Translation
He is God Who created the universe and the earth in six stages [aiyyam]. The Throne of His Magnificent presence [A’rshahu]rests on water that He might reveal (through the creative process along with trials and gifts of life) which of you are best in conduct. When you assert: “You will be resurrected after death” those who are in denial say: “This is delusional.” If We [God] were to delay the consequences (of their persistent denials) for a stated period, they will certainly mock: “What is the cause of such delay?” But when the actual day (of reckoning) will fall on them, they will be unable to avert and which they used to mock at will overtake them.490
When We [God] allow people to taste Our Mercy and then withdraw it (as a trial), they lose hope and become ungrateful, whereas if We allow him or her to taste Our grace after an affliction, s/he says: “Now we cannot be touched by afflictions anymore” as s/he becomes full of vanities and pride. Exception being those who exercise patience and persist in doing good. For them there is forgiveness and a grand compensation! 491
Interpretation
490 The process of creation and making the earth ready for life, and the primary source of life being water, is repeated in the Qur’an multiple times with greater clarity than previous books of revelations. Each time, such processes and facts are followed by God’s will to reveal guidance for such a life so that each unit of life can demonstrate its own worthiness to God. Human beings were gifted with free will to make informed choices, while other creations, as the Qur’an states, refused such free will and accepted the natural laws as the innate guidance to remain true to God’s will. Free will for human beings requires receiving and seeking knowledge and the capacity to make decisions in light of such knowledge, including knowledge and acceptance of life beyond our death from this life. Here is a sample of other verses that reaffirm these realities: 7:54–58, 21:30–35, 10:3–6, 25:53–54, 32:4–11, 50:37–45, 57:1–6.
491 Trial is a fundamental part of our endowment of free will—will to make informed decisions and develop deep convictions in the realities of life through human knowledge and revealed knowledge. We are tried in good days and bad days, in ease and in difficulties, through our humility and our arrogance, through news anchored in facts and fake news, through our innate affinity to goodness and our temptations to do evils and injustice, in our anger and in our patience, in places of worship and in office buildings, in our privacy and in the public square. Here is a sample of verses related to trials and tribulations that are mostly due to our own doing: 2:155, 9:16, 3:138–142, 30:41, 18:7, 67:2.
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REFLECTION
God’s creative process and the natural laws regulate our life, while we human beings are gifted with free will to make informed decision and make good judgments for ourselves and those around us. This is a privilege and an awesome responsibility that will define our success or failure based on how we conduct ourselves among fellow human beings and how we use or abuse the natural world.
ACTION
Deeper reflection on life, our existence, and the wonderful supporting structure of the natural world should lead us to question the purpose of our creation, our journey on this planet, and the transient nature of life and our natural affinity to know God and to do good to others. Our preoccupation with the glamour of life and the vanities of our possession and consumption is leaving very little time and resources to improve our understanding of our ourselves and the human condition all over the world, and to adequately prepare ourselves for the next life.
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Key Arabic Terms
146. aiyyam: days, period, aeons, stages
147. A’rshahu: Throne of God’s magnificence