Surah An-Najm, Ayah 53

Some Attributes of the Lord, that He returns Man as He originated Him, and some of what He does with His Servants

Allah the Exalted said,

وَأَنَّ إِلَى رَبِّكَ الْمُنتَهَى

(And that to your Lord is the End.) meaning, the return of everything on the Day of Resurrection. Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that `Amr bin Maymun Al-Awdi said, "Once, Mu`adh bin Jabal stood up among us and said, `O Children of Awd! I am the emissary of Allah's Messenger ﷺ to you; know that the Return is to Allah, either to Paradise or the Fire."' Allah's statement,

وَأَنَّهُ هُوَ أَضْحَكَ وَأَبْكَى

(And that it is He Who makes you laugh, and makes you weep.) means that He created in His creatures the ability to laugh or weep and the causes for each of these opposites,

وَالْمُؤْتَفِكَةَ أَهْوَىٰ (And He destroyed the overturned towns also,... 53:53) The word Mu'tafikah literally means mu'talifah (joined together). These were a few settlements adjacent to the city. Holy Prophet Lut (علیہ السلام) was sent to them. Because of disobedience and commission of shameful and unspeakable sins, their cities [ of Sodom and Gomorrah ] were turned upside down by Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) .

Every event in this world arises from supernatural causes and nobody but God is capable of causing them to occur. Happiness and sorrow, life and death, the pro-creative system, riches and poverty—all these are the feats of a superpower. Ancient man used to consider the stars as the determining factors in life, while in the present age natural law is considered to govern all happenings. But the fact is that there is a Cause over and above these causes and factors and that is God, the Lord of the universe. Then, how is it legitimate for a man to make anything other than Him the centre of his attention?