'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Tafsir of Surah Al-Mulk

It is unanimously agreed that it is Meccan. 'And the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, used to recite it every night when he took to his bed,' narrated by a group, raised to Jabir ibn Abdullah from him. It is narrated from him that he said: 'Indeed, it saves from the punishment of the grave and argues on behalf of its guardian until he is not punished.' It is also narrated that in the Torah is Surah Al-Mulk; whoever recites it at night has done well and has been blessed. It is narrated from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'I wish that Surah [Blessed is He in Whose Hand is the Kingdom] were in the heart of every believer.'

His saying, exalted is He:

'Blessed is He in Whose Hand is the Kingdom, and He is over all things competent.' 'Who created death and life to test you which of you is best in deed, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving.' 'Who created seven heavens in layers. You do not see in the creation of the Most Merciful any inconsistency. So return your vision to see if there is any fissure.' 'Then return your vision twice more. Your vision will return to you humbled while it is fatigued.'

'Blessed' is a form of 'tafa'ala,' from 'barakah,' which means an increase in goodness. 'Yatabarak' and 'mutabarak' are not used. And His saying, exalted is He: 'In His Hand is the Kingdom' is an expression of the affirmation of kingship. This is because the hand, in the understanding of humans, is the tool of possession. It is therefore a metaphor for that. And 'the Kingdom' in the absolute sense is that which does not perish and from which nothing is lost. This is the Kingdom of Allah, exalted is He. The intended meaning in this verse is: the King of kings. It is akin to His saying, exalted is He: 'Say, O Allah, Owner of the Kingdom.' [Aali Imran: 26] This was mentioned by Al-Thaalabi from Ibn Abbas. And His saying, exalted is He: 'Over all things competent' is general. The meaning of 'thing' in the language is: that which exists.

'And "death and life" are two meanings that alternate in the body of the living being. One of them rises with the arrival of the other. What has come in the hadith from his saying, blessings and peace be upon him: "Death will be brought on the Day of Resurrection in the form of a white ram, and it will be slaughtered on the bridge," the scholars said: That is a representation of a ram upon which Allah, glorified and exalted is He, places the necessary knowledge for the people of the two abodes. Indeed, it is the death that they feared in this world. This representation will carry death in that it brings about death in it, so its life will depart from it. Then Allah, glorified and exalted is He, will couple the slaughtering of that representation with the annihilation of death. And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿He created death and life to test you﴾, means: to test you in the state of life and to reward you after death. Abu Qatada said - and similarly from Ibn Umar -: "I said, O Messenger of Allah, what is the meaning of His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿to test you which of you is best in deed﴾? He said: "Allah, glorified and exalted is He, says: which of you is best in understanding, and most fearful of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, and best among you in His commands and prohibitions, even if they are the least among you in voluntary acts." Ibn Abbas, Sufyan al-Thawri, and al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan said: which of you is best in deed: the most ascetic of you in this world. And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "to test you" indicates an action, the meaning of which is: He will look or know which of you. A group of the interpreters said: death and life are expressions for this world and the Hereafter. He named this death in that it contains death, and he named that life in that there is no death in it. Thus, he described them with the two sources, assuming the omission of an addition like justice and falsehood. He preceded death in the wording because it is more prominent in the soul in terms of awe and severity. And "opposition" al-Zajjaj said: it is a source, and it is said: it is the plural of 'tabaqah' or the plural of 'tabq' like 'rahbah' and 'rihab' or 'jabal' and 'jibal', and the meaning is: some above others. And Aban ibn Taghlib said: I heard an Arab criticizing a man, saying: His evil is opposition, and his good is not lasting. What some of the interpreters mentioned about the heavens, that some of them are made of gold, silver, rubies, and the like, is all weak and no hadith has been established regarding that, nor does anyone among humans know the reality of this.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "You do not see in the creation of the Most Merciful any inconsistency" means: there is no lack that is appropriate, and no deviation from agreement. The inconsistent matter is that which exceeds the limits that have an increase or decrease. The majority of the reciters read: "any inconsistency," while Hamzah, Al-Kisai, Ibn Mas'ud, Alqamah, Al-Aswad, Ibn Jubair, Talhah, and Al-Amash read: "any inconsistency" and they both have the same meaning. Some scholars said: "in the creation of the Most Merciful" means only the heavens, for it includes the wording, and this is what He meant by His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "Do you see any cracks?" And this is what He meant by His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "Your sight will return to you humbled" in the verse. They said: otherwise, there are cracks in the earth. Others said: "in the creation of the Most Merciful" refers to all that Allah, glorified and exalted is He, has created, for there is no inconsistency in it nor any cracks that occur without precision. And whenever there are cracks, they do not spoil the created thing as it is that thing, rather it is precision in it. So that is not what is intended in the verse. And Mundhir ibn Sa'id said: Allah, glorified and exalted is He, commanded to look at the heavens and their creation, then He commanded to repeat the looking. Likewise, all created things, whenever a looker looks at them to see any flaw or deficiency, his sight will return humbled and defeated. "And the return of the sight" is the repetition in the seen thing. And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "twice" means: two times, and its accusative is on the source. And "the humbled" is the one who is distanced with humiliation from something he desired and was presented to him, and from it is the humbled dog. And from it is the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, to Ibn Sayyad: "Be humbled, for you will not exceed your measure." And from it is His saying, glorified and exalted is He, regarding the disbelievers who are eager to escape from Hell: "Be humbled in it." And likewise here, the sight is eager for a vision or inconsistency and does not find that, so it returns humbled. And "the defeated" is the one who is tired and exhausted, and from it is the saying of the poet: