Surah al-An`am (The Cattle) 6 : 99

Overview (Verses 99 - 100)

The Ever-Renewable Miracle of Creation
 
The sūrah now begins to draw our attention to scenes of life as they open up everywhere around us. We see life with our eyes and feel it as it springs out. As we contemplate it, we see the beauty of God’s creation. The sūrah portrays these scenes as they actually are. It draws our attention to what they show of the various stages, shapes and forms of life. All this gives us a very distinct awareness of life as it grows and spreads, and also of the power that originates life. It also gives us a strong desire to look at and enjoy the beauty of life.
 
And He it is who sends down water from the sky with which We bring forth plants of every type and out of these We bring forth verdure from which We bring forth grain piled tight, packed on one another; and out of the spathe of the palm tree, dates in thick clusters; and gardens of vines; and the olive tree, and the pomegranate: all so alike, and yet so different. Behold their fruit when they come to fruition and ripen. Surely in these there are clear signs for people who truly believe. (Verse 99) Water is frequently mentioned in the Qur’ān within the context of life and vegetation: “He it is who sends down water from the sky with which We bring forth plants of every type.” (Verse 99) That water is necessary for the growth of every type of plant is something that all human beings know, whether they are primitive or civilized, illiterate or educated. Yet water plays a far greater and more important role than that, and the Qur’ān here reminds us of this. By God’s will, water was instrumental in making the face of the earth of the type of soil we know, which is plant-supporting. (This assumes that the theory which suggests that the face of the earth burned for a period of time, before it solidified but could still not support plant life is correct. Then water and other atmospheric elements combined to transform it into soft soil) Water has then continued to play an important role in making this soil fertile by causing nitrogen to fall on it from the atmosphere. Every time there is lightning, the electric sparkle separates the nitrogen which dissolves in water. It thus falls with the rain to give the soil added fertility. Nitrogen is the main component of the fertilizers people now produce in the same way, learning from the laws of nature. Indeed, nitrogen is so essential for vegetation that without it the face of the earth would be completely barren.
 
“And He it is who sends down water from the sky with which We bring forth plants of every type and out of these We bring forth verdure from which We bring forth grain piled tight, packed on one another; and out of the spathe of the palm tree, dates in thick clusters; and gardens of vines; and the olive tree, and the pomegranate: all so alike, and yet so different.” (Verse 99) All plants begin green, but the Arabic text uses for the description for the colour of the plants a word which imparts a gentler and more familiar sense than would be understood by the word `green’. Out of this green vegetation God brings forth grain piled tight, as we see in ears of wheat and corn which are “packed on one another”. We then have an image of the palm tree and its spathe: “Out of the spathe of the palm tree, dates in thick clusters.” (Verse 99) Here the Qur’ān uses in its description a term which generally denotes a small branch, but in the palm tree it refers to the stick on which the dates grow. These sticks are described as bending down, bearing the clusters of dates to impart a sense of beauty and tranquillity. “And gardens of vines, and the olive tree and the pomegranate”, (Verse 99), which are mentioned here as examples of different types and species of plants. All of them are “so alike and yet so different”.
 
The Qur’ān invites us to look at these and attentively contemplate with open minds how God causes all of them to grow, adds to their beauty and watches over them when they come to fruition: “Behold their fruit when they come to fruition and ripen.” (Verse 99) We are not invited to eat of its fruit, but rather to contemplate the beauty of that ripening fruit because the emphasis here is on the splendid aspects of creation and on the perfection which is the essential characteristic of God’s work.
 
“Surely in these there are clear signs for people who truly believe.” (Verse 99) It is faith which opens people’s hearts and minds and alerts them to the close link between themselves and the universe. It then invites us to believe in God, the Creator of all. Yet numerous are the hearts which remain closed, the eyes which choose not to see and the natures which determine not to respond. They look at all this splendid creation and all these inspiring signs but they remain unresponsive. It is as the Qur’ān says: “Only those that can hear will surely answer.” (Verse 36) These signs inspire only those who believe.
 
Once the sūrah has portrayed this universal scene with all its pointers to God’s existence and His ability and perfect design, it then describes the beliefs of those who ascribe partners to God. Against this inspiring set up, these beliefs appear so singular. Their assertions are shown to be revolting delusions, and they are strongly denounced: “Yet they make the jinn equals with God, although He created them; and in their ignorance they invent for him sons and daughters. Limitless is He in His glory, and sublimely exalted above all that which they attribute to Him.” (Verse 100)
 
Some of the Arabs in the pre-Islamic days of ignorance used to worship the jinn while not knowing exactly who those jinn were. These were merely the delusions of paganism. When a human being deviates from believing in the absolute oneness of God, even partially, he is bound to increase his deviation. At first, the point of diversion seems to be too small to notice, but then the gap grows wider and wider. Those ancient Arabs used to follow the faith preached by the Prophet Ishmael, which was based on the belief in God’s oneness as preached by the Prophet Abraham. They subsequently deviated from this sound concept. Their deviation must have started in a small way, but then it went as far as to consider the jinn partners with God, when He Himself created them: “Yet they make the jinn equals with God, although He created them.” (Verse 100)
 
Different forms of pagan communities were aware that there were evil beings, i.e. something similar to devils, and they feared those beings, whether they considered them evil spirits or evil creatures. Therefore, they used to provide offerings to them in order to circumvent their fury. Thereafter, they began to worship them. This form of paganism that prevailed in Arabia before Islam is just one of many forms in which such misconceptions flourished and led to the worship of the jinn describing them as God’s partners. The sūrah uses a very simple sentence, conveyed in the Arabic text by just one word, to describe the stupidity of such beliefs: “Although He created them”. (Verse 100) The sarcasm here is very clear. If it is God, the Glorious who has created them, how is it, then, that they are His partners, sharing with Him the qualities of Godhead and Lordship of the universe?
 
Their misconceptions were not confined to this aspect alone. Once idolatry or polytheism takes root, deviation never stops and delusions become rife. Those idolaters used to allege that God — limitless is He in His glory — had sons and daughters: “in their ignorance they invent for him sons and daughters.” (Verse 100) It is all their inventions. The Qur’ān uses here a particularly expressive word to denote ‘invention’, one which gives an impression of physical and noisy fabrication.
 
Among those who have invented sons for God were the Jews who claimed that Ezra was so and for the Christians it was Jesus Christ. As for the pagan Arabs, they claimed that the angels were God’s daughters, even though they had no way of knowing what gender, if any, the angels took. None of these claims is based on any measure of sound knowledge. They are all the product of total ignorance. Hence, the Qur’ānic comment: “Limitless is He in His glory, and sublimely exalted above all that which they attribute to Him.” (Verse 100)