At-Tur · Makki · ayah 35 of 49

At-Tur 52:35

أَمْ خُلِقُوا۟ مِنْ غَيْرِ شَىْءٍ أَمْ هُمُ ٱلْخَـٰلِقُونَ

“Or were they created by nothing, or were they the creators [of themselves]?”

Saheeh International

Essence

No third escape: nothing could have made you, and you could not make yourself, so Someone made you, and you answer to Him.

A reflection

Not one hair of your own making

The second question in this ayah is almost comic once you hear it plainly. Am hum al-khāliqūn: or are they the creators? Did they make themselves?

A scholar of the inner life answered it with a list that leaves no room for pride. A person cannot add a single hour to his life after he exists, though he takes every means to live. He cannot add a finger, or a fingernail, or one hair. How then could he have created himself while he did not yet exist?

The root of khalaqa deepens the point. The lexicons picture a leatherworker with a hide spread before him. Before a single cut, he measures it: this much for a water-skin, this much for a sandal. That measuring is khalq. Creating is making to a measure. Every person was measured before they were made: height, voice, the shape of a hand.

Picture a man at the passport office filling in a form. Date of birth. Place of birth. Mother's name. Father's name. Eye colour. He fills in every box quickly, without thinking. Then it strikes him. Not one of the first answers was his decision. He did not choose the day, the town, the parents or the eyes. The most basic facts about him were written before he could hold a pen.

That is where the ego has to bow. Much of modern life tells a person that he is self-made, that his worth is his achievement. This ayah asks a quieter question. What part of you did you make? The answer is none of the foundation, and very little of what stands on it.

This is not humiliation. It is relief. The weight of having to be your own origin is lifted. Someone measured you before you were, and made you to that measure. You can stop pretending to be the author of yourself, and begin to ask what the Author intended.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.