Al-An'am · Makki · ayah 12 of 165

Al-An'am 6:12

قُل لِّمَن مَّا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ قُل لِّلَّهِ ۚ كَتَبَ عَلَىٰ نَفْسِهِ ٱلرَّحْمَةَ ۚ لَيَجْمَعَنَّكُمْ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ ۚ ٱلَّذِينَ خَسِرُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَهُمْ فَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ

“Say, "To whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and earth?" Say, "To Allāh." He has decreed upon Himself mercy. He will surely assemble you for the Day of Resurrection, about which there is no doubt. Those who will lose themselves [that Day] do not believe.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The Owner of everything asks who owns it, answers the question Himself, and then tells you what He has written upon Himself: mercy.

A reflection

Sixty-two years left on the lease

A couple buy their first flat and celebrate on the bare floor of the living room. Twenty years later they try to sell. The solicitor points to a line they skimmed at the start. The flat is leasehold. Sixty-two years remain, and then it returns to someone they have never met. They had owned a long rental agreement all along.

The ayah opens with a question of the same kind, asked of everything at once. Who owns whatever is in the heavens and the earth? Before anyone can reply, the Prophet ﷺ is told to answer it himself: 'Say: to Allah'. The commentaries explain why. A questioner answers his own question only when the answer is so plain that nobody can push it away. The people being asked already granted it. Elsewhere they are quoted saying that Allah created the heavens and the earth (31:25).

So the question is not a request for information. It is a mirror held up to the ego. We speak of my house, my career, my body, my children. Every one of them comes with a term written somewhere we did not read. Pride is the habit of forgetting the term. It treats a lease as a freehold, and is outraged when the date arrives.

Now notice what comes straight after the answer. Not a threat. The Owner of everything says: 'He has written mercy upon Himself.' The commentaries observe the order. His complete power is stated first, and His complete mercy is joined to it at once.

Someone may ask why God declares that everything is His. Does He need us to admit it? He needs nothing. A few lines later He is described as the One who feeds and is not fed (6:14). The declaration is for us. Only an owner can promise anything about what he owns. A tenant's kindness is limited by his lease. The One who holds the freehold of the heavens and the earth has bound Himself, in writing, to mercy. The humble are the ones who can finally lean on that.

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.