This part of the surah is closely linked to the previous one. It is, in fact, a continuation of the last point in that passage. It further directs the Prophet to remain patient as he faced adversity in the shape of rejection and physical harm. It also directs him to remain patient when the unbelievers used every means to prevent others from accepting the truth and even boasted about falsehood. Having made this directive, the surah explains the real reason for disputing God’s revelations without any sound basis. In short, it is nothing but arrogance and conceit that prevent people from acknowledging the truth. Yet they cannot even attain the status to which, in their arrogance, they aspire.

The surah, therefore, emphasizes the greatness of the universe created by God, and the smallness of all mankind, compared to the heavens and the earth. In this part, the surah highlights some of the universal signs and how God, by His grace, has made them subservient to man even though man is much smaller and weaker than them. The surah also refers to aspects of God’s grace within man himself. In all, these aspects confirm the oneness of the Creator.

The Prophet is then directed to proclaim God’s oneness and to turn his back on what the unbelievers worshipped beside God. This part then adds a powerful scene of the Day of Resurrection, when the idolaters are rebuked for associating partners with God. The conclusion in this part is the same as in the previous one: a directive to the Prophet to remain patient in adversity, whether God keeps him alive until he has witnessed the realization of some of what He has promised or gathers him to Himself before that. This is something that God determines. All will ultimately return to Him.

Asfor those who dispute God's revelations, with no authority granted to them, there is nothing in their hearts but a quest for a greatness they will never attain. Seek, then, refuge with God, for He is the One who hears all and sees all. The creation ofthe heavens and the earth is indeed greater than the creation ofman; yet most people do not understand. The blind and the seeing are not equal; nor can those who believe and do good works and those who do evil be deemed equal. How seldom you reflect. The Last Hour is sure to come: ofthis there is no doubt. Yet most people will not believe. Your Lord says: Gall on Me, and I shall answer you. Those who are too proud to worship Me shall enter hell humiliated' (Verses 56-60)

Man often forgets the fact that he is a small, weak creature and that whatever strength he may have does not emanate from within himself, but from his bond with God, the source of all strength and power. He may sever this bond and begin to swell and take on airs. Arrogance, thus, begins to establish itself within him. Satan, who doomed himself as a result of his arrogance, works on man to increase his arrogance knowing that through it he can bring man to ruin.

The unbeliever disputes God’s revelations even when they are clear, addressing human nature with the sort of argument that appeals to it.

He also claims to himself and others that he is only raising questions because he is not as yet convinced. However, God who knows the inner feelings and secret thoughts of all His creatures makes clear that all this is the result of man’s arrogance. It is such arrogance which prompts man to argue and dispute God’s revelations over which there can be no dispute. Such arrogance also drives man to aspire to what is beyond his status and what his nature cannot attain. Yet he has no solid basis for such argument for it is rooted deeply in nothing but his own arrogance: “As for those who dispute God's revelations, with no authority granted to them, there is nothing in their hearts but a quest for a greatness they will never attain." yesse 56)

If only man would understand the truth about himself and the universe, recognizing his role and not trying to exceed it, appreciating that he is one of countless creatures each doing their role by Gods will and according to His design which He alone knows, he would certainly feel relaxed, humble, living in peace with himself and with the world around him. If he did this, he would easily and readily submit himself to God. He would also do this without any hesitation.

“Seek, then, refuge with God, for He is the One who hears all and sees all.n (Verse 56) Seeking refuge with God against arrogance is indicative of how gruesome it is. We seek God’s refuge in order to escape what is ghastly, horrible and evil. Arrogance combines all these. Moreover, it is hard for the arrogant person and for those around him. It causes harm to the heart in which it stirs and to other people’s hearts. It is an evil we should seek refuge with God from. God hears all and sees all.

The surah now speaks about certain aspects of God’s blessings which testify to His greatness, yet the unbelievers do not offer thanks to Him for such blessings. On the contrary, they are too proud to address their worship to Him:

It is God who has made for you the night in which to rest, and the day to make you see. God is limitless in His bounty to man, but most people do not give thanks. Such is God, your Lord, the Creator ofall that exists: there is no deity other than Him. How deluded can you be? Such it is: far deluded are those who knowingly deny God's revelations. It is God who has made the earth a resting place for you and the sky a canopy. He has moulded you into a comely shape and provided you with wholesome things. Such is God, your Lord. So glory be to God, the Lord ofall the worlds. He is the Ever-Living.

There is no deity other than Him. So call on Him, sincere in your faith in Him. All praise is due to God, the Lord ofall the worlds.

(Verses 61-65)

The night and day are two universal phenomena, while the earth and the heavens are creatures in the universe. They are all mentioned alongside Gods creation of man, who has been given a comely shape, been provided with wholesome sustenance. All these are mentioned within the context of God’s oneness and being sincere in our faith in Him. This indicates that all these phenomena, creatures and concepts are interlinked. They should be looked at within their broad environment, noting their mutual interrelations.

The fact that the universe is built on the solid basis God has given it, and its following the course God has assigned to it, allowed life to emerge, evolve and progress on earth. It also allowed human life to take the shape and form familiar to us. It fits with man’s needs dictated by his nature and make-up. It has made the night a time for his rest and recuperation, while the day, with its light, a time for movement and action. It has made the earth stable as a field of activity, while the skies are raised like a canopy that does not fall apart. All the necessary proportions are maintained; otherwise, man’s existence on earth would have been endangered or impossible. It has allowed wholesome provisions to grow on earth or come down from the sky for man’s enjoyment.

Moreover, it is God’s will that gave man his comely shape and a wealth of abilities that are in harmony with what is in the universe. All these matters are interlinked, which is the reason for referring to them together in the Qur’an. Indeed, the Qur’an makes this interrelation between them evidence of the Creator’s oneness. It directs our hearts to call on God, sincere in our devotion, declaring that all praise is due to God, the Lord of all the worlds. It states that the One who creates all these and establishes such harmony between them is the only one to deserve to be a deity. He is indeed God Almighty, the Lord and Creator of all. How can people be turned away from this truth?

It is perhaps useful here to mention some aspects of the harmony and interrelation evident within the universe and their bearing on man’s life.

The Prophet is given clear instructions to declare to his people that he has been forbidden to worship what they invoke other than God.

He has also been commanded to submit himself to the Lord of all the worlds:

Say: Since all evidence ofthe truth has come to me from my Lord, I am forbidden to worship those whom you invoke instead of God. I am commanded to submit to the Lord ofall the worlds. (Verse 66)

He is to declare to those who turn away from Gods revelations and deny His blessings that he has been ordered not to worship the ones they invoke instead of God. He is to tell them that he has acted on this prohibition 'since all evidence of the truth has come to me from my Lord.' He has the evidence, and he believes in it. It is right that he should then declare the word of truth. The prohibition to worship anyone other than God denotes a negative action, while submission to God Almighty is a positive one. It is from these two opposite parts that faith is brought to its fullness.

Having highlighted certain signs of God in the wide universe, the surah now highlights a sign from within man himself. It is the miracle of human life and its marvellous stages. This is given here by way of a prelude to stating the true nature of life granted by God:

It is He who creates you out ofdust, then out ofa gamete, then out ofa clinging cell mass; and then He brings you forth as infants. He then lets you reach maturity, and then grow old - although some of you die earlier. [All this He ordains] so that you may reach your appointed term, and you may use your reason. It is He who ordains life and death. When He wills something to be, He only says to it, ‘Be, and it is. (Verses 67-68)

This beginning of human life includes facts that man’s knowledge could not know because they took place before his existence, and others which man sees and monitors. Yet such monitoring started only recently, centuries after the revelation of the Qur’an.

That man was created out of dust refers to a fact taking place before his existence. Dust is the origin of all life on earth, including human life. Only God knows how this miracle was accomplished, and how this great event took shape. As for subsequent procreation, this takes place when a male’s sperm fertilizes a female’s egg.

Conception takes place and a cell mass clings to the uterus. At the end, a baby is born after having gone through a number of major development stages. When carefully considered in comparison to what happens after birth, these stages appear to be longer and greater than the stages we go through from birth till death. The surah mentions some of these latter stages: childhood, full adulthood at around 30, and old age. These stages represent maximum vigour in between two ends characterized by weakness. “Some ofyou die earlier, ” before attaining to some of these stages. God ordains all this “so that you may reach your appointed term”, when you die at the specified time, unable to delay it or indeed hasten it. “And you may use your reason” To follow the journey travelled by the foetus and then by a baby and to reflect on what they indicate of elaborate planning requires good use of our reason.

Against the backdrop of the emergence of human life, the cycle of life and death, the truth of initiation and origination, disputing the truth of God’s revelations or the import of His signs sounds singular.

Equally odd is any denial of God’s messengers. Hence, a fearful warning is given in the form of a scene from the Day of Resurrection:

Do you not see how those who dispute God's revelations are turned away from the truth? Those who reject the Book and the messages We sent through Our messengers. They will certainly come to know when, with chains and shackles round their necks, they will be dragged into scalding water, and then burnt in the fire ofhell. Then they will be asked: ‘Where now are those to whom you ascribed divinity side by side with God?' They will answer: ‘They have forsaken us, or rather, what we used to invoke were nothing. ’ Thus does God let the unbelievers go astray. ‘This is because on earth you took delight in things that are untrue and you were insolent. Enter now the gates of hell, where you shall abide. Evil indeed is the abode ofthe arrogant.' (Verses 69-76)

These verses first wonder at those disputing Gods revelations when they see the great signs He has placed in the universe. This serves as a prelude to outlining the fate that awaits them in the life to come. “Do you not see how those who dispute God's revelations are turned away from the truth? Those who reject the Book and the messages We sent through Our messengers." (Verses 69-70) They have rejected one book and one messenger, but, in fact, they reject everything all Gods messengers said. Theirs is the same faith, put in its most perfect form in the final message. This means that they actually denied every single message and rejected every single messenger. Everyone who opposed the Divine faith, at any time in history including the present, did this when he or she opposed the truth advocated by the messenger addressing him personally.

“They will certainly come to know." (Verse 70) This statement adds humiliation to painful punishment. “When, with chains and shackles round their necks, they will be dragged." (Verse 71) They are dragged like animals and beasts to add further humiliation to their predicament.

Why should they be given honourable treatment when they have discarded every single cause of honour? Their humiliation and dragging eventually leads them “into scalding water, and then burnt in thefire of hell." (Verse 72) There they are tied up after the place is filled with a burning fire and scalding water.

Such is the end they face. It is then that they are further rebuked and painfully embarrassed: “ Then they will be asked: Where now are those to whom you ascribed divinity side by side with God?' (Verses 73—74)

Their reply is that of someone who is in total sorrow after he realizes that he has been badly deceived: “ They will answer: They haveforsaken us, or rather, what we used to invoke were nothing." (Verse 74) We have lost them and we have no way of finding them. Nor can they find us.