Another group said that it means everything is subject to His power and dominion, within His kingdom and His grasp.

Although this is true, it is not the meaning of the verse. Hud, peace be upon him, distinguished between his words, “There is no creature but that He holds it by its forelock,” and his words, “Indeed, my Lord is on a straight path.” These convey two distinct meanings.

The correct view, then, is that of Mujāhid, which is also the view of the leading Quran commentators. The Arabic admits no other interpretation without being strained.

Jarīr said in praise of Umar ibn Abd al-Azīz:

The Commander of the Faithful follows a straight path,
Even when the ways to water twist and turn.

Allah, Most High, has said:

“Whomever Allah wills, He leads astray; and whomever He wills, He places on a straight path.” [6:39, 100]

Since Allah, glorified is He, is the One who places His messengers and their followers on a straight path in their words and deeds, He is all the more worthy of being on a straight path in His own words and deeds. Although the path of the messengers and their followers consists in conforming to His command, the path upon which He Himself is consists in what His praiseworthiness, perfection, and glory entail: speaking the truth and acting in accordance with it.

Success comes only through Allah.

He also said in Miftāh Dār al-Sa‘ādah (The Key to the Abode of Happiness):

The first parable concerns the idol and its worshippers. The second parable Allah, Most High, sets forth concerning Himself: He commands justice and is on a straight path.

How, then, can He be equated with an idol, to which the evil likeness belongs? What the Lord, exalted is His majesty, does in His dealings with His servants represents the utmost wisdom, beneficence, and justice: granting them ability, giving to them and withholding from them, and commanding and forbidding them.