Taha · Makki · ayah 5 of 135

Taha 20:5

ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنُ عَلَى ٱلْعَرْشِ ٱسْتَوَىٰ

“The Most Merciful [who is] above the Throne established.[832]”

Saheeh International

Essence

Over the Throne of all dominion is the One whose name is mercy, so the highest seat in existence is governed by the Most Merciful.

A reflection

The name on the highest seat

Of all the names Allah could have placed beside His Throne here, He chose al-Raḥmān: the Most Merciful. Not the Overpowering, not the Avenger. The highest seat in existence is introduced by the name of mercy.

Al-Bukhari records a hadith that reads almost as a commentary on this. When Allah completed creation, He wrote in a book that is with Him above His Throne: My mercy outstrips My anger. The sentence written over the Throne is a sentence about mercy.

Think about what thrones usually mean in human hands. A throne is where power sits, and power tends to grow hard. The Arabs knew the ʿarsh as a king's seat, and they knew kings. Every small throne we sit on is the same. The head of a family. A desk with a nameplate. A seat on a committee. A position with a password. We start to feel the chair is ours, and that people should be grateful we are in it.

This ayah humbles all of that. The only seat that is truly above everything is held by the One whose first name here is mercy. If the Lord of the Throne does not rule by harshness, what excuse has a manager, a parent, an imam or a teacher?

A fair question follows. Why does Allah describe Himself in such exalted terms? Is it a need for praise? The surah has already given the answer: these ayat exist to magnify the Sender so that the reader takes His message seriously. And the content of the magnifying is mercy. He gains nothing from our acknowledging it. We gain everything from trusting it.

The next time you sit in any seat of authority, however small, remember the name written over the greatest one. Let your chair be governed by mercy too.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.