The Twenty-Eighth Flash

Striving to earn your livelihood in obedience to the Divine command is itself a form of worship. But you have not been created to provide sustenance for My creatures—whose provision I have undertaken, including yourselves, your families, and your animals—as though you were responsible for preparing food and sustenance on My behalf.

For I am the Provider (ar-RazzāqThe Provider; Allah, Who provides sustenance for all creation.). It is I who provide sustenance for My servants under your care. Therefore, do not use the pursuit of livelihood as an excuse to abandon worship.”

If this meaning were not intended, the verse would merely be stating a truth already known to all, for it is perfectly obvious that providing Allah with food or sustenance is impossible.

There is a well-established principle in the science of eloquence (balāghahEloquence; the art of speaking appropriately and effectively according to the circumstances.): when the literal meaning of a statement is already clear and well known, it is not that meaning which is primarily intended. Rather, the intended meaning is something related to it or implied by it.

For example, if you say to someone, “You are a hāfizA person who has memorized the entire Qur’an.,” you are telling him something he already knows. What you really mean is, “I know that you are a hāfizA person who has memorized the entire Qur’an..” Since he is unaware that you know this, you are informing him of your knowledge.

According to this principle, the implied meaning of the verse, which alludes to the impossibility of providing Allah Almighty with sustenance or food, is as follows:

“You were not created to provide sustenance for My creatures, who belong to Me and whose provision I have undertaken. Rather, your primary duty is to worship Me. Striving to earn your livelihood in accordance with My commands is itself a form of worship.”

The Third Aspect

Just as the apparent meaning of the words

لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْHe neither begets nor is begotten.

in Sūrah al-Ikhlās“The Sincerity”; the 112th chapter of the Qur’an, consisting of four verses. It affirms the absolute oneness of Allah, declaring that He is One, self-sufficient, neither begets nor is begotten, and that nothing is comparable to Him. is clear and self-evident, so too do these words convey a further meaning necessarily implied by them.

What is intended is that beings who have parents or children cannot be gods. Thus, the divinity attributed to Isa (as)One of the great prophets and messengers of Allah, born miraculously to Maryam (Mary) without a father and sent to the Children of Israel., Uzayr (as)A righteous figure mentioned in the Qur’an (9:30). He is regarded by some scholars as a prophet and is associated with knowledge of the Torah and devotion to Allah., the angels, the stars, and all other false objects of worship is denied.

Accordingly, the words

لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْHe neither begets nor is begotten.

also convey the truth that Allah is eternal, without beginning or end.

In precisely the same way, the words:

“The All-Glorious Provider, Whom you worship, asks no sustenance of you, nor were you created to feed Him,”

convey a further truth: beings that require sustenance or need to be fed cannot be gods or objects of worship. For those who depend upon sustenance and nourishment are unworthy of worship.