Tazkirul Quran, Qur’an 40:66–68
The Forgiver (Ghafir)
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
English text; the translator is not named in the archive’s data.
Translation
(66) Say, ‘I have been forbidden to invoke those whom you invoke besides God—seeing that clear signs have come to me from my Lord; and I have been commanded to submit to the Lord of the Universe.’ (67) It is He who created you from dust, then from a drop of fluid, then from a tiny, clinging form, then He brought you forth as infants, then He allowed you to reach maturity, then He let you grow old—though some of you die sooner—and reach your appointed term so that you may reflect. (68) It is He who gives life and death, and when He ordains a thing, He says only, ‘Be!’ and it is.
Commentary
(a) These verses point to the phenomena of nature which exist so that man may reflect. In other words, these phenomena exist so that man may give them deep consideration and may uncover their hidden meaning.
The conversion of lifeless matter into living objects; the development of the human being in a gradual manner; man’s passing through the stages of youth to old age; death of man, sometimes in old age and sometimes at a young age are events that introduce us to the various attributes of the Creator. It is revealed by these events that the Being who brought this universe into existence is the All Powerful and Wise God. He is Supreme and Dominant.
If man learns a real lesson from these facts, he will spontaneously opine that it is the one and only God who deserves to be worshipped. This picture of the Universe implicitly contradicts all the false gods set up by man instead of the real God.