Ibrahim 14:32

"It is Allāh who created the heavens and the earth and sent down rain from the sky and produced thereby some fruits as provision for you and subjected for you the ships to sail through the sea by His command and subjected for you the rivers."

Describing Some of Allah's Tremendous Favors

Allah mentions some of the favors He has done for His creatures, such as creating the heavens as a protective ceiling and the earth as a bed. He also sends down rain from the sky and, in its aftermath brings forth a variety of vegetation, fruits and plants of different colors, shapes, tastes, scents and uses. Allah also made the ships sail on the surface of the water by His command and He made the sea able to carry these ships in order that travelers can transfer from one area to another to transport goods. Allah also created the rivers that flow through the earth from one area to another as provision for the servants which they use to drink and irrigate, and for other benefits,

وَسَخَّر لَكُمُ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ دَآئِبَينَ

(And He has made the sun and the moon, both constantly pursuing their courses), rotating by night and by day,

لاَ الشَّمْسُ يَنبَغِى لَهَآ أَن تدْرِكَ القَمَرَ وَلاَ الَّيْلُ سَابِقُ النَّهَارِ وَكُلٌّ فِى فَلَكٍ يَسْبَحُونَ

(It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor does the night outstrip the day. They all float, each in an orbit.)36:40 and,

يُغْشِى الَّيْلَ النَّهَارَ يَطْلُبُهُ حَثِيثًا وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ وَالنُّجُومَ مُسَخَّرَتٍ بِأَمْرِهِ أَلاَ لَهُ الْخَلْقُ وَالاٌّمْرُ تَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ رَبُّ الْعَـلَمِينَ

(He brings the night as a cover over the day, seeking it rapidly, and (He created) the sun, the moon, the stars subjected to His command. His is the creation and commandment. Blessed is Allah, the Lord of all that exists!) 7:54 The sun and the moon rotate in succession, and the night and the day are opposites, each taking from the length of the other or giving up some of its length,

يُولِجُ الَّيْلَ فِى النَّهَارِ وَيُولِجُ النَّهَارَ فِى الَّيْلِ

((Allah ) merges the night into day, and merges the day into night.) 35:13 and,

وَسَخَّـرَ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ كُـلٌّ يَجْرِى لاًّجَـلٍ مُّسَـمًّى أَلا هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْغَفَّارُ

(And He has subjected the sun and the moon. Each running (on a fixed course) for an appointed term. Verily, He is the Almighty, the Oft-Forgiving.) 39:5 Allah said next,

وَآتَاكُم مِّن كُلِّ مَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُ

(And He gave you of all that you asked for), He has prepared for you all that you need in all conditions, and what you ask Him to provide for you,

وَإِن تَعُدُّواْ نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ لاَ تُحْصُوهَا

(and if you try to count the blessings of Allah, never will you be able to count them.) Allah states that the servants are never able to count His blessings, let alone thank Him duly for them. In Sahih Al-Bukhari it is recorded that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to supplicate;

«اللَّهُمَّ لَكَ الْحَمْدُ غَيْرَ مَكْفِيَ وَلَا مُوَدَّعٍ وَلَا مُسْتَغْنًى عَنْهُ رَبَّنَا»

(O Allah ! All praise is due to You, without being able to sufficiently thank You, nor ever wish to be cutoff from You, nor ever feeling rich from relying on You; our Lord!) It was reported that Prophet Dawud, peace be upon him, used to say in his supplication, "O Lord! How can I ever duly thank You, when my thanking You is also a favor from You to me" Allah the Exalted answered him, "Now, you have thanked Me sufficiently, O Dawud," meaning, `when you admitted that you will never be able to duly thank Me.'

О Мухаммад! Вели Моим рабам совершать то, что принесет им огромную пользу. Они должны использовать свой шанс, пока они не лишились такой возможности. Вели им совершать намаз, поклоняясь Аллаху душой и телом, и раздавать богатые и маленькие пожертвования из мирских благ, которыми они наделены. Пусть они выплачивают закят, расходуют средства на содержание тех, кого они обязаны содержать, и раздают другие обязательные пожертвования. А наряду с этим пусть они раздают дополнительную милостыню, ведь очень скоро наступит день, когда человек не сможет восполнить упущенное. В тот день ничто не принесет людям пользы: ни торговля, ни подарки близких друзей и возлюбленных. Каждый человек будет озабочен собственной судьбой. Пусть же рабы трудятся во благо себе и задумываются над тем, что они приготовили на завтра. Пусть они посмотрят на свои деяния и дадут им оценку до того, как начнется величайший суд.

After that it was said that Allah Ta’ ala has subjugated boats and ships to work for you for they move over the waters with His command. The word: سَخِّرَ (sakhkhara) appearing in this verse means that Allah Ta` ala has made the use of these things easy on you. Of course, there is wood and steel and the instrumentation and technology to build boats and ships, but when it comes to having the intelligence and ability to use them correctly and expertly, it must be admitted that they were all given by Him. Therefore, those who feel proud of having invented, manufac-tured or produced things like that should better think twice and feel shy of ascribing all credit of such innovations to themselves. The simple reason is that things used in this process are things none of which was created by them, nor they could. How can someone who works with wood, iron, copper and things like that, utilizes them to serve his end product and then goes about declaring himself as its inventor? Otherwise, if we were to look at hard reality, it will not be difficult to realize that this very existence of ours, our hands and feet, our mind and our in-telligence are not what we have made or invented.

Other English translations

Tafsīr · classical commentary

Describing Some of Allah's Tremendous Favors