Surah Az Zukhruf Notes (11-18)

Source: Ibn Kathir

(11) And Who sends down water (rain) from the sky in due measure. Then We revive a dead land therewith, and even so you will be brought forth (from the dead),

(And Who sends down water from the sky in due measure, ) means, according to what is sufficient for your crops, fruits and drinking water for yourselves and your cattle.

(then We revive a dead land therewith,) means, a barren land, for when the water comes to it, it is stirred (to life), and it swells and puts forth every lovely kind (of growth). By referring to the revival of the earth, Allah draws attention to how He will bring bodies back to life on the Day of Resurrection, after they have been dead.

(and even so you will be brought forth.)

(12) And Who has created all the pairs and has appointed for you ships and cattle on which you ride,

(And Who has created all the pairs) meaning, of everything that grows in the earth, all kinds of plants, crops, fruits, flowers, etc., and all different kinds of animals.

(and has appointed for you ships) or vessels,

(and cattle on which you ride.) means, He has subjugated them to you and made it easy for you to eat their meat, drink their milk and ride on their backs.

(13) In order that you may mount firmly on their backs, and then may remember the Favour of your Lord when you mount thereon, and say: "Glory to Him who has subjected this to us, and we could never have it (by our efforts)."

(In order that you may mount on their backs, ) meaning, sit comfortably and securely,

(on their backs) means, on the backs of these kinds of animals.

(and then may remember the favor of your Lord) means, whereby these animals are subjugated to you.

(when you mount thereon, and say: "Glory to Him Who has subjected this to us, and we could have never had it.'') means, if it were not for the fact that Allah has subjugated these things to us, we could never have done this by our own strength.' Ibn `Abbas, Qatadah, As-Suddi and Ibn Zayd said: "We could not have done this ourselves.''

(14) And verily, to Our Lord we indeed are to return!

(And verily, to Our Lord we indeed are to return.) means, `We will return to Him after our death, and our ultimate destination is with Him.' In this Ayah, mention of earthly journeys draws attention to the journey of the Hereafter, just as elsewhere, mention of earthly provision draws attention to the importance of ensuring provision for the Hereafter, as Allah says:

(And take a provision (with you) for the journey, but the best provision is the Taqwa) (2:197). And mention of earthly garments is also used to draw attention to the raiment of the Hereafter:

(and as an adornment; and the raiment of the Taqwa, that is better) (7:26).

Condemnation of the Idolators' attribution of Offspring to Allah

(15) Yet they assign to some of His slaves a share with Him (by pretending that He has children, and considering them as equals or co-partners in worship with Him). Verily, man is indeed a manifest ingrate!

Here Allah speaks of the lies and fabrications of the idolators, when they devoted some of their cattle to their false gods and some to Allah, as He described in Surat Al-An`am where He said:

(And they assign to Allah share of the tilth and cattle which He has created, and they say: "This is for Allah'' according to their claim, "and this is for our partners.'' But the share of their partners reaches not Allah, while the share of Allah reaches their partners! Evil is the way they judge!) (6:136). Similarly, out of the two kinds of offspring, sons and daughters, they assigned to Him the worst and least valuable (in their eyes), i.e., daughters, as Allah says:

(Is it for you the males and for Him the females That indeed is a division most unfair!) (53:21-22) And Allah says here:

(Yet, they assign to some of His servants a share with Him. Verily, man is indeed a manifest ingrate!) 

(16) Or has He taken daughters out of what He has created, and He has selected for you sons?

(Or has He taken daughters out of what He has created, and He has selected for you sons) This is a denunciation of them in the strongest terms,

(17) And if one of them is informed of the news of (the birth of) that which he set forth as a parable to the Most Beneficent (Allah) (i.e. of a girl), his face becomes dark, gloomy, and he is filled with grief! 

(And if one of them is informed of the news of that which he sets forth as a parable to the Most Gracious, his face becomes dark, and he is filled with grief!) means, if one of these people is given the news that there has been born to him one of those which he attributes to Allah, i.e., a daughter, he hates this news and it depresses and overwhelms him so much that he keeps away from people because he feels so ashamed. Allah says, so how can they dislike that so much and yet they attribute it to Allah.

(18) (Do they then like for Allah) a creature who is brought up in adornments (wearing silk and gold ornaments, i.e. women), and in dispute cannot make herself clear?

(A creature who is brought up in adornments, and who in dispute cannot make itself clear) means, women are regarded as lacking something, which they make up for with jewelry and adornments from the time of childhood onwards, and when there is a dispute, they cannot speak up and defend themselves clearly, so how can this be attributed to Allah