Ar-Rahman · Madani · ayah 17 of 78

Ar-Rahman 55:17

رَبُّ ٱلْمَشْرِقَيْنِ وَرَبُّ ٱلْمَغْرِبَيْنِ

“[He is] Lord of the two sunrises and Lord of the two sunsets.[1595]”

Saheeh International

Essence

The sun never rises from the same place twice; it swings between two farthest points, summer and winter, and both ends have one Lord.

A reflection

Lord of both ends of the sky

A global firm describes itself on its website as the company that never sleeps. It has offices in every time zone, so that somewhere it is always morning on its watch. The boast is that the sun never sets on its business.

This ayah claims the sun's whole range in a handful of words. Lord of the two easts and Lord of the two wests. The commentaries explain: the point where the sun rises in deepest winter, and the point where it rises at the height of summer. Likewise for its setting. One major commentary asks why only the two extremes are named, when every day has its own sunrise. Its answer is that naming the two ends takes in everything between them. It is like saying of a great king that the east and the west are his; everyone understands the lands between are his too.

Set the firm's boast beneath that. Its morning is borrowed from a sun whose every rising point, from winter's farthest to summer's farthest, belongs to Someone else. The company does not own the time zones. It rents a slice of a day it did not make.

Pride in reach is among the commonest kinds of pride. Our network, our market, our influence across the globe. The ayah does not deny human reach. It places it, small and borrowed, inside a Lordship whose two ends are the two ends of the sky.

Notice, too, that the word Lord is said twice: Lord of the two easts, and Lord of the two wests. One claim for each end. He gains nothing by the claim (35:15). The creature gains a cure for the illusion of empire.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.