Surah Ar-Ra'd, Ayah 15

Everything prostrates unto Allah

Allah affirms His might and power, for He has full control over everything, and everything is subservient to Him. Therefore, everything, including the believers, prostrate to Allah willingly, while the disbelievers do so unwillingly,

وَظِلَـلُهُم بِالْغُدُوِّ

(and so do their shadows in the mornings), in the beginning of the days,

وَالاٌّصَالِ

(and in the afternoons.) towards the end of the days. Allah said in another Ayah,

أَوَ لَمْيَرَوْاْ إِلَىخَلَقَ اللَّهُ مِن شَىْءٍ يَتَفَيَّأُ

(Have they not observed things that Allah has created: (how) their shadows incline.) 16:48

قُلْ مَن رَّبُّ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ قُلِ اللَّهُ قُلْ أَفَاتَّخَذْتُمْ مِّن دُونِهِ أَوْلِيَآءَ لاَ يَمْلِكُونَ لأَنْفُسِهِمْ نَفْعًا وَلاَ ضَرًّا قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِى الاٌّعْمَى وَالْبَصِيرُ أَمْ هَلْ تَسْتَوِى الظُّلُمَـتُ وَالنُّورُ أَمْ جَعَلُواْ للَّهِ شُرَكَآءَ خَلَقُواْ كَخَلْقِهِ فَتَشَابَهَ الْخَلْقُ عَلَيْهِمْ قُلِ اللَّهُ خَـلِقُ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ وَهُوَ الْوَاحِدُ الْقَهَّـرُ

In the next verse (13), it was said: وَيُسَبِّحُ الرَّ‌عْدُ بِحَمْدِهِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ مِنْ خِيفَتِهِ (And the thunder proclaims His purity with His praise, and [ so do ] the angels, out of His awe). In Arabic usage, the word: الرَّ‌عْدُ (Ar-Ra` d)refers to the sound of the clouds generated by their collision. The sense of (Tasbih: the glorification of Allah) mentioned here is that of the same Tasbih about which it has been said in another verse of the Qur’ an: وَإِن مِّن شَيْءٍ إِلَّا يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهِ وَلَـٰكِن لَّا تَفْقَهُونَ تَسْبِيحَهُمْ 'And there is nothing in the heavens and the earth which does not glorify Allah, but they do not understand their glorification' - (17:44).

If you spread your hands and call upon the ocean, it will never happen that it responds to your call and its waters come out of the depths to quench the thirst of your fields and gardens. But, by the laws of nature, the waters of that same ocean rise into air in the form of water vapour, leaving behind the salt. Then under the influence of heat, gravitational pull and the force of the winds, it spreads over town and country and pours down in the shape of fresh, sweet water and irrigates the land. This shows that the ocean, in spite of being gigantic, is really helpless. It has no innate power either to act on its own, or to respond to another’s call. This is the condition of all the things of this world. As such, the wise person is one who worships the Creator and not the creations—one who concentrates on the Lord of the things and not on the things themselves.