Al-Qasas (The Stories)

71. “Say: ‘Have you thought, if Allah made the night everlasting for you till the Day of Resurrection, what god other than Allah shall bring you illumination? Will you not hear?”

The Arabic word /sarmad/, mentioned in this verse, means permanent and perpetual.

Among the ways of knowing Allah there is the way of contemplation about extinction or change of bounties. The change of day and night, of course, is one of the greatest Divine bounties and signs.

The verse under discussion points to a great part of Divine bounties, which is both a reason on Monotheism and negation of polytheism.

From this point of view, it completes the previous discussion, and it is an example of the bounties of Allah for which He is eligible of being praised and glorified, a praise that was pointed out in the previous verses. It is also the evidence on His authority in the system of creation and administration of this world.

At first, it points to the great bounty of the light of the day, which is the cause of any movement.

It says:

“Say: ‘Have you thought, if Allah made the night everlasting for you till the Day of Resurrection, what god other than Allah shall bring you illumination? Will you not hear?”

Here, the word /diya’/ (light) has been used, because the main purpose of ‘day’ is ‘light’, the same light that the life and living of all living beings depends on it. If there were not the sunlight, neither would a tree grow, nor could a flower smile, nor might a bird fly, nor would exist a human being, nor would it rain a drop of rain.