Tafseer of The Originator · Faatir · 35:13
He causes the night to enter the day, and He causes the day to enter the night and has subjected the sun and the moon - each running [its course] for a specified term. That is Allah, your Lord; to Him belongs sovereignty. And those whom you invoke other than Him do not possess [as much as] the membrane of a date seed.
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 explanation of the words of the Exalted: يُولِجُ اللَّيْلَ فِي النَّهَارِ وَيُولِجُ النَّهَارَ فِي اللَّيْلِ وَسَخَّرَ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ كُلٌّ يَجْرِي لأَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى ذَلِكُمُ اللَّهُ رَبُّكُمْ لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَالَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ مَا يَمْلِكُونَ مِنْ قِطْمِيرٍ (He causes the night to pass into the day and He causes the day to pass into the night, and He has made the sun and the moon subservient; each runs for an appointed term. That is Allah, your Lord; to Him belongs the dominion. And those whom you call upon besides Him do not possess even the membrane of a date-stone) (13).
The Exalted, whose praise is sublime, says: He causes the night to pass into the day — and that is what is shortened from the night, which He inserts into the day and thereby lengthens the day — and He causes the day to pass into the night — and that is what is shortened from the parts of the day, which He adds to the parts of the night and inserts therein.
As Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words He causes the night to pass into the day and He causes the day to pass into the night: the increase of this one in the decrease of that one, and the decrease of this one in the increase of that one.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His words He causes the night to pass into the day and He causes the day to pass into the night, he says: that is the diminishing of the one in favour of the other.
And His words and He has made the sun and the moon subservient; each runs for an appointed term mean: and He has made the sun and the moon run for you, as a favour from Him to you and a mercy from Him towards you, so that you might know the number of the years and the reckoning, and might distinguish the night from the day.
And His words each runs for an appointed term mean: that all of it runs to a known time.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words and He has made the sun and the moon subservient; each runs for an appointed term: a known term and a limit which it does not reach prematurely nor exceed.
And His words That is Allah, your Lord mean: the One who performs these deeds is your object of worship, O people, the One to whom none other than He is due worship, and He is Allah, your Lord.
As Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words That is Allah, your Lord; to Him belongs the dominion, that is to say: He is the One who performs this.
And His words to Him belongs the dominion — the Exalted, whose praise is sublime, says: to Him belongs the perfect dominion, so that there is nothing that is not within His dominion and His authority.
And His words And those whom you call upon besides Him do not possess even the membrane of a date-stone — the Exalted, whose praise is sublime, says: and those whom you, O people, worship besides your Lord, the One to whom the attribute mentioned in these verses is due, the One to whom belongs the perfect dominion, which is matched by no dominion — their attribute is they do not possess even the membrane of a date-stone, he says: they do not possess even the skin of a date-stone, nor anything beyond that.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Yaʿqūb related to me, he said: Hushaym related to us, he said: ʿAwf informed us, from someone who related it to him, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His words they do not possess even the membrane of a date-stone (qiṭmīr), he said: that is the thin skin of the date-stone.
ʿAlī related to me, he said: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His words the membrane of a date-stone, he says: the thin skin that is on the back of the date-stone.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His words they do not possess even the membrane of a date-stone, he means: the skin of the date-stone.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us, and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us — all of them — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the words of Allah the membrane of a date-stone, he said: the casing of the date-stone, like the membrane of the egg.
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words they do not possess even the membrane of a date-stone: and "al-qiṭmīr" is the skin that is on the top of the date-stone.
ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd related to us, he said: Marwān ibn Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of one of his companions, concerning His words they do not possess even the membrane of a date-stone, he said: that is the little stalk that is on the date.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Abū ʿĀmir related to us, he said: Murra related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya, he said: al-qiṭmīr is the skin of the date-stone.
