Chapter 2: Surat Al-Baqarah (The Cow), verses 26-29


Translation:

God does not hesitate to give parables about gnats or even smaller creatures. Those who believe know that it is the truth from their Lord, but those who disbelieve ask: ‘What could God mean by this parable?’ By it God misleads many and enlightens many. But He misleads none except the evil-doers, who break His covenant after accepting it, and sever what He has bidden to be joined and make mischief in the land. These are the losers. How can you deny God? Did he not give you life when you were dead, and will He not cause you to die and then restore you to life? Will you not return to Him at last? He created for you all that the earth contains; then, turning to the sky, fashioned it into seven heavens. He has knowledge of all things.

Tafsir (Commentary):

Man’s first duty to God is to be true to the covenant made between the Creator and His creatures at the beginning of the world, namely, that man should remain God’s servant. Then, his conduct towards his fellow man should be such that all the ties that God wishes may be consolidated. Thirdly, when God appoints some mortal to preach His word, man should not turn others away from the chosen one’s preaching by inventing groundless arguments against it. The message of truth seeks to harmonize man with his own nature: those who prevent others from receiving it are guilty of making ‘mischief in the land’.

God has created man from nothing. This is a favour great enough to make man humble himself before God. But God has not just created man and left him to his own devices: He has given him an earth made in perfect accord with him. Yet, all God’s beneficence notwithstanding, man is constantly living under peril of death: and immediately after his demise, he will be brought before the Lord of the Universe to be judged. The knowledge of this should make him devote himself entirely to God; it should make him remember and obey God throughout his life, even remaining God’s humble servant.

When the divine message is so clear and reasonable, why do people not accept it? The chief cause is unwillingness to learn. This manifests itself in various ways: deliberate denigration of God’s message, attempts to belittle it by finding flaws in it, or misrepresenting it as irrational or concerned with mere trivialities. One who is not willing to learn from something does not think seriously about it. When some argument is presented to him, he looks at it superficially and sets about finding some shortcoming in it. But those who are willing to learn take the trouble to give all arguments/serious thought. They do not take long to realize that they are faced with the truth. It does not make any difference to them that the truth has been explained in parables of mere gnats, and other such insignificant creatures.