In the Shade of the Qur'an by Sayyid Qutb

All praise is due to God, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, who assigns angels to be messengers, endowed with wings, two, or three, or four. He adds to His creation what He pleases. Indeed God has power over all things. (Verse 1)

The sūrah begins by offering all praise to God, as its whole purpose is to make our hearts turn to Him, contemplate His signs, appreciate His mercy, and look at the wonders of His creation. We are made to fully appreciate these wonders so that our hearts overflow with His praise and glorification: “All praise is due to God.” Next comes God’s attribute indicating creation and His bringing it into being: “the Originator of the heavens and the earth.” It is He who has originated all these great bodies, some of which we see around us. We know only a little about the smallest and nearest to us of all these bodies, i.e. our mother earth. Yet they are all subject to one law of nature that keeps them in harmony, despite the huge distances separating them, which we can only imagine with great difficulty. Despite their great sizes and endless spaces separating their orbits, there exists certain relations between them which, if disturbed even by just a little, could lead to a major catastrophe.

We often pay little attention to Qur’ānic references to the creation of the heavens and the earth, or to its scenic descriptions of the universe. This is because our senses have been blunted by familiarity. Therefore, these scenes do not elevate us to the same level of inspiration that they give a heart that remembers God always, and thus remains sensitive to what His able hand produces. Only such a heart feels the awe these scenes impart.

An alert heart which maintains its bond with God does not need accurate information about the exact positions of stars, their sizes, relations to each other in position or movement, the thickness of the atmosphere around each, or the orbits they follow in order to appreciate the awesomeness of this great, wonderful and beautiful creation. It is enough for such a heart that these scenes play their precisely stringed music. It is enough for it to look at the stars shining across the dark night sky; or the light reflected by a full moon; or the dawn breaking through the darkness giving a feeling of new life; or the sunset heralding the darkness that brings a feeling of farewell; or the earth with its endless vistas; or indeed a single flower with its colour and shape that takes us long to contemplate.

The Qur’ān gives us inspiring directives so that we contemplate these creatures, large and small. Looking at only one of them is enough evidence of the greatness of its Creator and makes us address our glorification, praise and prayer to Him alone.

“All praise is due to God, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, who assigns angels to be messengers, endowed with wings, two, or three, or four.” (Verse 1) This sūrah dwells long on God’s messengers, revelation and the truth it contains. The angels are God’s messengers to His chosen servants on earth. The message they bring is the greatest thing in life. Hence God follows the reference to His creation of the heavens and the earth by mentioning the role of the angels whereby it is they who make contact between heaven and earth, fulfilling the greatest task of all as they deliver His message. It is a message from the Originator of the heavens and the earth to His prophets whom He sends as guides to mankind.

For the first time in the Qur’ān we have a physical description of the angels.

Previously we were given descriptions of their nature and role, such as “Those that are with Him are never too proud to worship Him and never grow weary of that. They extol His limitless glory by night and day, tirelessly.” (21: 19-20) “Those who are near to your Lord are never too proud to worship Him. They extol His limitless glory, and before Him alone prostrate themselves.” (7: 206) Here, however, we have a reference to their physical appearance. They are ‘endowed with wings, two, or three, or four.’ This description does not, however, help us imagine how they look, because we do not know anything about their physique or about the form their wings take. We can do no more than take this description as it is, without adding anything from our imagination, for anything we may imagine could be wrong. We do not have any definite description of how the angels look from a reliable source. What we do have though in the Qur’ān is this description and a reference to the angels in charge of hell: “Over it are appointed angels who are stern and severe: they do not disobey God in whatever He has commanded them, but always do what they are bidden to do.” (66: 6) Again this description does not give any physical delineation. It is reported in a ĥadīth that ‘the Prophet saw Gabriel in his natural form twice.’ One report mentions that Gabriel ‘has 600 wings’. [Related by al-Bukhārī and Muslim.] Again we do not have here a physical description, so we must leave it at the level God has imparted to us, accepting that all knowledge belongs to Him.

Wings are specified as being in twos, threes and fours, but man knows only a two- winged form in all birds. Therefore, the opening verse states that God ‘adds to His creation what He pleases,’ thus making it clear that God’s will is free, unlimited to any one form of creation. We know and see countless forms of creation, but the ones we do not know about are far more numerous. “Indeed God has power over all things.” This comment is broader and more comprehensive than the statement before it. Its import applies to all forms of creation, origination, transformation and alteration.

Whatever grace God opens up to man, none can withhold it; and whatever He withholds, none other than Him can release. He alone is Almighty, Wise. (Verse 2)

What we have in this second verse of the sūrah is an aspect of God’s power mentioned at the end of the first verse. When this aspect is instilled in a person’s heart and mind, he undergoes a complete transformation in his concepts, feelings, values, standards and life generally. It invalidates any thought of any other power having any control over the heavens and earth, and puts him in touch with God’s own power. It makes him abandon any thought of receiving grace from anyone else and links all to God’s grace. It closes before him every door and way in the universe yet opens for him the door and the way leading to God.

God’s grace can be reflected in countless aspects. Indeed man cannot even begin to record these. They are within him and the way he is created; the position of honour he is given; the blessings that are all around him from every side and from above and beneath him. It is also to be found in the favours showered on him.

God’s grace is reflected in what man has been denied just as much as it is reflected in what he has been granted. When God opens it up to anyone, that person finds it in every situation, thing, condition and place. He even finds it within himself, his feelings, all around him, wherever and however he happens to be, even though he may be deprived of everything people consider to be important. Conversely, should God withhold His grace from anyone, that person will miss it in every thing, situation, place and condition, even though he may have at his disposal everything people associate with wealth and happiness.

Whatever favour a person is granted becomes a hardship if it is associated with the withholding of God’s grace; and whatever hardship or trial he undergoes becomes a favour once it is coupled with His grace. A man may lie on a bed of thorns, but, with God’s grace, he finds it very comfortable; while silk mattresses and cushions feel like hard nails if that grace is denied him. With divine grace the most difficult problem becomes easy and danger becomes safety, but without it, what is normally easy becomes insoluble and safe roads and ways lead to ruin.

Should you be granted God’s grace, you will not feel miserable even though you may be in solitary confinement, enduring torture or facing danger; while misery will be your lot if it is withheld, even though you are in the most luxurious and splendid of surroundings. It is from deep inside that happiness, contentment and reassurance flow by God’s grace, and deep inside you feel misery, worry and affliction when it is denied.

If the door of God’s grace is open, you will not care if all doors and windows are locked: you will find ease, comfort and happiness; and if it is closed, you will benefit nothing if all other doors and windows are left wide open.

God may give anyone plentiful wealth, and that person will find it a source of enjoyment, comfort and a means to a good position in the life to come, provided that it is coupled with God’s grace. If that grace is withheld, his wealth becomes a source of worry, envy and hatred. It may also mean deprivation, if the wealthy person is stingy or ill; and it may bring ruin if he is wasteful and careless.

The same can be said about children, health and high position. With God’s grace, any of these can be a source of goodness, enjoyment, delight, happiness and joy, as also a means to increase one’s reward in the life to come. Should God’s grace be denied, any of these will bring misery, distress, sleepless nights, or expose their owner to other people’s envy, hatred and hostility. Likewise, knowledge, long life and comforts can be associated with either situation of happiness or misery. Yet little knowledge could bring about beneficial effects; a short period of life could enjoy much blessing; and little comfort may mean happiness and delight. In all these respects, communities are like individuals, in all conditions, situations and circumstances.

One aspect of God’s grace is to feel it. God’s grace abounds for every one of us, but it is your feeling that it is bestowed on you, your expectation, hope and trust that it is coming that is mercy and grace. By contrast, to doubt or despair of it is pure misery, but this is something that a believer will not suffer: “None but unbelievers can ever despair of God’s mercy.” (12: 87)

God’s grace will not be denied anyone who seeks it at any place and in any condition. Abraham found it when he was thrown in the fire; Joseph found it in the well where his brothers threw him and later in prison; Jonah found it in the whale’s belly, under three covers of darkness; Moses found it in the river when he was a helpless infant, as also in Pharaoh’s palace when Pharaoh sought to kill him. The young men who retreated to a cave, as told in Sūrah 18, found it there in the cave when it was not to be found in homes and palaces. They said to one another: “Now that you have withdrawn from them and all that they worship instead of God, take refuge in the cave. God may well spread His grace over you and make fitting arrangements for you in your affairs.” (18: 16) The Prophet Muĥammad and his Companion, Abū Bakr found it in the cave of Mount Thawr, where they hid from their pursuers. Indeed no one who sought it to the exclusion of everything else, aware that only God grants strength, power and mercy, has been left lacking.

It is also important to realize that when God opens the gates of His grace to anyone, nothing can withhold it; and when He withholds it, nothing can release it.

Therefore, no one and nothing should be feared, while hope should never be pinned on anyone or anything. We should never fear to miss out on something, and never trust to any means. It all depends on God and what He wills. Whatever He determines will be done. It is He who is Almighty, Wise’. Nothing He determines is without clear purpose.

“Whatever grace God opens up to man, none can withhold it.” (Verse 2) All that people need to be assured of God’s mercy is to request it from Him directly, without intermediaries: “And whatever He withholds, none other than Him can release.” (Verse 2)

This single verse paints a totally different picture of life. It gives a new set of values and standards that are unaffected by any consideration or pressure, be it light or heavy. When this vision is firmly settled in a person’s heart, that person can stand firmly in the face of all events, people, situations, powers and considerations. Even if all people on earth as well as the jinn were to range themselves against him, he would be able to resist them all knowing that they cannot control God’s grace.

It was with verses and images like this that the Qur’ān produced that unique community of believers in the early days of Islam. It was a community moulded under God’s own care, and through the Qur’ān, so as to function as a means of God’s will and establish on earth the faith, values and systems He wanted to establish. In that first community we have a unique example of human life that seems to us today to belong to the realm of legends and dreams. That community did not deal with the Qur’ān as words, sentences and verses with superb meanings, but dealt with the truth those verses represented. Furthermore, they practised it in real life. Yet, still today, the Qur’ān is able to produce, by means of its verses, individuals and communities that can achieve, by God’s leave, whatever God wills them to achieve.

All of us can read the Qur’ān seriously, implement it fully and live its meanings as though they are a tangible reality.

It behoves me personally to praise God and record here my gratitude to Him for the grace He bestowed on me in relation to this verse of the Qur’ān. This verse was present with me at a time when I was in great, compounded difficulty, experiencing spiritual dryness, psychological hardship and much affliction. It was this verse that came to my support, for God facilitated for me that I should see its truth, which poured into my spirit like a cool drink passing through the limbs of an extremely thirsty person. That was not a meaning I understood; rather, it was a reality I experienced. Thus, it was in itself an act of grace. It presented itself to me as a real interpretation of the verse, opening up to me like flower buds on a spring day. I had read and heard it many times before, but at that moment, it delivered its meaning as a sweet reality, showing me its inner self and saying: ‘I am here, a sample of God’s grace when He opens it.’ Nothing changed around me, but everything underwent a fundamental change in my appreciation. It is a great blessing that our hearts should open to receive a great truth of existence, such as the one the present verse states. It is a blessing one can experience and appreciate, but can seldom impart to others. I lived that moment and went through the experience. It was perhaps the hardest time of my life. Yet suddenly I found all difficulty disappear, and I was released of all trouble and hardship. I was experiencing a spiritual thrill, while I was still in the same place. That is God’s grace which He opens to anyone He chooses and makes it overflow in just one verse of the Qur’ān. One verse opens up a window of light, lets a spring of divine grace gush through, charts a way to contentment and reassurance and all in a split second. My Lord, You have bestowed this Qur’ān from on high to provide guidance and grace to believers. My Lord, I praise You with my tongue and heart, and my gratitude to You is without limit.9

The third verse in this short passage confirms the import of the first two, reminding people of God’s blessings, emphasizing that God is the only One who creates and provides sustenance for His creation, and wondering at how people lose sight of this truth when it is so clear and obvious:

People! Remember the blessings God has bestowed upon you. Is there any creator other than God who can give you sustenance from heaven and earth? There is no deity other than Him. How can you turn away? (Verse 3)

Nothing is needed more than the mention of God’s blessings for people to see, feel and recognize them. Nevertheless, they do forget them. The earth around them and the skies above them give them abundant blessings and unlimited sustenance, in every step and at every moment. It is God the Creator who gives all this. They are asked here whether there is a different creator who provides them with all the good things in their hands. Obviously, they cannot say this. Indeed, they did not even claim this during their worst period of idolatry, associating all sorts of partners with God. Since there is none other than God to create and provide, why do they not remember and express gratitude? Why do they not address their gratitude to Him alone and express their thanks by praises and prayers? Indeed “There is no deity other than Him.” How is it that they turn away from this indisputable truth? “How can you turn away?” (Verse 3) It is most singular that anyone should turn away from this clear truth, evidenced by the constant sustenance they are provided with from heaven and earth. Even more singular is for a person to turn away from it all while admitting that all sustenance comes from God alone.

Just these three verses constitute the first section of the sūrah. In each we have an image that gives man rebirth. All that is needed is for him to firmly establish God’s truth in his heart and conscience.