فَلَآ أُقْسِمُ بِمَا تُبْصِرُونَ 38
Translations
So I swear by what you see
Transliteration
Fa-lā uqsimu bimā tubṣirūn
Tafsir (Explanation)
Allah swears by all visible creation—the heavens, earth, and everything perceptible to human sight—emphasizing the certainty and reality of the Day of Judgment that follows in the subsequent ayahs. Classical scholars like Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari interpret this oath as a divine affirmation that just as people witness and perceive the physical world with certainty, so too will the resurrection and divine judgment occur with absolute reality. The oath serves to strengthen conviction in the Hereafter by connecting it to observable, undeniable phenomena.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears in Surah Al-Haqqah (The Reality), a Meccan surah that emphasizes the certainty of the Day of Judgment and the reality of resurrection. It comes within a passage where Allah is reinforcing the absolute truth of resurrection through powerful oaths, responding to those who denied or doubted the afterlife during the Meccan period of revelation.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said regarding oaths by creation: 'Whoever swears by something other than Allah has committed disbelief or polytheism' (Sunan Abu Dawud 3251). While this ayah shows Allah swearing, it illustrates the significance placed on oaths in Islamic tradition and the importance of truthfulness they represent.
Themes
Key Lesson
Just as we trust our senses to perceive the visible world around us, we should place equal or greater certainty in the metaphysical truths revealed by Allah regarding the afterlife and divine judgment. This ayah teaches that faith in the unseen should be grounded in rational reflection upon the visible signs of Allah's power and wisdom.