Ali 'Imran · Madani · ayah 26 of 200

Ali 'Imran 3:26

قُلِ ٱللَّهُمَّ مَـٰلِكَ ٱلْمُلْكِ تُؤْتِى ٱلْمُلْكَ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتَنزِعُ ٱلْمُلْكَ مِمَّن تَشَآءُ وَتُعِزُّ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتُذِلُّ مَن تَشَآءُ ۖ بِيَدِكَ ٱلْخَيْرُ ۖ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

“Say, "O Allāh, Owner of Sovereignty, You give sovereignty to whom You will and You take sovereignty away from whom You will. You honor whom You will and You humble whom You will. In Your hand[121] is [all] good. Indeed, You are over all things competent.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Every crown, title and corner office is on loan from the Owner of all sovereignty, and all the good is in His hand.

A reflection

The name on the glass doors

On a Friday evening, two workmen unscrew a chief executive's name from the glass doors of the headquarters he built. He was removed by the board that afternoon. By Monday morning a new name is up, in the same font. The receptionist says good morning to it.

Qul allāhumma mālika al-mulk: say, O Allah, Owner of all sovereignty. The root pictured having a thing in your grip: to own it, to rule it, to hold it in your power. Every human grip loosens. One classical commentary sums up the ayah. You are the Giver and the Withholder. Whatever You will happens, and whatever You do not will does not.

Then the verbs. Tuʾtī al-mulka man tashāʾ, You give dominion to whom You will. Wa tanziʿu al-mulka mimman tashāʾ, and You pull it away from whom You will. The Arabs used nazaʿa for an archer drawing back his string as far as it goes. They used it for a bucket hauled up a well, and for a life drawn out of the dying. Power does not simply end. It is pulled.

Now consider everything the ego is built on: the title, the corner office, the family name, the platform, the reputation in the community. Each one is mulk in miniature, and each is on loan. Pride is the forgetting of the loan. The person who keeps saying this ayah cannot keep forgetting.

Why would Allah praise Himself as the Owner of sovereignty? Does He need our acknowledgement? Our praise adds nothing to Him; 'Allah is free of need, praiseworthy' (14:8). It is said for our sake. It frees the powerful from arrogance and the powerless from despair, at the same time.

Say it once today about something you hold: this too is Yours, given and able to be pulled.

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.