Surah Al-An'am, Ayah 3

Which was revealed in Makkah

The Virtue of Surat Al-An`am and When it Was Revealed

Al-`Awfi, `Ikrimah and `Ata' said that Ibn `Abbas said, "Surat Al-An`am was revealed in Makkah" At-Tabarani recorded that Ibn `Abbas said, "All of Surat Al-An`am was revealed in Makkah at night, accompanied by seventy thousand angels, raising their voices in glorification of Allah" As-Suddi said that Murrah said that `Abdullah said, "Surat Al-An`am was revealed in the company of seventy thousand angels."

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

All Praise is Due to Allah for His Glorious Ability and Great Power

Allah praises and glorifies His Most Honorable Self for creating the heavens and earth, as a dwelling for His servants, and for making the darkness and the light to benefit them in the night and the day. In this Ayah, Allah describes darkness in the plural, Zulumat where Zulmah is singular for darkness, while describing the light in the singular, An-Nur, because An-Nur is more honored. In other Ayat, Allah said,

The third verse contains the consequential outcome of what was said in the first two verses. It declares that Allah is the only Being who is worthy of worship and obedience in all the heavens and the earth, and He is the One who knows everything human beings conceal or reveal and, particularly, everything they say or do.

The system inherent in the governance of heaven and earth is so perfect in its coordination and its unitary nature—despite the magnitude of the task—that it proclaims aloud the fact that its Creator and Organiser can be none other than the one and only God. Witness how unimaginably great is this universe in its vastness, wisdom and meaningfulness. The flawlessly regulated revolution of the earth in space around the bright sphere of the Sun and, hence the coming into existence of light and darkness and day and night are events beyond human comprehension. Now, why should there be any question of God—who has organised the universe to perfection—having any shortcoming which would necessitate His having a partner to give Him assistance? The fact is that the wonderful system by which everything in the world is regulated is in itself proof that its Lord (God) is one and one alone, and this same system also demonstrates that God is so great that He does not need any assistant either in His creation or in His control of what He has created.