Al-Mu'minun · Makki · ayah 88 of 118

Al-Mu'minun 23:88

قُلْ مَنۢ بِيَدِهِۦ مَلَكُوتُ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ وَهُوَ يُجِيرُ وَلَا يُجَارُ عَلَيْهِ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ

“Say, "In whose hand is the realm of all things - and He protects while none can protect against Him - if you should know?"”

Saheeh International

Essence

The final rung: every thing, in one hand, and the only protection that cannot be overruled is His.

A reflection

The treasuries of everything

Deep beneath a financial district, a bullion vault holds the gold of dozens of countries. It sits on plain steel shelves, bar after bar. The nations that own it rarely see it. If they want it moved, they must ask the keepers of the vault.

The ayah reaches the top of its ladder. Who is it in whose hand is the malakūt of every thing? One commentary notes the order of the three questions. First the earth and those in it. Then the seven heavens and the Mighty Throne, beside which the earth is almost nothing. Then, finally, kulli shayʾ: every single thing, the widest word the language has.

Malakūt is an intensive form of mulk, dominion. One concise commentary notes that the extra ending adds emphasis. Another describes it as a dominion from which nothing at all escapes. An early commentator, quoted by a major commentary, glossed it as the treasuries of every thing. Every reserve of every resource, every store of rain, health, time and mercy.

The phrase bi-yadihi, in His hand, appears here as in other ayat. One commentary describes it as a vivid depiction of His complete possession and control. Schools of thought speak differently about how such attributes are understood; the shared sense is that nothing lies outside His grip.

Here the ego meets the end of its inventory. We are proud of our reserves: savings, skills, contacts, health. All of them are bars on a shelf in a vault we do not hold the keys to.

He does not need our acknowledgement. But a person who knows where the treasuries are kept stops worshipping the bars, and starts asking the One who keeps them.

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.