An-Naba · Makki · ayah 37 of 40

An-Naba 78:37

رَّبِّ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ۖ لَا يَمْلِكُونَ مِنْهُ خِطَابًا

“[From] the Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them, the Most Merciful. They possess not from Him [authority for] speech.[1829]”

Saheeh International

Essence

The Lord of everything, and of everything in between, is the Most Merciful, and before Him no one owns a single word.

A reflection

Waiting to be called

During Prime Minister's Questions, a backbench MP stands up eleven times in one session, hoping to catch the Speaker's eye. Each time he sits down again. He has a question prepared and a constituent's story folded in his pocket. He has every right to be in the room. What he does not have is the floor. Until his name is called, he cannot say a word.

The ayah ends: lā yamlikūna minhu khiṭābā. Word for word, they do not own from Him an address. One commentator explains that no one is able even to begin speaking to Him except with His leave. He links it to two other ayat. Who could intercede with Him except by His permission (2:255)? No soul will speak except by His leave (11:105). An early scholar says the one who addresses here means one who argues a case. Another commentator notes that the verb 'own' is chosen with care. No one holds a single word of His judgement in their own hand, to add to a reward or take from a punishment.

We are creatures who love the floor. We interrupt. We want the last word. We demand explanations, and assume our view deserves airtime. The ego quietly believes it is owed a hearing. This ayah shows a Day when the most eloquent and the most powerful stand in silence. Even the angels, nearest to Him and most obedient, speak only when permitted (78:38). One commentator draws the conclusion: if they cannot speak, what of everyone else?

Is this the language of a tyrant who enjoys silencing others? Does Allah need His creatures cowed? Look at the name placed just before the silence: al-Raḥmān, the Most Merciful. One commentator describes Him here as the One whose mercy encompasses everything. And in a hadith qudsi, Allah says: you will never be able to harm Me, nor benefit Me (Sahih Muslim). If every human and jinn had the heart of the most mindful among them, it would add nothing to His dominion. He gains nothing from our silence. The silence is simply what truth looks like when the real scale of things can finally be seen.

The MP must wait for his name. We, today, do not. 'Call on Me, and I will answer you' (40:60). The floor is open now, and it will not always be.

The full entry has 4 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.