Surah az-Zumar (The Groups) 39 : 6

Overview (Verses 6 - 7)

Three Depths of Darkness

The sūrah then seeks to touch people’s hearts. It refers them to the evidence of life close by them, and in fact derived from their own creation and from the animals made subservient to them: He has created you all from a single soul, and from it He fashioned its mate; and He has bestowed on you four kinds of cattle in pairs; and He creates you in your mothers’ wombs, one act of creation after another, in threefold depths of darkness. Such is God, your Lord: to Him belongs all dominion. There is no deity other than Him. How, then, can you lose sight of the truth? (Verse 6)

Let man look at his own self. He has not created himself, nor does he know who created the human entity except for what God has told him. Yet we all originate from one soul, with one nature and the same characteristics that distinguish us from the rest of creation. Moreover, every human individual shares in these characteristics, because the human soul is one in the countless millions of humans across all generations and all communities. Moreover, its mate or spouse is also made from the same essence. Thus, despite all differences of detail between men and women, they share all these characteristics. This again confirms the unity of the original design for mankind, male and female, and the unity of the Will that created this single soul with its two manifestations.

The reference to the fact of human spouses is coupled by a reference to the same phenomenon in cattle, which in turn suggests that it applies to all living creatures: “He has bestowed on you four kinds of cattle in pairs.” The Arabic phrase states ‘eight ‘zawj,’ but this word means both ‘couple’ and ‘spouse’. Hence, the way it is rendered in translation. The eight are made up of a male and a female of sheep, goats, bovine and camels. The verse mentions that they have been bestowed by God, which means that it is God who has made them subservient to man. It is their subservience that is bestowed from on high and effected in man’s world. Thus, man is given God’s permission to use cattle for the benefit of human life.

The verse continues its discussion of man’s creation, referring to various growth stages of the embryo: “He creates you in your mothers’ wombs, one act of creation after another.” These stages of creation begin with the gamete, then a clinging cell mass, then an embryo, then the bones, and then to a creation that indicates its human status. “in threefold depths of darkness.” (Verse 6) There is the darkness of the placenta in which the embryo grows, the darkness of the uterus, and the darkness inside the mother’s body. It is God’s hand that takes the single cell through these stages of creation, one after another, looking after it and giving it the ability to grow and develop until it is formed in a complete human being as God has determined.

Anyone who looks carefully at this journey, which covers a huge gulf traversed in a short period of time, and who reflects on these stages of development, and on how this simple cell is guided along its remarkable journey in these depths of darkness, beyond man’s knowledge, will inevitably recognize the Creator and His handiwork. How, then, is man turned away from the true faith: “Such is God, your Lord: to Him belongs all dominion. There is no deity other than Him. How, then, can you lose sight of the truth?” (Verse 6)

Having outlined this clear vision of the signs testifying to God’s absolute oneness and all encompassing power, the sūrah shows people’s positions at the parting of the ways between belief and disbelief. It makes it clear that responsibility rests with each individual. It tells them about the end of their lives’ journey and the reckoning that awaits them. It will be administered by the One who created them under three depths of darkness and who knows their innermost thoughts and feelings:

If you disbelieve, God has no need of you; nor is He pleased with disbelief by His servants. If you give thanks, He is pleased with you. No soul will bear the burden of another. In time, to your Lord you all must return, and then He will tell you the truth of all you did. He has full knowledge of what is in people’s hearts. (Verse 7)

The journey inside the mother’s belly is merely one stage of a long journey. The second stage is life in this world and the final stage is that of reckoning and reward. All this takes place according to God’s design who knows all. He does not need any of His servants. They are essentially weak and powerless, but He bestows on them an abundance of His grace.

“If you disbelieve, God has no need of you.” (Verse 7) If you believe, you will not increase His kingdom in any way. If you disbelieve, this too will not affect His kingdom in any adverse way. He, however, does not like people to disbelieve: “nor is He pleased with disbelief by His servants.” (Verse 7) By contrast, “lf you give thanks, He is pleased with you.” He will accept this from you and reward you generously for it. Everyone is accountable for their own deeds, and none will be held responsible for another, nor will he be allowed to take upon himself part of another’s burden: “No soul will bear the burden of another.” (Verse 7) The ultimate end of the journey is to God. There can be neither escape from Him nor refuge with anyone else: “In time, to your Lord you all must return, and then He will tell you the truth of all you did.” (Verse 7) You can hide nothing from Him: “He has full knowledge of what is in people’s hearts.” (Verse 7)