Ghafir · Makki · ayah 62 of 85

Ghafir 40:62

ذَٰلِكُمُ ٱللَّهُ رَبُّكُمْ خَـٰلِقُ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ لَّآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ فَأَنَّىٰ تُؤْفَكُونَ

“That is Allāh, your Lord, Creator of all things; there is no deity except Him, so how are you deluded?”

Saheeh International

Essence

The Giver of night and day is Allah, your Lord, Creator of every thing, with no god but Him; so how are you being turned away?

A reflection

That One is your Lord

Dhālikumu allāhu rabbukum. That is Allah, your Lord.

The word dhālikum, that one, points back. A classical rhetorical commentary explains: the One who is known and set apart by the acts just described, which no one shares with Him. The night that brings rest. The day that brings sight. The One who did those is the One named now.

Then the names come in a row. Allah. Your Lord. Creator of every thing. No god but Him. The commentaries call these consecutive predicates. Each narrows and strengthens the one before. He combines divinity, lordship, the creation of every thing and oneness. Nothing is beyond Him, and He has no second.

That phrase, khāliqu kulli shayʾ, Creator of every thing, is meant to sit heavily on the ego. Every thing includes the hands we work with, the minds we are proud of, and the breath we use to boast.

An entomologist describes a new species of beetle and gives it her own surname. The paper is published, the name is fixed. Colleagues congratulate her. Late that night she looks at the specimen under the lamp. It had been crawling through the same forest for a very long time before anyone noticed it. She had named it. Someone else had made it.

Is this a God listing His own titles, hungry for acknowledgement? Read what comes after the titles. Not a demand for praise, but a question asked for our sake: so how are you being turned away? The names are given because the listeners were worshipping things that could make nothing. A narration-based commentary contrasts Him with what neither benefits nor harms, neither creates nor provides.

The titles are not decoration. They are the answer to the most practical question there is. Whom should I turn to? The One who made every thing, including you.

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.