16. An-Nahl

And it is God Who has made for you from what He created of houses trees and clouds shade zilāl is the plural of zill to protect you from the heat of the sun; and He has made for you in the mountains places of refuge aknān is the plural of kinn which is a places where one can seek shelter istakanna such as a cave or a tunnel; and He has made for you garments shirts that protect you from the heat that is and also from the cold and garments that protect you from your mutual violence your warring in other words to protect you from stabbed or struck during these instances garments such as coats of mail and armour plates. So in the same way that He has created these things He perfects His favour — in this world — to you by creating that of which you have need so that you O people of Mecca might submit that you might affirm His Oneness.

They recognise God’s grace that is they affirm that it comes from Him and then deny it by associating others with Him and most of them are ungrateful.

And mention the day We shall raise up from every community a witness and this will be it that community’s prophet to bear witness for it and against it and this day is the Day of Resurrection; then the disbelievers will not be given permission to make excuses nor will they be asked to make amends that is nor will they be asked to repent and return to that which pleases God.

And when those who did wrong those who disbelieved behold the chastisement the Fire it shall not be lightened for them the chastisement nor will they be granted any respite any deferment from it when they see it.

And when the idolaters behold their associates of devils and others they will say ‘Our Lord these are our associates whom we used to invoke whom we used to worship besides You’. But they will fling to them the saying that is they will say to them ‘You are indeed liars!’ when you say that you used to worship us — as is stated by them in another verse ‘It was not us that they worshipped’ Q. 2863; and also in the verse They will deny their worship of them Q. 1982.

And they will offer submission to God on that day that is they will have surrendered to His judgement and that which they used to invent in the way of claiming that their gods intercede for them will fail forsake them.

Those who disbelieve and bar people from the way of God from His religion them We shall add chastisement to their chastisement that chastisement which they have merited for their disbelief — Ibn Mas‘ūd said ‘Their chastisment will consist of scorpions whose fangs are as long as the tallest palm trees’ — because of the corruption they used to cause by their barring people from belief.

And mention the day We shall raise up from every community a witness against them from among themselves and this will be their that community’s prophet and We shall bring you O Muhammad (s) as a witness against these namely your people. And We have revealed to you the Book the Qur’ān as a clarification of all things that people might need concerning the Law and as a guidance from error and a mercy and good tidings of Paradise to those who submit those who affirm the Oneness of God.

Indeed God enjoins justice — that is affirmation of His Oneness or actually being fair and virtue performance of the religious obligations or that you should worship God as if you were able to see Him as reported in the hadīth; and giving to kinsfolk — He has singled it kinship out for mention by way of highlighting its importance — and He forbids lewdness fornication and abomination with regard to the stipulations of the Law abomination such as disbelief and acts of disobedience and aggression wrongdoing against people — He also singles this out for mention by way of showing its importance; just as He began with the mention of ‘lewdness’ in this way He admonishes you through commands and prohibitions so that you might remember that you might be admonished tadhakkarūna ‘you might remember’ the original tā’ of tatadhakkarūna has been assimilated with the dhāl. In the Mustadrak of al-Hākim al-Naysābūrī it is reported from Ibn Mas‘ūd that he said ‘This verse is the most comprehensive verse in the Qur’ān in terms of what is good and what is evil’.