Surah an-Naml (The Ant ) 27 : 63

Explanatory Note

The sūrah then refers to other indisputable facts that represent human life and activity on this planet.

People, including the first community to be addressed by the Qur’ān, move along beaten tracks when they travel on land or by sea, and they try to discover the secrets of land and sea through experimentation. They are guided to their goals, but who guides them? Who has placed in them the powers of understanding and recognition? Who has enabled them to be guided by stars, other devices and landmarks? Who has established a link between their own nature and that of the universe, and between their powers and its secrets? Who has given their ears the ability to catch and recognize sound; and their eyes to receive light; their senses to perceive sensations? Who has given them the intelligent faculty we call “mind’ in order to benefit by what it receives, and to gather and build upon experience? “Could there be any deity alongside God?” (Verse 63)

“And who sends forth the winds as heralds of His forthcoming grace?” (Verse 63) Whatever may be said about the formation and causes of wind from scientific, atmospheric or geographical points of view, they remain part of the overall design of the universe. It is this design that allows the wind to travel, driving clouds from one place to another, promising rain which symbolizes God’s grace as it supports life. Who has made the world such that the winds bring tidings of forthcoming grace? “Could there be any deity alongside God? Sublimely exalted is God above anything they associate with Him.” (Verse 63)

The phrase أَإِلَـٰهٌ مَّعَ اللَّـهِ "A deity with Allah?" is repeated 5 times in this Surah. This phrase does not occur in any of the Surah of the Qur'an and is unique to Surah an-Naml.

أَمَّنْ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَأَنزَلَ لَكُم مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَنبَتْنَا بِهِ حَدَائِقَ ذَاتَ بَهْجَةٍ مَّا كَانَ لَكُمْ أَن تُنبِتُوا شَجَرَهَا ۗ أَإِلَـٰهٌ مَّعَ اللَّـهِ ۚ بَلْ هُمْ قَوْمٌ يَعْدِلُونَ  "[More precisely], is He [not best] who created the heavens and the earth and sent down for you rain from the sky, causing to grow thereby gardens of joyful beauty which you could not [otherwise] have grown the trees thereof? Is there a deity with Allah? [No], but they are a people who ascribe equals [to Him]." (27:60)

أَمَّن جَعَلَ الْأَرْضَ قَرَارًا وَجَعَلَ خِلَالَهَا أَنْهَارًا وَجَعَلَ لَهَا رَوَاسِيَ وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ حَاجِزًا ۗ أَإِلَـٰهٌ مَّعَ اللَّـهِ ۚ بَلْ أَكْثَرُهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ "Is He [not best] who made the earth a stable ground and placed within it rivers and made for it firmly set mountains and placed between the two seas a barrier? Is there a deity with Allah? [No], but most of them do not know." (27:61)

أَمَّن يُجِيبُ الْمُضْطَرَّ إِذَا دَعَاهُ وَيَكْشِفُ السُّوءَ وَيَجْعَلُكُمْ خُلَفَاءَ الْأَرْضِ ۗ أَإِلَـٰهٌ مَّعَ اللَّـهِ ۚ قَلِيلًا مَّا تَذَكَّرُونَ "Is He [not best] who responds to the desperate one when he calls upon Him and removes evil and makes you inheritors of the earth? Is there a deity with Allah? Little do you remember." (27:62)

 أَمَّن يَهْدِيكُمْ فِي ظُلُمَاتِ الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ وَمَن يُرْسِلُ الرِّيَاحَ بُشْرًا بَيْنَ يَدَيْ رَحْمَتِهِ ۗ أَإِلَـٰهٌ مَّعَ اللَّـهِ ۚ تَعَالَى اللَّـهُ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ "Is He [not best] who guides you through the darknesses of the land and sea and who sends the winds as good tidings before His mercy? Is there a deity with Allah? High is Allah above whatever they associate with Him." (27:63)

أَمَّن يَبْدَأُ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُ وَمَن يَرْزُقُكُم مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ أَإِلَـٰهٌ مَّعَ اللَّـهِ قُلْ هَاتُوا بُرْهَانَكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ "Is He [not best] who begins creation and then repeats it and who provides for you from the heaven and earth? Is there a deity with Allah? Say, "Produce your proof, if you should be truthful." (27:64)