Surat al-Imran (3) : 190- Part 2

إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلأَرْضِ وَٱخْتِلاَفِ ٱلَّيلِ وَٱلنَّهَارِ لآيَاتٍ لأُوْلِي ٱلأَلْبَابِ

"In the creation of the heavens and the earth and the succession/alternation of the night and the day are signs for those endowed with perceptive Hearts"

Several exegetes relate the following Hadith from the Lady Aisha (ra):

" When this verse was descended, the Prophet (saaws) got up in the night to pray....eventually Bilal approached him asking leave to call for the dawn prayers. He found the Prophet crying, so he asked :" Do you still cry and Allah has wiped away your wrongdoings, those in the past and those in the future". The Prophet answered:" Should I then not be a thankful slave! and Allah has (also) descended on me this verse ( In the creation of the heavens and earth....) Woe is him, who reads it without reflecting on it"

From the commentary of Imam al-Qurtubi

It has come down to us, documented in the authentic collections of Bukhari and Muslim and agreed upon by scholars, that upon awakening one should wipe his face and start his day with the 10 last verses of Surat aal- Imran (3):190-200.

From the commentary of Imam al-Razi

Allah (swt) had already mentioned this verse in Surat al-Baqara (2): 164
{ إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلأَرْضِ وَٱخْتِلاَفِ ٱللَّيْلِ وَٱلنَّهَارِ وَٱلْفُلْكِ ٱلَّتِي تَجْرِي فِي ٱلْبَحْرِ بِمَا يَنفَعُ ٱلنَّاسَ وَمَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مِن مَّآءٍ فَأَحْيَا بِهِ ٱلأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ دَآبَّةٍ وَتَصْرِيفِ ٱلرِّيَاحِ وَٱلسَّحَابِ ٱلْمُسَخَّرِ بَيْنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلأَرْضِ لآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ }
"In the creation of the Heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day and the vessels that speed through the sea with what is useful to man: and in the waters which Allah sends down from the sky, giving life thereby to the earth after it had been lifeless, and causing all manner of living creatures to multiply thereon: and in the change of the winds, and the clouds that run their appointed courses between sky and earth: [in all this] there are Signs for people who use their Intellect ( who think)."

Some differences between the two verses: 1) eight different proofs are enumerated in the verse in Surat al Baqara instead of the three in this verse 2) the verse in Surat al Baqara is directed to people who think instead of people with perceiving Hearts.

Imam Razi continues: The Traveller to Allah (al-Salik) requires in the beginning many proofs; but as his Heart receives the Light of Divine Knowledge, his preoccupation with this evidence becomes as a veil which prevents his Heart from "seeking to drown, immersing itself" (Istighraq) in the Divine Knowledge. In the beginning of his affair, the traveller on the Path asks for the multiplicity of proofs; with the "falling of the Light ( noor)" in his Heart, he asks for fewer, until the time when the darkness bred in his Heart from the preoccupation with other than Allah is wiped out, at which time the Lights of Divine Knowledge are revealed in His Heart and the allusion to this matter is in verses like :
"In the creation of the heavens and the earth and the succession of the night and the day are signs for those endowed with perceptive Hearts"
and in Verse 12 from Surat TA-HA (20)
{ إِنِّيۤ أَنَاْ رَبُّكَ فَٱخْلَعْ نَعْلَيْكَ إِنَّكَ بِٱلْوَادِ ٱلْمُقَدَّسِ طُوًى }
" It is I your Lord; so take off your (two) shoes, you are in the Sacred Valley"
The two shoes are the introductions by which the Intellect arrives to Divine Knowledge ( Maarifa); once he arrives to it, he is commanded to take them off. Mussa is told: " If you want to place your foot in the Sacred Valley of Essential Unicity ( Wahdaniat), give up the preoccupation with proofs"
" Now that you know this rule concerning the Divine Knower who once he becomes a Knower must gradually decrease his attention to proofs in order to perfect his Istighraq so that he is able Know "What is being pointed to" you also see that in the verse from Surat aal-Imran (3) the terrestrial proofs are the ones that have been dispensed with and the heavenly ones are maintained because they are greater in leading to subjugation (Aqhar), to admiration tinged with Awe ( Abhar); they contain greater wonders, and the movement of the Heart from them to the Majesty and Nobility of Allah is more powerful....
The verse in Surat al Baqara ends with the reference to "people who think" while this verse ends with the reference to " people with perceptive Hearts"; for the Intellect is the outer, while the Perceptive Heart (Lubb) is inner. In the beginning of the matter, the Salik is an intellect and in the perfection of this matter he becomes a Lubb.

From Surat aal-Imran (3) :190 Part 1-

{ إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلأَرْضِ وَٱخْتِلاَفِ ٱلَّيلِ وَٱلنَّهَارِ لآيَاتٍ لأُوْلِي ٱلأَلْبَابِ }

"In the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation/ succession of the night and the day are signs for those endowed with perceptive Hearts"

From the commentary of Ruzbehan Baqli
There is, in this verse, a subtle allusion which consists of Allah (swt) being described by grasping the Lights of His attribute of Azal ( past eternity) and the essence of Qidam (ancientness) in the emergence of His Divine Ability of instantiation (Qidrat) as evident in His Acts; this is proof (about Him) from Him to Him not coming from the creation and unrelated to it; since creation is nothing but a mere accident/ an occurrence that veils the vision of ancientness.

This is the rank (Maqam) of Ibrahim who in the most correct manner expressed his desire to see the Act of creation in the hope of grasping the purest Lordship.
Surat al Baqara 2:260
وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّ أَرِنِي كَيْفَ تُحْيِـي ٱلْمَوْتَىٰ
"My Lord! Show me how you give life to the dead..."
Which is a far greater request than that of Mussa who never asked to see Allah without a medium.
Surat al-A'raf (7) : 143
وَلَمَّا جَآءَ مُوسَىٰ لِمِيقَاتِنَا وَكَلَّمَهُ رَبُّهُ قَالَ رَبِّ أَرِنِيۤ أَنظُرْ إِلَيْكَ
" He ( Mussa) said: My Lord, show me, let me look at you..."

What Ibrahim asked for is more comprehensive; it is the secret of the Taqdir *** (The exclusive Act of Allah assigning a measure of immutable destiny to each created "thing") and the secret of
Qidrah (Divine Ability, Power of instantiation (of bringing into form what existed in the Universe of Possibilities)).
Other aspects of this verse include the mention of:
1. The Heavens whence Signs ( Ayat) emerge; since the heavens are adorned with the Lights of His Majesty, and enveloped with the brightness of His Beauty. They are mirrors where the Truthful receive the Unveilings (kushuf), and they are the pathways of the Journeys of the Messengers (isra').....
Surat al Ana'am (6): 75
َكَذَلِكَ نُرِيۤ إِبْرَاهِيمَ مَلَكُوتَ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلأَرْضِ
"Thus do we show Ibrahim the dominion of the Heavens and Earth" It is also through the Sun, Moon and Star, that He unveiled His Majesty to Ibrahim: [Surat al Ana'am (6):75-79]

2.The Earth location (Mawqe' where a thing falls) of the footsteps of the Truthful(s), the Prophets and the Messengers; it is where His Light radiates on those who are Observing (Muraqibun) and those who are witnessing ( al-Mushahidun). The Earth which is in the grasp of Force, the Grasp of His Al-Mightiness ('Izzat) in his saying :
Surat al Zumar 36: 67
وَٱلأَرْضُ جَمِيعـاً قَبْضَـتُهُ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ وَٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتُ مَطْوِيَّاتٌ بِيَمِينِهِ
"And on the Day of Resurrection the whole of the earth will be grasped by His Hand"

3. The Night The place ( Mahal where a thing lands and dwells) of the secret discourse ( Munajat) of the Knowers ( al'Arefeen), and of the unveiling of His Grandeur (Azamt) for He is the past-infinite ( al-Azel) presenting in the praiseworthy quality of Awe (Na'at al Hayba) to those who do not see anything except His Unicity ( al-Muwahidun).

4. The Day is the cause of gladness of the lovers, the place ( Mawdi', where something is placed) of expansion (Bast) for the ones who are longing ( al-Mushataqun), and the vision of His Majesty for the ones who are endowed of Insight ( al-Mubsirun), who see Allah in the mirror of the Universe through the Light of Power, the exaltedness ( Sana') of Divine Knowledge ( Ma'rifa). Those who saw the Witness (Shahed) before they saw the spectacles (Mashahed) as one of them stated:" Never have I looked at a thing without seeing Allah in it": 1) He showed those endowed with Hearts, which perceive the Truth ( Alibaa' al-Haqiqa), the Lights of His ACT (Fi'l) in the Heavens, the Earth, the night and the day 2) then he showed them the Lights of His Special Ability ( Qidra) in His Attributes 3) and He showed His Exalted Essence (Dhat) in the lights of its attribute.

In all the above, He (swt) states the chain of causation in an anonymous style [Inna], and thus makes the secrets of the meanings of the statement unable to be understood by others ( non-spiritual beings?) by [simply] using the word Ayat ( signs).

.....

Junaid stated : " Whoever affirms Him through a chain of causation, he has affirmed other than He; for causation is linked to that which is the result of a cause- the greatness of Al-Haqq is far beyond that"

Al-Wasiti stated:" This verse is the difference between the knowledge of the regular people and that of the special people".

Al- Nasr Abadi stated: " Those who are not endowed with perceptive Hearts ( 'Uli-al-Albab) are not able to value what they see of the Heavens and Earth; for 'Ulu al-Albab are those who look at Creation with the eye of the Haqq-

------------------------------

- The exegesis of this most precious verse is to be continued from other commentaries-Inshallah.

May Allah (swt) accept and forgive me and my parents what has preceded of our wrongdoings- Ameen.

Laylatul Qadr 1429-

-----------------------
**** review : http://www.untiredwithloving.org/ibn_sina_qadha_qadar.html

From Surat al-A'raf (7) verse 160

وَأَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَىٰ مُوسَىٰ إِذِ ٱسْتَسْقَاهُ قَوْمُهُ أَنِ ٱضْرِب بِّعَصَاكَ ٱلْحَجَرَ فَٱنبَجَسَتْ مِنْهُ ٱثْنَتَا عَشْرَةَ عَيْناً قَدْ عَلِمَ كُلُّ أُنَاسٍ مَّشْرَبَهُمْ

"When his people asked him to drink, we inspired to Mussa : "Strike the rock with your staff !" from it gushed twelve springs; each community knew their drinking place"

Imam Jaafar al Sadeq (ra):

"From Divine knowledge ( Maarifa) 12 springs gushed forth, so that the people of each rank, in each station, would drink from one of the springs. The first spring being that of Unicity, the second that of pleasurable slavehood, the third the spring of Sincerity, the fourth the spring of Truthfulness, the fifth the spring of humility, the sixth the spring of Acceptance and Reliance, the seventh that of Serenity and dignity, the eight that of generosity and trust in Allah, the ninth the spring of Certainty, the tenth the spring of the Intellect, the eleventh the spring of Love, the twelfth the spring of Seclusion and Intimacy which is the mother spring of Divine Knowledge from which all other have sprang.

Each drinks from a spring, tastes its sweetness and desires to drink from the spring that is higher; so that in this way, he drinks from one spring to another until he reaches the mother spring, the source where he is verified by Al-Haqq."

My comment: Here Mussa (as) is shown to be the spiritual leader, the Prophet. There is no reference to the tribes as in exoteric commentaries which have introduced to the Qur'an material from non-Islamic sources. In addition, this makes complete sense of the verses and returns the Qur'an to its true rank of a spiritual scripture and not a history text.