In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

And We sent down iron, in which is [material for] mighty war, as well as many benefits for mankind.¹

[A brief reply to a question about the above verse, which has gained great importance, and with which a person of standing who had knowledge of modern science silenced a number of hojas.]

Q u e s t i o n : It is normally said that “Iron is mined from the earth,” so why is it said in this verse “We sent down” or “revealed” rather than “We excavated or extracted;” this appears to be inappropriate?

T h e A n s w e r : Through the phrase “We sent down”, the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition recalls the vast and important bounty in iron. For it does not consider iron only for itself so that it should say “extracted,” it rather recalls the tremendous Divine bounty in iron and how needy mankind is for it. Its aspect of being a bounty does not come upwards from below, but down from the treasury of mercy. The treasury of mercy is certainly elevated, above, and at a high level, so the bounty descends from above; and needy mankind’s level is surely below. The bestowal of bounty is superior to need, so the correct way to express the fact that bounty comes from the treasury of mercy to assist mankind’s need is “We sent down;” it is not “We extracted.”

Also, since the gradual extraction of iron is at man’s hand, the word “extract” does not alert a heedless person to its aspects of bounty. If what is meant is iron’s material substance, it is extracted in respect to its physical situation. But iron’s quality of being a “bounty,” which is the intended meaning here, is immaterial. This meaning looks not to physical situation, but to immaterial degree or level. Bounties proceeding from the treasury of mercy, which is a manifestation of the infinitely elevated degree of the Most Merciful, are certainly sent down from the highest level to the lowest. Thus, the correct expression is “We sent down:” it recalls to mankind that iron is one of the greatest of Divine bounties.

Yes, the source of all mankind’s industries, and of its advancement and progress, and the means of its power and strength, is iron. So in order to call to mind this tremendous bounty and bestowal of favour, in lofty style the Qur’an states:

And We sent down iron, in which is [material for] mighty war, as well as many benefits for mankind.

In the same way that it declares about David’s important miracle:

And We made the iron soft for him.²

That is to say, it points out the softening of iron, a great miracle and great bounty for a great prophet.

Secondly: “Above” and “below” are relative. They are above and below in relation to the earth’s centre. In fact, something which is below in relation to us is above from the point of view of the American continent. This means the situation of substances coming from the earth’s centre to its surface changes according to the position of people on the surface.

With the tongue of miraculousness, the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition states that iron contains so many benefits and such broad uses that it is not some common substance to be extracted from the store of the globe, and that it is not some natural substance to be used to meet any chance need. Rather, in order to express iron’s general uses it states that it is a bounty stored up by the Creator of the Universe in the treasury of mercy and huge workshop of the universe which He sent down through His majestic title of Sustainer of the Heavens and Earth to meet the needs of the earth’s inhabitants. It is as if, like rain, heat, and light, which descend from the skies, it contains such all-embracing benefits that it was sent from the workshop of the universe, not from the narrow store of the earth. It was sent having been prepared in the great treasury of mercy in the palace of the universe, and situated in the store of the globe, from which it is extracted little by little over the centuries in proportion to need.

The Qur’an of Mighty Stature does not want to express the iron which is extracted bit by bit from this small store only as being “utilized,” but as being sent down together with the globe of the earth from the Supreme Treasury, as a tremendous bounty. That is to say, the thing most necessary for the house of the earth is iron, for when the All-Glorious Creator separated the earth from the sun and sent it down for mankind, He sent down iron together with it, and met most of mankind’s needs with it. The All-Wise Qur’an decrees in miraculous fashion: “Use this iron in your works and try to excavate it and take advantage of it.”

The verse describes two bounties; both the repulsion of enemies, and the attraction of benefits. Iron was put to important human uses before the revelation of the Qur’an, but with the phrase,

in which is [material for] mighty war³

it points out that in the future, being used for travelling through the sea, air, and land, iron would subjugate the globe in wondrous and astonishing fashion, and demonstrate a wondrous death-tainted strength. Thus of its various sorts of miraculousness, it displays a flash of miraculousness predicting the future.

* * *

While discussing the above point, the subject of Solomon’s Hoopoe came up. A persistent questioner from among our brothers⁴ asked: “What is the reason for the Hoopoe describing Almighty God with a relatively insignificant attribute in the sentence, Who brings to light what is hidden in the heavens and the earth,⁵ while there are more significant Divine attributes?

T h e A n s w e r : One aspect of eloquence is to make understood the occupation or craft with which the speaker is mostly employed. Like the nomad diviners who through their intuition wondrously discovered the places where water was to be found in the Arabian Peninsula, as a diviner from among birds and animals, Solomon’s Hoopoe was a blessed bird employed in various duties who also found water for Solomon (Upon whom be peace), so it could be used. It is stating through the measure of its own art that Almighty God proves His fitness to be worshipped and prostrated before by making known the things hidden in the heavens and earth.

Yes, the Hoopoe saw it very well, for the natural inclination of the incalculable numbers of seeds and minerals under the earth is not to emerge upwards from below. Because since such beings lack life and will, they cannot go upwards of their own accord; on their own, they can only tumble downwards. Particularly a body concealed under the heaviness of the earth, it certainly could not shake that heavy load off its shoulders on its own and emerge upwards. It means that it does so through a wondrous power.

The Hoopoe understood through his divining this most hidden and important of the proofs of Divine fitness to be worshipped, so that the All-Wise Qur’an imparted a miraculousness to its statement concerning it.

FOOTNOTES

1. Qur’an, 57:25.

2. Qur’an, 34:10.

3. Qur’an, 57:25

4. This refers to Re’fet, who is diligent in asking questions, but lazy when it comes to writing!

5. Qur’an, 27:25.