Commentary
And when this was, it may have misled that whoever strayed in this state is not in His grasp. Nafi clarified this ambiguity, indicating that He has the most beautiful names and their implications in the world, as in the phrase 'and the state is that He has.' Or it is an addition to what you estimate: 'To Allah belongs whoever is in the heavens and whoever is in the earth.' ﴿And to Allah﴾ means the greatest King alone ﴿is what is in the heavens﴾ of beings and meanings, which includes the heavens and the earths. For every heaven is in the one that follows it, and the earth is in the heaven ﴿and what is in the earth﴾, and likewise the earths, and all are in the Throne, and He is the Lord of the mighty Throne.
And when He ﷺ commanded him to turn away from them and consoled him, informing him that all is in His dominion, for if He willed, He would have guided them and removed the dispute. However, He has in that wisdoms that bewilder the minds. He explained the turning away as previously mentioned in Al-Jathiya in His saying: ﴿Say to those who have believed, to forgive﴾ [Al-Jathiya: 14] by His saying: ﴿So that He may reward﴾ [Al-Jathiya: 14], meaning He will punish, He glorified and exalted is He, enough for you what has concerned you of that. And it is permissible that the estimation is: And as He, glorified and exalted is He, is the owner of that, He is its King to judge with the recompense of everyone according to what they deserve. For indeed, the judgment is the result of ownership. ﴿Those who have done wrong﴾ by straying ﴿for what they have done﴾, meaning because of it and according to it, either through your means and with your swords and the swords of your followers if I permit you in fighting, or otherwise by death, struck by the angels on their faces and their backs, then by the punishment of the Hereafter for all their sins without anything being hastened for them in this world that diminishes because of it the punishment of the Hereafter. ﴿And He will reward﴾, meaning He will establish and honor ﴿those who have done good﴾, meaning for their steadfastness in the religion and their patience upon it and upon the harm from their enemies ﴿with the best﴾ (p-67), meaning the steadfastness that is of the utmost goodness, for after it there is no greater. Indeed, the best is the feminine form of the best.
Explore Other Scholars on This Verse
Compare different scholarly perspectives on Surah An-Najm verse 31