Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:164
Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and earth, and the alternation of the night and the day, and the [great] ships which sail through the sea with that which benefits people, and what Allah has sent down from the heavens of rain, giving life thereby to the earth after its lifelessness and dispersing therein every [kind of] moving creature, and [His] directing of the winds and the clouds controlled between the heaven and the earth are signs for a people who use reason.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The exposition of the reason why Allah sent down these words to His Prophet ﷺ: إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلافِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ ("Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day…").
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the occasion for which Allah — exalted be His mention — sent down this verse upon His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ.
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Some of them said: He sent it down upon him as an argument against the polytheists who ascribed partners to Him, the idolaters. This is because when Allah — exalted be His mention — sent down upon His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: وَإِلَهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ لا إِلَهَ إِلا هُوَ الرَّحْمَنُ الرَّحِيمُ ("And your god is one God; there is no god but He, the All-Merciful, the Most Compassionate") — and he recited this to his companions, and the polytheists among the idolaters heard it — the polytheists said: "What is the proof and the demonstration that this is so? We reject that, and we claim that we have many gods." Thereupon Allah sent down: "Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth," as an argument for His Prophet ﷺ against those who said what we have reported from them.
* Mention of who said that:
2398 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, who said: There was sent down upon the Prophet ﷺ at Medina: وَإِلَهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ لا إِلَهَ إِلا هُوَ الرَّحْمَنُ الرَّحِيمُ ("And your god is one God; there is no god but He, the All-Merciful, the Most Compassionate"). Then the unbelievers of Quraysh at Mecca said: "How can one god encompass mankind?" Thereupon Allah — exalted be His mention — sent down: "Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day," up to His word: لآيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ ("…are surely signs for a people who use reason"). By this you will know that He is one god, and that He is the god of all things, and the creator of all things.
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Others said: No, this verse was sent down upon the Prophet ﷺ because the polytheists asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for [a sign], whereupon Allah sent down this verse, to teach them thereby that for them in the creation of the heavens and the earth and in all the rest that is mentioned therewith lies a clear sign of the oneness of Allah, and that He has no partner in His sovereignty — for whoever reflects and ponders upon that with sound understanding.
* Mention of who said that:
2399 — Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū al-Ḍuḥā, who said: When وَإِلَهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ لا إِلَهَ إِلا هُوَ الرَّحْمَنُ الرَّحِيمُ ("And your god is one God; there is no god but He, the All-Merciful, the Most Compassionate") was sent down, the polytheists said: "If this is so, let him bring us a sign!" Thereupon Allah — exalted be His mention — sent down: "Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day," the verse.
2400 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq ibn al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, who said: Saʿīd ibn Masrūq related to me, on the authority of Abū al-Ḍuḥā, who said: When وَإِلَهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ لا إِلَهَ إِلا هُوَ الرَّحْمَنُ الرَّحِيمُ ("And your god is one God; there is no god but He, the All-Merciful, the Most Compassionate") was sent down, the polytheists said: "If this is so, let him bring us a sign." Thereupon Allah — exalted be His mention — sent down: "Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day," the verse.
2401 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq ibn al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, who said: Saʿīd ibn Masrūq related to me, on the authority of Abū al-Ḍuḥā, who said: When this verse was sent down, the polytheists began to wonder and said: "You say that your god is one god — let him then bring us a sign if you are among the truthful!" Thereupon Allah sent down: "Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day," the verse.
2402 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ, that the polytheists said to the Prophet ﷺ: "Show us a sign!" Thereupon this verse was sent down: "Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth."
2403 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb al-Qummī related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd, who said: Quraysh asked the Jews and said: "Tell us about the signs that Moses brought you!" They told them about the staff and about his white hand for those who looked on. And they asked the Christians about the signs that Jesus brought them, whereupon these informed them that he healed the one born blind and the leper and raised the dead to life by the permission of Allah. Then Quraysh said to the Prophet ﷺ: "Call upon Allah to make al-Ṣafā into gold for us, so that our certainty may increase and we may be strengthened thereby against our enemy." The Prophet ﷺ asked his Lord, and He revealed to him: "I shall give it to them and make al-Ṣafā into gold for them, but if they then deny, I shall punish them with a punishment with which I have punished none of the worlds." Then the Prophet ﷺ said: "Leave me with my people, that I may invite them day after day." Thereupon Allah sent down upon him: "Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth," the verse: therein is surely a sign for them. If they only wish that I make al-Ṣafā into gold for them — well, Allah's creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day is greater than that I should make al-Ṣafā into gold for them so that their certainty may increase.
2404 — Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day." The polytheists said to the Prophet ﷺ: "Change al-Ṣafā into gold for us, if you are truthful that it comes from Him!" Then Allah said: "Indeed, in these signs are surely signs for a people who use reason." And He said: "A people before you already asked for the signs, and thereafter they became, because of them, unbelievers."
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct view concerning this is that Allah — exalted be His mention — directed His servants by this verse to the demonstration of His oneness and His being alone in the divine kingship, to the exclusion of all else besides Him. It is possible that it was sent down for what ʿAṭāʾ said, and it is possible that it was sent down for what Saʿīd ibn Jubayr and Abū al-Ḍuḥā said. We do not possess any report that conclusively confirms the correctness of the statement of either of the two groups, such that it would be permissible for anyone to judge for one of the two groups that its statement is more correct than the other. And whichever of the two views is correct, the intent of the verse is what I have said.
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The explanation of His word — exalted be He: إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ ("Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth").
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His mention — means by His word "Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth": indeed, in the bringing into being of the heavens and the earth and the producing of them out of nothing.
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The meaning of Allah's "creation" (khalq) of things is: His producing them and calling them into existence, after they were nonexistent.
We have already shown earlier why "the earth" (al-arḍ) is said in the singular, while it is not put in the plural as the heavens are put in the plural; that makes repetition of it unnecessary.
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If someone were to say to us: Do the heavens and the earth have a "creation" that is something other than themselves, such that it is said: "Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth"?
It is answered: Concerning this there is a difference of opinion. Some people said: They have a creation that is something other than themselves. They relied for that upon this verse, and upon the verse in sūrat al-Kahf: مَا أَشْهَدْتُهُمْ خَلْقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَلا خَلْقَ أَنْفُسِهِمْ ("I did not make them witness the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor the creation of themselves") [sūrat al-Kahf: 51]. They said: Allah has created nothing except that Allah willed it. They said: Things came into being through the will of Allah, and the will is a creation of them.
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Others said: The creation of a thing is an attribute of it; it is neither the thing itself, nor something other than the thing. They said: If it were something other than the thing, it would necessarily follow that it too, like the thing, would be invested with attributes. They said: And if it were permissible that its creation be something other than the thing and that it be invested with attributes, then it would necessarily follow that it would have an attribute that is for it a creation. And if that were so necessary, there would be no end to it. They said: Thus it is established that it is an attribute of the thing. They said: The creation of the heavens and the earth is therefore an attribute of both, in the manner we have described. And they too relied — namely that a thing has a creation that is not the thing itself — upon the Book of Allah, in a manner like that upon which the first group relied.
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Others said: The creation of the heavens and the earth, and the creation of every created thing, is that thing itself and nothing else.
The meaning of His word "Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth" is then: indeed, in the heavens and the earth.
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The explanation of His word — exalted be He: وَاخْتِلافِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ ("…and in the alternation of night and day").
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His mention — means by His word "and in the alternation of night and day": the succession of night and day over you, O people.
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"The alternation" (ikhtilāf) means in this place the ifʿāl-form derived from "succeeding one another" (khulūf), whereby each of the two replaces the other, as He — exalted be His mention — said: وَهُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ خِلْفَةً لِمَنْ أَرَادَ أَنْ يَذَّكَّرَ أَوْ أَرَادَ شُكُورًا ("And He is the One Who made the night and the day a succession of one another, for whoever wishes to remember or wishes to give thanks") [sūrat al-Furqān: 62].
This with the meaning that each of the two takes the place of its companion: when the night departs, the day comes after it, and when the day departs, the night comes behind it. Hence it is said: "So-and-so replaced so-and-so with his household in an evil manner" (khalafa fulānun fulānan fī ahlihi bi-sūʾ). And to that belongs the word of Zuhayr:
Therein the wide-eyed wild cows and the white gazelles go to and fro, alternating one with another, and their young rise up from every resting place.
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As for "the night" (al-layl): this is the plural of "night" (layla), like "dates" (al-tamr) which is the plural of "date" (tamra). Sometimes the plural "nights" (layālin) is also formed, whereby one adds to the plural something that was not present in the singular. Their addition of the "yāʾ" therein is like their addition of it in "rubāʿiya, thamāniya, and karāhiya."
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As for "the day" (al-nahār): the Arabs hardly form a plural of it, because it has the status of "light." Yet in its plural "al-nuhur" has been heard. The poet said:
Were it not for the two tharīd-dishes, we would have perished from leanness: tharīd by night and tharīd by the days (bi-l-nuhur).
And if one were to say in the plural of the small number "anhira," that would be in accordance with the rule.
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The explanation of His word — exalted be He: وَالْفُلْكِ الَّتِي تَجْرِي فِي الْبَحْرِ بِمَا يَنْفَعُ النَّاسَ ("…and in the ships that sail upon the sea with that which benefits mankind").
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His mention — means: indeed, in the ships that sail upon the sea.
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"Al-fulk" are the ships; the singular and the plural have the same form, and the word is used both as masculine and feminine, as He — exalted be His mention — used it as masculine in another verse: وَآيَةٌ لَهُمْ أَنَّا حَمَلْنَا ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ فِي الْفُلْكِ الْمَشْحُونِ ("And a sign for them is that We carried their offspring in the laden ship") [sūrat Yā-Sīn: 41]; there He used it as masculine.
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In this verse He said "and the ships (al-fulk) that sail upon the sea," where the word is used as feminine, for when it is set in motion, it is "the running one" (al-jāriya); thus to the word is added the attribute that belongs to that feminine form.
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As for His word "with that which benefits mankind": its meaning is: it benefits mankind upon the sea.
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The explanation of His word — exalted be He: وَمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مِنْ مَاءٍ فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا ("…and in what Allah has sent down from the sky of water, with which He gave life to the earth after its death").
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His mention — means by His word "and what Allah has sent down from the sky of water": and in what Allah has sent down from the sky of water, namely the rain that Allah causes to descend from the sky.
And His word "with which He gave life to the earth after its death": giving it life is its cultivation and the bringing forth of its crops. The "hāʾ" in "with it" (bihi) refers back to "the water," and the "hāʾ" and "alif" in His word "after its death" refer to the earth.
And "the death of the earth" is its devastation, the obliteration of its cultivation, and the failing of its crops, which are nourishment for the servants and sustenance for mankind.
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The explanation of His word — exalted be He: وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِنْ كُلِّ دَابَّةٍ ("…and He scattered therein every kind of creature").
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His mention — means by His word "and He scattered therein every kind of creature": and indeed, in what He has scattered upon the earth of creatures.
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The meaning of His word "and He scattered therein" is: and He distributed therein, derived from the word of the speaker: "The commander scattered his detachments of troops," that is to say: he distributed them.
And the "hāʾ" and "alif" in His word "therein" (fīhā) refer back to "the earth."
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"Al-dābba" is the active participle, derived from the word of the speaker: "The creature crept, it creeps, with a creeping, and so it is a creeping creature (dābba)." "Al-dābba" is a designation for every animate being that is not a bird flying with its two wings, on account of its creeping over the earth.
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The explanation of His word — exalted be He: وَتَصْرِيفِ الرِّيَاحِ ("…and in the directing of the winds").
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His mention — means by His word "and in the directing of the winds": and in His directing of the winds. He omitted the mention of the agent and attached the action to the object, as you say: "It pleases me that your brother is honored," while you mean: your honoring of your brother.
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Allah's "directing" of the winds is that He sends them now as fertilizing winds, and now renders them barren, and sends them out as a punishment that destroys every thing by the command of its Lord, as:
2405 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "and the directing of the winds and the clouds made subservient," he said: By Allah, our Lord is capable of that: when He wills, [He makes them a mercy, fertilizing for the clouds and as harbingers of His mercy, and when He wills] He makes them a punishment, a barren wind that does not fertilize; it is only a punishment for the one against whom it is sent.
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Some of the philologists claimed that the meaning of His word "and the directing of the winds" is that they come now from the south, now from the north, now from the east, and now from the west. Then they said: that is their "directing." But this description with which they have described the winds is a description of their self-varying (taṣarruf), not of the directing (taṣrīf) of them, for "the directing of them" is Allah's directing of them, and "their self-varying" is the difference in their blowing.
It is possible that the meaning of His word "and the directing of the winds" is: Allah's — exalted be His mention — directing of the blowing of the wind through the variety of the places from which it blows.
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The explanation of His word — exalted be He: وَالسَّحَابِ الْمُسَخَّرِ بَيْنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالأَرْضِ لآيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ ("…and in the clouds made subservient between the heaven and the earth — surely signs for a people who use reason") (164).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His mention — means by His word "and the clouds made subservient": and in the clouds (saḥāb), the plural of "cloud" (saḥāba). To this points His word — exalted be His mention: وَيُنْشِئُ السَّحَابَ الثِّقَالَ ("…and He produces the heavy clouds") [sūrat al-Raʿd: 12]. He used "made subservient" (al-musakhkhar) in the singular and masculine, as they said: "This is a date (tamra) and these are many dates (tamr)" in the plural, and "This is a palm (nakhla) and these are palms (nakhl)."
The cloud is — if Allah wills — called "saḥāb" on account of the fact that one part of it drags and draws along the other, derived from the word of the speaker: "So-and-so passed by and dragged his hem behind him," that is to say: "he dragged it along" (yasḥabuhu).
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As for the meaning of His word "signs" (āyāt): they are marks and indications that the Creator and Producer of all this is one god.
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"For a people who use reason": for whoever rationally comprehends the places of the proofs and grasps from Allah His indications of His oneness. Thus He — exalted be His mention — made known to His servants that the indications and proofs are set up for consideration only for the people of reason and discernment, to the exclusion of the rest of the creatures, since it is they who are addressed in particular with the command and the prohibition, and are charged with obedience and worship; to them belongs the reward, and upon them rests the punishment.
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If someone were to say: How has He argued, by His word إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلافِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ ("Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and in the alternation of night and day"), the verse, against the people of unbelief concerning the oneness of Allah, while you know that various kinds of unbelievers deny that the heavens and the earth and all the rest mentioned in this verse are created?
It is answered: The denial by whoever denies that does not prevent that everything He — exalted be His mention — has mentioned in this verse is an indication of its Creator and Maker, and that it has a Governor who is equaled by nothing, and a Producer who has no like. And although that is so, Allah has hereby argued only against a people who acknowledged that Allah was their Creator, except that in His worship they ascribed partners through the worship of idol-images and idols. Thus He — exalted be His mention — argued against them and said — when they denied His word وَإِلَهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ ("And your god is one God") and claimed that He had partners among the gods —: Indeed, your god, who created the heavens and made the sun and the moon run therein for you, both untiring in their course for the benefit of your sustenance — and that is the meaning of the alternation of night and day as regards the sun and the moon — and that is the meaning of His word وَالْفُلْكِ الَّتِي تَجْرِي فِي الْبَحْرِ بِمَا يَنْفَعُ النَّاسَ ("…and the ships that sail upon the sea with that which benefits mankind"); and He sent down to you the rain from the sky, and made your regions fertile thereby after their dryness, and made them grow again after their devastation, and raised you up thereby after your despair — and that is the meaning of His word وَمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مِنْ مَاءٍ فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا ("…and what Allah has sent down from the sky of water, with which He gave life to the earth after its death"); and He made the cattle subservient to you upon it, in which there are for you foods and nourishment, and of which there are beauty and mounts, and of which there are household goods and clothing — and that is the meaning of His word وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِنْ كُلِّ دَابَّةٍ ("…and He scattered therein every kind of creature"); and He sent for you the fertilizing winds for the trees of your fruits, your food and your sustenance, and made the clouds run for you in whose rain lies your life and the life of your cattle and your flocks — and that is the meaning of His word "and the directing of the winds and the clouds made subservient between the heaven and the earth."
Thus He informed them that their god is Allah, Who has bestowed upon them these favors and provided for them therewith alone. Then He said: Is there among your partners anyone who performs even the least of that, so that you would set him up as a partner in your worship of Me and make him an equal and a peer to Me? And if there is among your partners none who performs even the least of that, then in what I have enumerated to you of My favors and with which I have favored you with My hands alone, there lie indications for you, if you rationally comprehend the places of truth and falsehood, of injustice and justice. That is, namely: that I alone, to the exclusion of another, do good to you, while you ascribe to Me equals in your worship. This is the meaning of the verse.
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And those who were admonished by this verse and against whom it was used as an argument are the people whose condition I have described, to the exclusion of the deniers of the Creator (al-muʿaṭṭila) and the adherents of the eternity of the world (al-dahriyya). Although in the least of what Allah has enumerated in this verse of irrefutable proofs there lies sufficient conviction for the whole of mankind, we have refrained from expounding upon that, out of aversion to lengthening the book by mentioning it.
