al-Raḥmān

يَسْألُهُ مَن فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأرْضِ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ هُوَ فِي شَأنٍ

فَبِأيِّ آلَآء رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ

29. Whosoever is in the heavens and on earth begs Him to meet his demands. Every day He is in some affair.

30. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both [jinn and men] deny?

Invocation may be expressed through verbal or non-verbal language. Man is in need of God Almighty at all times, whether he invokes him to meet his demands or he fails to do likewise. The point is that God Almighty is in the process of creation at all times and each and every day He plans something anew and his meeting the demands of the needy and those who invoke him to meet their needs is likewise. One day He bestows might upon some people and the other day he ruins them owing to their disobedience and committing sins.

One day He bestows health and youth and the other day He inflicts weakness upon certain people. One day He removes grieves and sorrows from hearts and the another day He causes certain people to feel grief and sorrow. In short, He creates something anew according to His Wisdom and the best order. Attending to this truth clarifies our constant need for His Pre Essence on the one hand and removes the veils of disappointment, desperation, neglect, and vanity from hearts on the other.

"Every day, He is in some affair."

It is narrated from the Commander of the Faithful, Imam ‘Ali (as) that in one of his sermons he said:

"Praise and eulogy belong to God Almighty Who shall never die, nor shall end the wonders of His creation, since He is in some affair each and every day creating something new from nothing." ²³

According to a tradition narrated from the Noble Prophet of Islam (S) regarding the exegesis of the blessed Verse in question, God Almighty's affair include absolving people of their sins, removing their pains and sorrows, causing certain people to have a more exalted state, and denigrating some others.²⁴ It is also worthy of note that the Arabic word yawm employed herein is the opposite of "night," since its semantic range encompasses a long period of time and also hours and seconds, connoting that God Almighty is in some affair at any time. The blessed Verse 30, following an account of the constant Blessings and meeting the demands of all creatures including those of the heavens and the earth asks the rhetorical question:

"Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both [jinn and men] deny?"

Footnotes

1. 23. Usul Kafi; Tafsir Nur al-Thiqalayn, Tafsir Burhan, Majma‘ al-Bayan, under the blessed Verse in question.
2. 24. Majma‘ al-Bayan, under the blessed Verse in question; Ruh al-Ma‘ani; Bukhari's Sahih.