as made known to us through Revelation. It sometimes comes to us in our inward or spiritual storms. Many violent unsettlements of the spirit are but heralds of the refreshing showers of spiritual understanding that come in their wake. They purify our souls, and produce spiritual Life even where there was a parched spiritual desert before. They continue to sustain us in our normal spiritual Life out of the reservoirs of Allah's Revelation, which are open to all, and well distributed in time and space. The universality of distribution is again referred to in the following verse.

In contrast to Allah's abounding Mercy is man's base ingratitude.

Had We willed, We could have easily sent a warner to every society.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Had it been Our Will We could have sent a warner to every center of population ³¹⁰⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Allah's Message has been distributed to all nations. If it had been necessary, a Prophet could have been sent to every town and village. But Allah's Plan is different. He has sent His Light to every heart, through His Signs in man's conscience, in Nature, and in Revelation.

So do not yield to the disbelievers, but strive diligently against them with this 'Quran'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Therefore listen not to the Unbelievers but strive against them with the utmost strenuousness with the (Qur'an). ³¹¹⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The distribution of Allah's Signs being universal, the Prophet of Allah pays no heed to carping critics who reject Faith. He wages the biggest Jihad of all, with the weapon of Allah's Revelation.

And He is the One Who merges the two bodies of water: one fresh and palatable and the other salty and bitter, placing between them a barrier they cannot cross.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 This refers to estuaries where salt and fresh waters meet forming brackish water. Although both waters mix together, each still keeps its distinctive qualities.

It is He Who has let free the two bodies of flowing water: one palatable and sweet and the other salt and bitter; yet has He made a barrier between them a partition that is forbidden to be passed. ^{3111 3112}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Maraja: literally, let free or let loose cattle for grazing. Bahrain: two seas, or two bodies of flowing water; for bahr is applied both to the salt sea and to rivers. In the world taken as a whole, there are two bodies of water, viz.,: (1) the great salt Ocean, and (2) the bodies of sweet water fed by rain, whether they are rivers, lakes or underground springs: their source in rain makes them one, and their drainage, whether above-ground or underground, eventually to the Ocean, also makes them one. They are free to mingle, and in a sense they do mingle, for there is a regular water-cycle: see n. 3106 above: and the rivers flow constantly to the sea, and tidal rivers get sea-water for several miles up their estuaries at high tide. Yet in spite of all this, the laws of gravitation are like a barrier or partition set by Allah, by which the two bodies of water as a whole are always kept apart and distinct. In the case of rivers carrying large quantities of water to the sea, like the Mississippi or the Yangtse-Kiang, the river-water with its silt remains distinct from sea-water for a long distance out at sea. But the wonderful Sign is that the two bodies of water, though they pass through each other, remain distinct bodies, with their distinct functions.

In Allah's overall scheme of things, bodies of salt and sweet water, which are adjoining and yet separate, have significant functions. Weaving a harmonious fabric out of these different fibres shows both Allah's power and wisdom. Incidentally, this verse points to a fact which has only recently been discovered by science. This fact relates to the oceans of the world: they meet and yet each remains separate for Allah has placed "a barrier, a partition" between them.

And He is the One Who creates human beings from a 'humble' liquid,¹ then establishes for them bonds of kinship and marriage. For your Lord is Most Capable.

  - Mustafa Khattab

 The mixture of sperm and egg.

It is He Who has created man from water: then has He established relationships of lineage and marriage: for thy Lord has power (over all things). ^{3113 3114}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The basis of all living matter in the physical world, protoplasm, is water: Cf. xxiv. 45 and xxi. 30, and notes thereon.

Water is a fluid, unstable thing: yet from it arises the highest form of life known to us, in this world, man. And man has not only the functions and characteristics of the noblest animals, but his abstract relationships are also typical of his highest nature. He can trace lineage and pedigree, and thus remember and commemorate a long line of ancestors, to whom he is bound by ties of piety, which no mere animals can do. Further, there is the union in marriage: it is not only like the physical union of animals, but it gives rise to relationships arising out of the sexes of individuals who were not otherwise related to each other. These are physical and social facts.

Yet they worship besides Allah what can neither benefit nor harm them. And the disbeliever always collaborates against their Lord.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Yet do they worship besides Allah things that can neither profit them nor harm them: and the Misbeliever is a helper (of Evil) against his own Lord! ³¹¹⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Here is the highest contrast of all-material things which are inert, and Allah, Whose goodness and power are supreme; Faith and Unfaith, meriting glad tidings and admonition; the selfish man who is self-centred, and the man of God, who works for others without reward.

And We have sent you 'O Prophet' only as a deliverer of good news and a warner.

  - Mustafa Khattab

But thee We only sent to give glad tidings and admonition.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Say, 'I do not ask you for any reward for this 'message', but whoever wishes, let them pursue the Way to their Lord.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Say: "No reward do I ask of you for it but this: that each one who will may take a (straight) Path to his Lord."

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Put your trust in the Ever-Living, Who never dies, and glorify His praises. Sufficient is He as All-Aware of the sins of His servants.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And put thy trust in Him Who lives and dies not; and celebrate His praise; and enough is He to be acquainted with the faults of His servants ³¹¹⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Allah knows our faults better than we or anyone else. It is no use hiding anything from Him. We must put our trust completely in Him. His care is for all, and He is Allah Most Gracious.

'He is' the One Who created the heavens and the earth and everything in between in six Days,¹ then established Himself on the Throne. 'He is' the Most Compassionate! Ask 'none other than' the All-Knowledgeable about Himself.

  - Mustafa Khattab

 See footnote for 7:54.

He Who created the heavens and the earth and all that is between in six days and is firmly established on the Throne (of authority): Allah Most Gracious: ask thou then about Him of any acquainted (with such things). ^{3117 3118 3119}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. vii. 54 and n. 1031.

See n. 1386 to x. 3.

The argument is about the question, in whom shall we put our trust? Worldly men put their trust in wordly things: the righteous man only in Allah. The true distinction will be quite clear from a ray of divine knowledge. If you do not see it all clearly, ask of those who possess such knowledge.

When it is said to them, 'Prostrate to the Most Compassionate,' they ask 'in disgust', 'What is 'the Most Compassionate'? Will we prostrate to whatever you order us to?' And it only drives them farther away.

  - Mustafa Khattab

When it is said to them "Adore ye (Allah) Most Gracious!" they say "And what is (Allah) Most Gracious? Shall we adore that which thou commandest us?" and it increases their flight (from the Truth). ³¹²⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Those who have no spiritual Light cannot understand this precept about putting all our trust in Allah. It seems to them foolish. They have no faith, or but a superficial faith. They may possibly take the name of Allah on their lips, but they cannot understand the full significance of His title of Rahman (Most Gracious). Perhaps they are afraid on account of their sins; perhaps they do not see how unbounded is the mercy of Allah. Such men are contrasted against the true servants of Allah, who are described below in xxv. 63-75.