Surah Ar-Ra'd: Verse 16 - قل من رب السماوات والأرض... - English
Tafsir of Verse 16, Surah Ar-Ra'd
English Translation
Say, "Who is Lord of the heavens and earth?" Say, "Allah." Say, "Have you then taken besides Him allies not possessing [even] for themselves any benefit or any harm?" Say, "Is the blind equivalent to the seeing? Or is darkness equivalent to light? Or have they attributed to Allah partners who created like His creation so that the creation [of each] seemed similar to them?" Say, "Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the One, the Prevailing."English Transliteration
Qul man rabbu alssamawati waalardi quli Allahu qul afaittakhathtum min doonihi awliyaa la yamlikoona lianfusihim nafAAan wala darran qul hal yastawee alaAAma waalbaseeru am hal tastawee alththulumatu waalnnooru am jaAAaloo lillahi shurakaa khalaqoo kakhalqihi fatashabaha alkhalqu AAalayhim quli Allahu khaliqu kulli shayin wahuwa alwahidu alqahharuTafsir of Verse 16
Commentary
The outcome of both parables is that foam does appear prominent for a while on the real thing, but it finally gets to be thrown away and the real thing remains. Similar is the case of the false. Though the false may, for a short while, appear to have overcome the true, but the false is finally subdued and eliminated and that which is true remains and stands manifestly proven. (Tafsir A1-Jalalayn)
Affirming Tawhid
Allah affirms here that there is no deity worthy of worship except Him, since they admit that He alone created the heavens and the earth and that He is their Lord and the Disposer of all affairs. Yet, they take as lords others besides Allah and worship them, even though these false gods do not have the power to benefit or harm themselves, or those who worship them. Therefore, the polytheists will not benefit or have harm removed from them by these false deities. Are those who worship the false deities instead of Allah equal to those who worship Him alone, without partners, and thus have a light from their Lord This is why Allah said here,
(Say: "Is the blind equal to the one who sees Or darkness equal to light Or do they assign to Allah partners who created the like of His creation, so that the creations seemed alike to them") Allah asks, `Do these polytheists worship gods besides Him that rival Him in what He created Have their false deities created similar creations to those Allah created and, thus, they are confused between the two types of creations, not knowing which was created by others besides Allah' Rather, the Ayah proves that the truth is nothing like this. There is none similar to Allah, nor does He have an equal, a rival, anyone like Him, a minister, a son, or a wife. Allah is glorified in that He is far away from all that is ascribed to Him. These idolators worship gods that they themselves admit were created by Allah and are subservient to Him. They used to say during their Talbiyah: "Here we rush to Your obedience. There is no partner for You, except Your partner, You own him and he owns not." Allah also mentioned their polytheistic statements in other Ayat,
(We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allah.) 39:3 Allah admonished them for this false creed, stating that only those whom He chooses are allowed to intercede with Him,
(Intercession with Him profits not except for him whom He permits.) 34:23
(And there are many angels in the heavens.....)53:26, and,
(There is none in the heavens and the earth but comes unto the Most Gracious (Allah) as a servant. Verily, He knows each one of them, and has counted them a full counting. And everyone of them will come to Him alone on the Day of Resurrection.) 19:93-95 If all are Allah's servants, then why do any of them worships each other without proof or evidence that allows them to do so Rather, they rely on sheer opinion and innovation in the religion, even though Allah has sent all of His Prophets and Messengers, from beginning to end, prohibiting this practice (polytheism) and ordering them to refrain from worshipping others besides Allah. They defied their Messengers and rebelled against them, and this is why the word of punishment struck them as a worthy recompense, e
(And your Lord treats no one with injustice) 18:49
