Surah 67. Al-Mulk

Blessed is the One in Whose Hands rests all authority. And He is Most Capable of everything.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Blessed be He in Whose hands is Dominion: and He over all things Hath Power ^{5554 5555}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

What do we mean when we bless the name of Allah, or proclaim (in the optative mood) that the whole Creation should bless the name of the Lord? We mean that we recognise and proclaim His beneficence to us; for all increase and happiness is through Him, "in His hands',-in the hands of Him Who also holds Dominion or Power. In our human affairs we sometimes see the separation of Dominion or Power from Goodness or Beneficence: in the divine nature we recognise that there is no separation or antithesis.

Mulk: Dominion, Lordship, Sovereignty, the Right to carry out His Will, or to do all that He wills. Power (in the clause following) is the Capacity to carry out His Will, so that nothing can resist or neutralise it. Here is beneficence completely identified with Lordship and Power; and it is exemplified in the verses following. Note that "Mulk" here has a different shade of meaning from Malakut in xxxvi. 83. Both words are from the same root, and I have translated both by the word "Dominion". But Malakut refers to Lordship in the invisible World, while Mulk to Lordship in the visible World. Allah is Lord of both.

'He is the One' Who created death and life in order to test which of you is best in deeds. And He is the Almighty, All-Forgiving.

  - Mustafa Khattab

He Who created Death and Life that He may try which of you is best in deed: and He is the Exalted in Might Oft-Forgiving ^{5556 5557 5558}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

"Created Death and Life." Death is here put before Life, and it is created. Death is therefore not merely a negative state. In ii. 28 we read: "Seeing that ye were without life (literally, dead), and He gave you life: then will He cause you to die, and will again bring you to life; and again to Him will ye retum." In liii. 44, again, Death is put before Life. Death, then, is (1) the state before life began, which may be non-existence or existence in some other form: (2) the state in which Life as we know it ceases, but existence does not cease; a state of Barzakh (xxiii. 100), or Barrier or Partition, after our visible Death and before Judgment; after that will be the new Life, which we conceive of under the term Eternity.

Creation, therefore, is not in mere sport, or without a purpose with reference to man. The state before our present life, or the state after, we can scarcely understand. But our present Life is clearly given to enable us to strive by good deeds to reach a nobler state.

All this is possible, because Allah is so Exalted in Might that He can perfectly carry out His Will and Purpose, and that Purpose is Love, Mercy, and Goodness to His creatures.

'He is the One' Who created seven heavens, one above the other. You will never see any imperfection in the creation of the Most Compassionate.¹ So look again: do you see any flaws?

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Some may point to birth defects, genetic mutations, etc. and say these are flaws. This verse means that, in the grand scheme of creation, everything created has its place, form, and purpose, and that it does exactly what Allah ordained for it.

He Who created the seven heavens one above another; no want of proportion wilt thou see in the Creation of (Allah) Most Gracious so turn thy vision again: Seest thou any flaw? ⁵⁵⁵⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. lxv. 12, and n. 5526-27. The heavens as they appear to our sight seem to be arranged in layers one above another, and ancient astronomy accounted for the motions of the heavenly bodies in an elaborate scheme of spheres. What we are concerned with here is the order and beauty of the vast spaces and the marvellous bodies that follow regular laws of motion in those enormous spaces in the visible world. From these we are to form some conception of the vastly greater Invisible World, for which we want special spiritual vision.

Then look again and again- your sight will return frustrated and weary.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Again turn thy vision a second time; (thy) vision will come back to thee dull and discomfited in a state worn out. ⁵⁵⁶⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Reverting to the indication of the external or visible world, we are asked to observe and study it again and again, and as minutely as our powers will allow. However closely we observe it, we shall find no flaw in it. Indeed the region of enquiry is so vast and stretches so far beyond our ken, that our eyes, aided with the most powerful telescopes, will confess themselves defeated in trying to penetrate to the ultimate mysteries. We shall find no defect in Allah's handiwork: it is our own powers that we shall find fail to go beyond a certain compass.

And indeed, We adorned the lowest heaven with 'stars like' lamps, and made them 'as missiles' for stoning 'eavesdropping' devils, for whom We have also prepared the torment of the Blaze.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 See 72:8-10.

And We have (from of old) adorned the lowest heaven with Lamps and We have made such (Lamps) (as) missiles to drive away the Evil Ones and have prepared for them the Penalty of the Blazing Fire. ^{5561 5562}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

"Lowest (or nearest) heaven": see n. 4035 to xxxvii. 6.

The phenomenon of the shooting stars has been, explained in xv. 16-18, notes 1951-54; and in xxxvii. 6-10, and notes thereon.