Surah Ar-Rahman Part 6

In the Name of God the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace

Part 6

خلق النسان من صلصال كالفخار 

و خلق الجان من مار جمن نار

فباى آلاء ربكما تكذبن

رب المشرقين و رب المغربين

فباى آلاء ربكما تكذبن

He created Man from clay like the pottery
And He created Jinn from flame of fire
Which of the favours of Your Lord will you deny?
Lord of the two sunrises and the two sunsets.
Which of the favours of Your Lord will you deny?

Remember in Part 1, I asked the question of who did God teach the Qur'an to other than Man?  Also in the refrain فباى آلاء ربكما تكذبن, it is addressed to you in the dual sense (the Lord of you both).  Well, here the mystery is solved when God describes the creation of Man and Jinn.

After the beautiful verses describing the Earth and the Universe, the lens shifts to the creation of the two beings highlighted in this Surah.  These are the two amongst all of God's creation with free will, i.e. they are given the freedom of choice whether to obey or not to obey.  Here God is reminding us and the Jinns of our creations; that we come from 'humble' beginnings.

If in the third verse of this Surah, God said He created Man and taught him al-Bayan (speech/ language/ communication), this verse continues by saying we were created from basically the humble clay which when dry become like fragile pottery and when broken, is basically useless.  So however great we think we are, with all the education, sophistication, powerful and persuasive communication, we are basically being told - remember your humble beginning and that Time is ticking.  Sooner than you think, you will be like that broken pottery.  While we may not know much about the Jinns' creation, I would hazard a guess that there is a similar reminder for them too.

How does this tie back to the rest of theme of this Surah, i.e. that we cannot deny His favours and that it is part of His mercy?  

My late mother used to worry about me being a bit arrogant and proud.  Her deathbed advice to me is "Be humble."  Humility is a virtue that is difficult to maintain the higher up you go and the more you are successful.  You start to think that all the accolades, the success, the things that you own, the respect people give to you as your due.  That you are entitled to them.  You start to forget your origin - you lose sight of yourself, instead you create a construct/image of yourself that does not reflect the reality.

Be humble, have humility - God's reminder of our humble beginnings is exactly the force we need to knock down that construct and take a serious look at ourselves before time runs out.  A reminder from Ar-Rahman because He does not want us to fool ourselves into thinking we are going to get A+ when the results are revealed when we are actually failing miserably.

After that reality check, He then reminds us of His dominion over the two Easts (points of sunrise) and two Wests (points of sunset).  There are many other places where God states that to Him belongs the East and the West.  But I believe that this is the only verse mentioning about two Easts and Wests.  Scholars have slightly varying interpretations but the general consensus is that wherever you turn and look across the horizon, there is God. (In fact there is a verse in Surah al-Baqarah that mentions this very idea by linking the directions with the Face of God.)

What is quite interesting is His choice in describing Himself as Rabb, which means Sustainer.  It implies that the points of rising and setting of the sun (and the moon) are being maintained by Him.  It implies power and at the same time mercy.

Juxtapose that with the reminder of our humble beginnings and the universe that He described earlier, we see a clearer picture of ourselves in relation to everything else.  If that is not a favour, then there is nothing left to say.