Az-Zumar · Makki · ayah 63 of 75

Az-Zumar 39:63

لَّهُۥ مَقَالِيدُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۗ وَٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ بِـَٔايَـٰتِ ٱللَّهِ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْخَـٰسِرُونَ

“To Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth. And they who disbelieve in the verses of Allāh - it is those who are the losers.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The keys of the heavens and the earth are in Allah's hand alone, and whoever rejects His signs has lost the very capital of life.

A reflection

The man with two hundred keys

Lahu maqālīdu al-samāwāti wa-l-arḍ: His are the keys of the heavens and the earth. Several early commentators explained maqālīd simply as keys. Another explained it as treasuries. One commentary gives the sense of both. The reins of every affair are in His hand.

Keys are a quiet symbol of power. Whoever holds the key decides who enters and what comes out. That is why people love them.

Picture the facilities manager of a large office building. On his belt hangs a ring of two hundred keys, and a lanyard with the master code. Every room, every cupboard, every plant room answers to him. Directors ask him for access. He enjoys it, a little. One evening he gets home and realises he has locked his own front door with his house key inside. He sits on the step, two hundred keys on his belt, unable to open the one door that matters to him.

Human keys are always like that. They open some doors and not others, for a while and not for ever. The ayah speaks of a different order of key altogether. The keys of rain, provision and life. The keys of the heavens and the earth, held by one Hand.

That should shrink our pride in the small doors we control. No title, budget or password makes anyone a key-holder in the ayah's sense.

A sceptic might ask whether a God who announces that He holds every key is guarding His prestige. But think of what follows. If He holds every key, then no one else can lock you out of what He has decided to open for you. The declaration is not a boast. For the one who trusts Him, it is a guarantee.

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.