Al-Anbya · Makki · ayah 105 of 112

Al-Anbya 21:105

وَلَقَدْ كَتَبْنَا فِى ٱلزَّبُورِ مِنۢ بَعْدِ ٱلذِّكْرِ أَنَّ ٱلْأَرْضَ يَرِثُهَا عِبَادِىَ ٱلصَّـٰلِحُونَ

“And We have already written in the book [of Psalms][909] after the [previous] mention[910] that the land [of Paradise] is inherited by My righteous servants.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Allah wrote it first in the Mother Book, then in the revealed scriptures: the earth will be inherited by His righteous servants.

A reflection

Every owner is a tenant

Yarithuhā: they will inherit it. Inheritance is a strange word to use of the earth. You only inherit what someone else held before you. The lexicons picture the root this way: what was one people's passes into other hands, and the One who outlasts every owner inherits all.

The ayah quietly reminds every human owner what they are. Not owners. Tenants between inheritances.

The commentators link it to the words of Musa to his people: 'The earth belongs to Allah. He gives it as an inheritance to whom He wills of His servants, and the final outcome is for the mindful' (7:128). Allah does not inherit the earth from anyone. He gives it, and takes it back, and gives it again.

And notice the possessive in ʿibādiya, My servants. Allah does not say 'the righteous people'. He says 'My servants who are righteous'. The heirs are named by whose they are.

Picture a visitor walking through the long gallery of a country house now run by a heritage trust. On the walls hang the portraits of twelve generations of the family that owned it: proud men on horseback, women in silk, children with spaniels. Each was certain the house was theirs. At the end of the gallery a volunteer in a fleece sells tea towels. None of the twelve owns a single brick now.

The ego says 'mine' about land, houses, firms and reputations. This ayah says that every 'mine' is a lease. The only lasting title belongs to Allah, and He passes the earth to those who are His. He needs none of it. The question is not how much you hold, but whose you are.

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.