An-Naml · Makki · ayah 26 of 93

An-Naml 27:26

ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ رَبُّ ٱلْعَرْشِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ ۩

“Allāh - there is no deity except Him, Lord of the Great Throne."”

Saheeh International

Essence

The report on a queen's great throne ends with the only Great Throne, and with its Lord, beside whom there is no god.

A reflection

Even the greatest created thing has a Lord

In a national museum, an ornate royal throne sits behind a red rope. Schoolchildren file past. A small card gives its maker, its date and its last owner. Its kingdom is gone. Someone with a soft brush dusts it every Tuesday.

The ayah does not praise Allah as the One who sits on the greatest throne, as though the Throne made Him great. It calls Him rabb al-ʿarsh, its Lord. The Throne is owned, upheld and governed, like everything else He made.

A narration-based commentary says there is nothing in creation greater than the Throne. A theological commentary draws out the logic of the ayah. The one before it showed that the heavens and the earth need a manager. This one adds that even the greatest of all created things is made and under lordship. So His power and lordship reach a height nothing can pass.

Now let the ego feel its size. The largest thing in creation is a servant. What, then, is a corner office, a title, a large following or a house on the best street? Each of these is propped on things we did not make. Each will one day sit behind a rope with a small card, or be forgotten altogether.

The proud person treats his small seat as if it held him up. The ayah turns the picture over. Nothing holds Allah up. He holds up the Throne, and the heavens, and the one reading this. One lexicon says people know the Throne only by its name; its reality is beyond them. If the servant is beyond us, the Lord of it is beyond every measure.

That is not a reason to feel crushed. It is a reason to feel held. Admire what you must, enjoy what you are given, and keep your head level. Only One is Lord of every throne, and He never passes into someone else's collection.

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.