Surah Zukhruf ayat 13 Tafsir Quran 43:13

﴿لِتَسْتَوُوا عَلَىٰ ظُهُورِهِ ثُمَّ تَذْكُرُوا نِعْمَةَ رَبِّكُمْ إِذَا اسْتَوَيْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ وَتَقُولُوا سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي سَخَّرَ لَنَا هَٰذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقْرِنِينَ﴾
[ الزخرف: 13]

43:13 That you may settle yourselves upon their backs and then remember the favor of your Lord when you have settled upon them and say. "Exalted is He who has subjected this to us, and we could not have [otherwise] subdued it.

that you may sit that you may find a firm position upon their backs He has made the suffixed pronoun a masculine plural and rendered zahr ‘back’ plural because of the particle mā and its plural import; and then remember your Lord’s grace when you are settled on them and say ‘Glory be to Him Who has disposed this for us and we by ourselves were no match for it not capable of it.

That you may sit and rest comfortably upon their backs and render solemn acknowledgement of Divine favours when making a land travel or a voyage by sea and exercise the mind in devotional thought and put your thoughts into words, thus: Glory to Him Who has subjected these animate and inanimate creatures to us; it would have been otherwise impossible to render them submissive and to make them minister to our comfort

The Idolators' admission that Allah is the Sole Creator, and Further Evidence of that Allah says: `If you, O Muhammad, were to ask these idolators who associate others with Allah and worship others besides Him,' مَّنْ خَلَقَ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضَ لَيَقُولُنَّ خَلَقَهُنَّ الْعَزِيزُ الْعَلِيمُ ( "Who has created the heavens and the earth" They will surely say: "The All-Mighty, the All-Knower created them." ) In other words, they will admit that the Creator of all that is Allah Alone, with no partner or associate, yet they still worship others -- idols and false gods -- alongside Him. الَّذِى جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الاٌّرْضَ مَهْداً ( Who has made for you the earth like a bed, ) means, smooth, stable and firm, so that you can travel about in it, and stand on it and sleep and walk about, even though it is created above water, but He has strengthened it with the mountains, lest it should shake. وَجَعَلَ لَكُمْ فِيهَا سُبُلاً ( and has made for you roads therein, ) means, paths between the mountains and the valleys. لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ ( in order that you may find your way. ) means, in your journeys from city to city, region to region, land to land. وَالَّذِى نَزَّلَ مِنَ السَّمَآءِ مَآءً بِقَدَرٍ ( And Who sends down water from the sky in due measure, ) means, according to what is sufficient for your crops, fruits and drinking water for yourselves and your cattle. فَأَنشَرْنَا بِهِ بَلْدَةً مَّيْتاً ( then We revive a dead land therewith, ) means, a barren land, for when the water comes to it, it is stirred ( to life ), and it swells and puts forth every lovely kind ( of growth ).
By referring to the revival of the earth, Allah draws attention to how He will bring bodies back to life on the Day of Resurrection, after they have been dead. كَذَلِكَ تُخْرَجُونَ ( and even so you will be brought forth. ) Then Allah says: وَالَّذِى خَلَقَ الأَزْوَجَ كُلَّهَا ( And Who has created all the pairs ) meaning, of everything that grows in the earth, all kinds of plants, crops, fruits, flowers, etc., and all different kinds of animals. وَجَعَلَ لَكُمْ مِّنَ الْفُلْكِ ( and has appointed for you ships ) or vessels, وَالاٌّنْعَـمِ مَا تَرْكَبُونَ ( and cattle on which you ride. ) means, He has subjugated them to you and made it easy for you to eat their meat, drink their milk and ride on their backs.
Allah says: لِتَسْتَوُواْ عَلَى ظُهُورِهِ ( In order that you may mount on their backs, ) meaning, sit comfortably and securely, عَلَى ظُهُورِهِ ( on their backs ) means, on the backs of these kinds of animals. ثُمَّ تَذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَةَ رَبِّكُمْ ( and then may remember the favor of your Lord ) means, whereby these animals are subjugated to you. إِذَا اسْتَوَيْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ وَتَقُولُواْ سُبْحَـنَ الَّذِى سَخَّرَ لَنَا هَـذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقْرِنِينَ ( when you mount thereon, and say: "Glory to Him Who has subjected this to us, and we could have never had it." ) means, if it were not for the fact that Allah has subjugated these things to us, we could never have done this by our own strength.' Ibn `Abbas, Qatadah, As-Suddi and Ibn Zayd said: "We could not have done this ourselves." وَإِنَّآ إِلَى رَبِّنَا لَمُنقَلِبُونَ ( And verily, to Our Lord we indeed are to return. ) means, `We will return to Him after our death, and our ultimate destination is with Him.' In this Ayah, mention of earthly journeys draws attention to the journey of the Hereafter, just as elsewhere, mention of earthly provision draws attention to the importance of ensuring provision for the Hereafter, as Allah says: وَتَزَوَّدُواْ فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الزَّادِ التَّقْوَى ( And take a provision (with you ) for the journey, but the best provision is the Taqwa) ( 2:197 ).
And mention of earthly garments is also used to draw attention to the raiment of the Hereafter: وَرِيشًا وَلِبَاسُ التَّقْوَى ذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ ( and as an adornment; and the raiment of the Taqwa, that is better ) ( 7:26 ).

(43:13) so that when you are mounted upon them you may remember the bounty of your Lord, and say: 'Glory be to Him Who has subjected this to Us whereas we did not have the strength to subdue it. *13

That you may settle yourselves upon their meaning

*13) That is, " Only man from among all the creatures of the earth was not given this power by Allah to use boats and ships and animals as conveyance so that he may be loaded on them like bags of grain and should never think as to who it is who created possibilities for him to run boats in the mighty oceans, and who created some animals of the countless kinds of animals, with a nature that they become his servants in spite of being far stronger than him in power, and he rides on them and drives them wherever he likes.
To benefit by these blessings and to forget the Benefactor is a sign of the heart's becoming dead and the conscience's being insensitive.
For when a man endowed with a living heart and a sensitive conscience will sit on these conveyances, he will be filled with the feelings of the blessings and with the gratitude for it, and will cry out: "Glorified is the Being Who subjected these things to me: Glorified is He from that another should be His associate in His Being and attributes and powers: Glorified is He and free from the weakness that He should become helpless of performing the functions of His Godhead by Himself and should stand in need of other associate gods: Glorified is He that I should make another an associate with Him in rendering thanks for these blessings."
The best practical commentary of the intention and meaning of this verse are the words that the Holy Prophet ( upon whom be Allah's peace ) used to pronounce at the time he sat on the conveyance.
Hadrat 'Abdullah bin 'Umar says that whenever the Holy Prophet sat on a conveyance for a journey, he would pronounce Allah-u Akbar thrice, then would recite this verse, and then pray: "O God, I implore You to grant me in this journey the grace of goodness and piety and such acts as may please You.
O God, make the journey easy and roll up the long distance for us; O God, You alone are the Companion during the journey and Guardian of the family in ow absence.
O God, take care of us during, the journey and our household in ow absence.
" ( Musnad Ahmed, Muslim, Abu Da'ud, Nasa'i, Darimi, Tirmidhi ).

Hadrat 'Ali says: Once the Holy Prophet put his foot in the stirrup with bismillah, and then, after riding, said: Al-,hamd-u lillah, subhan-alladhi sakhkhara lana hadha .
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, then pronounced al-,hamd-u-lillah thrice, and Allah-u Akbar thrice; then said: Subhana-ka, la-ilaha ills anta, qad zalamtu nafsi fagh fir-li.
Then he laughed.
I asked: What made you laugh.
O Messenger of Allah? He replied: When a servant says: Rabb-ighfir-li, Allah Almighty is very pleased with this.
He says: My servant knows that there is none beside Me who can forgive sins. " ( Ahmed, Abu Da'ud, Tirmidhi, Nasa'i, and others )
Abu Mijlaz says: " Once I rode on my animal and recited this verse: Subhan-alladhi sakhkhara lane hadha .
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; Hadrat Hasan ( may Allah be pleased with him ) said: Have you been commanded to say so ? I said: What should I say then? He replied: Say, thank God, Who guided us to Islam: Thanks to Him, Whodid us a favour by sending Muhammad ( upon whom be Allah's peace ): Thanks to Him, Who admitted us into the best community that has been raised for the people; then recite this verse. " ( Ibn Jarir, Ahkam al-Qur'an by Jassas )
 

The Idolators' admission that Allah is the Sole Creator, and Further Evidence of that Allah says: `If you, O Muhammad, were to ask these idolators who associate others with Allah and worship others besides Him,' مَّنْ خَلَقَ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضَ لَيَقُولُنَّ خَلَقَهُنَّ الْعَزِيزُ الْعَلِيمُ ( "Who has created the heavens and the earth" They will surely say: "The All-Mighty, the All-Knower created them." ) In other words, they will admit that the Creator of all that is Allah Alone, with no partner or associate, yet they still worship others -- idols and false gods -- alongside Him. الَّذِى جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الاٌّرْضَ مَهْداً ( Who has made for you the earth like a bed, ) means, smooth, stable and firm, so that you can travel about in it, and stand on it and sleep and walk about, even though it is created above water, but He has strengthened it with the mountains, lest it should shake. وَجَعَلَ لَكُمْ فِيهَا سُبُلاً ( and has made for you roads therein, ) means, paths between the mountains and the valleys. لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ ( in order that you may find your way. ) means, in your journeys from city to city, region to region, land to land. وَالَّذِى نَزَّلَ مِنَ السَّمَآءِ مَآءً بِقَدَرٍ ( And Who sends down water from the sky in due measure, ) means, according to what is sufficient for your crops, fruits and drinking water for yourselves and your cattle. فَأَنشَرْنَا بِهِ بَلْدَةً مَّيْتاً ( then We revive a dead land therewith, ) means, a barren land, for when the water comes to it, it is stirred ( to life ), and it swells and puts forth every lovely kind ( of growth ).
By referring to the revival of the earth, Allah draws attention to how He will bring bodies back to life on the Day of Resurrection, after they have been dead. كَذَلِكَ تُخْرَجُونَ ( and even so you will be brought forth. ) Then Allah says: وَالَّذِى خَلَقَ الأَزْوَجَ كُلَّهَا ( And Who has created all the pairs ) meaning, of everything that grows in the earth, all kinds of plants, crops, fruits, flowers, etc., and all different kinds of animals. وَجَعَلَ لَكُمْ مِّنَ الْفُلْكِ ( and has appointed for you ships ) or vessels, وَالاٌّنْعَـمِ مَا تَرْكَبُونَ ( and cattle on which you ride. ) means, He has subjugated them to you and made it easy for you to eat their meat, drink their milk and ride on their backs.
Allah says: لِتَسْتَوُواْ عَلَى ظُهُورِهِ ( In order that you may mount on their backs, ) meaning, sit comfortably and securely, عَلَى ظُهُورِهِ ( on their backs ) means, on the backs of these kinds of animals. ثُمَّ تَذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَةَ رَبِّكُمْ ( and then may remember the favor of your Lord ) means, whereby these animals are subjugated to you. إِذَا اسْتَوَيْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ وَتَقُولُواْ سُبْحَـنَ الَّذِى سَخَّرَ لَنَا هَـذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقْرِنِينَ ( when you mount thereon, and say: "Glory to Him Who has subjected this to us, and we could have never had it." ) means, if it were not for the fact that Allah has subjugated these things to us, we could never have done this by our own strength.' Ibn `Abbas, Qatadah, As-Suddi and Ibn Zayd said: "We could not have done this ourselves." وَإِنَّآ إِلَى رَبِّنَا لَمُنقَلِبُونَ ( And verily, to Our Lord we indeed are to return. ) means, `We will return to Him after our death, and our ultimate destination is with Him.' In this Ayah, mention of earthly journeys draws attention to the journey of the Hereafter, just as elsewhere, mention of earthly provision draws attention to the importance of ensuring provision for the Hereafter, as Allah says: وَتَزَوَّدُواْ فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الزَّادِ التَّقْوَى ( And take a provision (with you ) for the journey, but the best provision is the Taqwa) ( 2:197 ).
And mention of earthly garments is also used to draw attention to the raiment of the Hereafter: وَرِيشًا وَلِبَاسُ التَّقْوَى ذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ ( and as an adornment; and the raiment of the Taqwa, that is better ) ( 7:26 ).

That ye may mount upon their backs) i.e. the backs of camels, ( and may remember your Lord’s favour ) for making them subdued for you ( when ye mount thereon, and may say: Glorified be He Who hath subdued these ) camels ( unto us, and we were not capable (of subduing them )) and we were not capable of owning them or making them subdued;

In order that you may mount firmly on their backs, and then may remember the Favour of your Lord when you mount thereon, and say: "Glory to Him who has subjected this to us, and we could never have it (by our efforts)."

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