Surah Al Mulk Last Verse
Colleen Bramham
الَّذِي خَلَقَ الْمَوْتَ وَالْحَيَاةَ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْغَفُورُ
1. Bountiful is He in Whose Hand is the Sovereignty and He is All-Able to do all things.
2. The Lord who created death and life so that He may test you that which of you is better in deed. And He is the Omnipotent, the Oft-Forgiving.
The blessed Chapter opens with the significant issue of Divine Ownership, Sovereignty, and His Everlasting Pure Essence which serves as the key to all the discussions raised in the Chapter wherein it is said that He is Bountiful and Everlasting. He is the One in Whose Hand is the Sovereignty of the world of existence and He is Omnipotent.
The blessed Verse 1 is indicative of the Bountifulness of Divine Pure Essence, namely His Ownership and Sovereignty in the world of existence and His Omnipotence as the Everlasting and Bountiful Existent Being.
In other words, His Omnipotence, Majesty, and Infinite Might leave no room for any hopelessness, defect, and limit in the Omnipotence of the Absolute Mighty and Eternal Existent Being. His All-Mightiness in Infinite, His Knowledge encompasses all beings, His Omnipotence is Boundless, and the Emanation of His Existence embraces all creatures.
All intellectually possible existent beings, souls, essences of matter, and natural phenomena take their fill of the Infinite Ocean of Divine Emanation and are thereby existent and are dominated by His Existential Command. They all conspire to constitute such luxurious palace of the universe. It is through His Will that man comes into existence.
Death employed in the sense of non-existence is not created, since Creation concerns existential matters, though we know that death is truly transference from one world to another and in this sense, it is an existential matter which may be created. The precedence of death over life herein is owing to the profound impression made by according attention to death in performing good deeds. Besides, death temporally precedes life.
The blessed Verse also treats of the Divine Trial that as mentioned above is a kind of fostering such that it makes man enter the arena of action and thereby makes them experienced and pure deserving Divine Proximity.
Further treatment of the topic is to be found under 2:155. It is worthy of note that the goal behind trial is mentioned as performing good deeds rather than the quantity of such deeds. Deeds are supposed to be performed sincerely for the sake of God Almighty even if they happen to be few in terms of quantity.
It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (as) as saying that the blessed Verse is indicative of proper acts which are accompanied by worshipping God Almighty and having pure intentions. He further says that preservation of deeds from impurities is harder than performing deeds and sincerely performed righteous good deeds are those whose agent does not expect praise from anyone besides God Almighty. 3
Thus, the world is the arena of a great trial for all mankind. Death and life are the means of the trial and the goal behind it is to achieve performing good righteous deeds which are indicative of the development of inward knowledge, sincerity of intentions, and performing any kind of good righteous deeds.
herein connote remembrance of death or preparation for death and the like. In fact they refer to different implications of the general sense of the word. Since man commits numerous mistakes in such great arena of trial, he should not despair of having committed such mistakes and thereby refrain from striving toward his spiritual growth.
The blessed Verse closes with the Divine Promise of Support and Forgiving of sins, saying that God Almighty is Invincible and Oft-Forgiving. He is the Omnipotent Lord Who forgives all repenting believers and His Might and Majesty is accompanied by Mercy and Compassion.
الَّذِي خَلَقَ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ طِبَاقًا ۖ مَّا تَرَىٰ فِي خَلْقِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ مِن تَفَاوُتٍ ۖ فَارْجِعِ الْبَصَرَ هَلْ تَرَىٰ مِن فُطُورٍ
3. Who has created the seven heavens one above another and you can see no flaw in the Creation of the Most Gracious. Then, behold again: "Can you see any rifts?"
4. Then, behold time and again. Your sight will return to you in a state of humbleness and exhaustion.
The system of Creation is based on Divine Mercy. It is the best system of Creation into which neither defect nor flaw may find its way. Knowing God Almighty should be based on observation and exactitude so that many may strengthen his belief in Divine Omnipotence and the Majesty of the world of existence.
Thus, the blessed Verses in question treat of the universal system of Creation encouraging man to study the organic system of the world of existence so that he may prepare himself for the great trial, saying that the Lord created the seven heavens one above another. The seven heavens were briefly treated above under 65:12:
The Arabic nominal form tibaqan ("in layers, one on top of the other") reflects that the seven heavens are above on another and the cognate verbal noun mutabiqa literally denotes being placed on top of another.
Now, if we take the seven heavens a reference to the seven planets of the solar system, visible to the naked eye, having their fixed distance from the sun and one is above another. If we regard all the stars and planets visible to the unarmed eye as belonging to the first heaven, it may be said that other worlds exist in higher heavens that one is above another.
The blessed Verse proceeds to say that man may find neither contradiction nor defect nor flaw in the Creation of the Most Gracious Lord. Despite all its greatness, the world of creation is based on systematicity, consistency, well-measured constituents, and precise laws such that had any disorder found its way into the world of creation, it would have caused its destruction.
The marvelous systematicity prevailing amongst atoms and their constituent elements, i.e. protons, neutrons, and electrons, and in the entirety of the solar system and other systems and galaxies reflect precise laws that make them proceed on specific courses. At any rate, laws, system, and well-measured plans are to found everywhere.
The blessed Verse closes with further emphasis, urging man to behold once more and observe the world further attentively to find out that there is neither flaw, nor defect, nor inconsistency in the system of the world of creation.
The Arabic nominal form futur literally means splitting lengthwise, though it also connotes breaking the fast, inconsistency, and corruption and the last sense is intended herein. The blessed Verse is saying that no matter how attentively man studies the world of Creation, he may not find the least defect or disharmony in it.
2. The more man exercises attentiveness and precision, the more he may perceive the systematicity and total flawlessness. Many a phenomena, e.g. earthquakes, floods, ailments, and other afflictions, appear as blights and blemishes at the first glance, but further studies reveal that there are significant and precise causes behind them.
وَلَقَدْ زَيَّنَّا السَّمَاءَ الدُّنْيَا بِمَصَابِيحَ وَجَعَلْنَاهَا رُجُومًا لِّلشَّيَاطِينِ ۖ وَأَعْتَدْنَا لَهُمْ عَذَابَ السَّعِيرِ
Treating of the sky, the blessed Verse makes mention of brilliant and beauteous stars, saying that God Almighty has adorned the nearest heaven with brilliant lamps and has placed arrows in them to drive away the devils and has prepared for them the torment of Hellfire.
A glance at the dark but starry night and being attentive toward the remote dream-like worlds and reflection upon the systematicity and organicism prevailing in them and meditation on the beauty, delicacy, majesty, and the mysterious and awe-inspiring silence casting its shadow on them admits man to a world brimming with the knowledge and light of Truth and thereby lead him to reflect upon the profundity of the worlds created by God Almighty whose depiction is beyond the reach of expression.
The Arabic plural noun shuhub alludes to the remnants of shattered stars. Thus, the blessed Verse is saying that God Almighty has made stars like arrows driving away the devils. The manner of shooting such arrows, namely the shooting stars, which are wandering in the heavens is treated in details above under 15:18 and 37:20.
It is common knowledge that the earth, despite its colossal size is too small compared to the sun as the focal point of the solar system such that the size of the sun is equal to one million and two hundred planets the size of the earth. On the other hand, our solar system is merely one constituent element of an immense galaxy referred to as the Milky Way.4
Furthermore, the galaxies in the cosmos are innumerable and as soon as astronomical telescopes get further sophisticated, further galaxies are being discovered. How Exalted is the Lord Who has created such colossal and well-measured plan. Greatness belongs to Allah, the One, the All-Mighty.
تَكَادُ تَمَيَّزُ مِنَ الْغَيْظِ ۖ كُلَّمَا أُلْقِيَ فِيهَا فَوْجٌ سَأَلَهُمْ خَزَنَتُهَا أَلَمْ يَأْتِكُمْ نَذِيرٌ
6. And for those who disbelieve in their Lord is the torment of Hell and worst indeed is that abode.
7. When they are cast therein, they hear a horrible sound out of it while they are perpetually boiled in it.
8. It almost bursts up with fury. Every time a group is cast therein, the keepers of the Hell will ask them: "Did no warner come unto you?"
Since the preceding Verses treated of the Signs of Divine Majesty and Omnipotence and their reflections in the world of Creation, the blessed Verses in question deal with those who neglect such Signs and tread the path of disbelief and polytheism and like the devils deserve Divine torment. The blessed Verse 6 is saying that torment in the Hell is in store for those who disbelieved in their Lord and Hell is the worst abode for them.
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