Volume 10 Surah 12 - 15 - Enjoy Islam

Al-Ĥijr | GREAT UNIVERSAL EXPANSE
own connotations. What is referred to here is rather the fact that winds carry
moisture, just like a she-camel becomes heavy with milk. God then sends down
water from that moisture carried by the winds, and He allows man to drink it for his
own survival. Yet man cannot retain it all: “You are not the ones who store it up.” (Verse
22) It has not come from the storehouses of human beings, but from God’s treasures.
It has been poured according to a well-defined measure.
The winds move, carry the moisture and pour the water in accordance with the
laws of nature. But who has determined all this in the first place? It is all determined
by the Creator who has set the original law of the universe which gives rise to all
aspects and operates all phenomena: “There is not a thing but with Us are its storehouses;
and We send it down only in accordance with a defined measure.” (Verse 21)
We note here how every move is referred to God, even the drinking of water:
“Then We send down water from the skies for you to drink.” (Verse 22) The expression,
asqaynākumūh, given in translation as, “for you to drink”, is given in the Arabic original
as, “We send down water from the skies and We make you drink it”. What is meant
here is that we have fashioned you in a way which makes you in need of water, and
we made the water suitable for your needs. All this is made according to a measure.
It is all set in operation by God’s will. This mode of expression is chosen in order to
provide an element of complete harmony in the whole scene, so that everything is
referred to God, even the movement of one’s hand to take water to drink. The whole
atmosphere is one that attributes everything in the universe to God’s will that
directly determines every event and movement. His law that controls the movement
of stars and planets is the same as His law that controls people’s actions. The first
passage of the sūrah referred to God’s law concerning those who reject God’s
message, and this second passage refers to His law that governs the heavens and the
earth, the wind, water and drinking. All this is subject to God’s will which is linked
to the great truth that is behind the creation of the heavens, the earth, human beings
and all other creatures.
The sūrah then perfects the attribution of all matters to God alone, stating that life
and death, the living and the dead, the resurrection and judgement belong to Him:
“It is We who give life and cause death, and it is We who are the inheritors [of all things].
Well do We know those who lived before you and those who will come after you. Your Lord
will gather them all together. He is indeed Wise, All-Knowing.” (Verses 23-25)
Thus the second passage complements the first. In the first passage we have the
statement: “Never have We destroyed any community unless divine revelations have been
made known to it. No community can ever forestall its term, nor can they delay it.” (Verses
4-5) Here, in this passage, it is emphasized that life and death are determined by
God, the heir to all life, and He knows whom He has determined to die early and
who will have their death delayed. It is He who gathers them all together at the end,
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