(41–42) “Do you not see that all those in the heavens and the earth glorify Allah, as do the birds with wings outspread? Each knows its prayer and glorification, and Allah knows all that they do. * To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and to Allah is the final return.”
The Exalted draws His servants’ attention to His greatness, the perfection of His sovereignty, and the dependence of all creatures upon Him, both in His care for them and in their worship of Him. He says: “Do you not see that all those in the heavens and the earth glorify Allah”—whether animate or inanimate—“as do the birds with wings outspread”; that is, spreading their wings in the open sky as they glorify their Lord.
“Each” of these creatures “knows its prayer and glorification.” That is, each has a form of prayer and worship befitting its particular state. Allah has inspired it with that prayer and glorification, either through messengers—as with the jinn, humankind, and the angels—or by direct inspiration from Him, as with all other creatures. This latter interpretation is more likely, as indicated by His words: “and Allah knows all that they do.” That is, He knows all their actions; nothing of them (1) is hidden from Him, and He will recompense them accordingly. On this interpretation, the verse combines the creatures’ knowledge (2) of their acts—which Allah taught them—with His knowledge of their deeds, which entails recompense.
It is also possible that the pronoun in His words, “knows its prayer and glorification,” refers to Allah: Allah the Exalted knows their acts of worship, even though you, His servants, know of them only what He has disclosed to you. This verse is like His saying: “The seven heavens, the earth, and all those within them glorify Him. There is not a single thing that does not glorify Him with praise, but you do not understand their glorification. He is truly Most Forbearing, All-Forgiving.”
Having explained their servitude and dependence upon Him with respect to worship and affirming His oneness, He then explained their dependence upon Him with respect to sovereignty, sustaining care, and governance. He says: “To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth.” He is the Creator of both (3), their Provider, and the One who governs them by His revealed law [and His universal decree] (4) in this world, and by His recompensing judgment in the Abode of Permanence. This is indicated by His words: “and to Allah is the final return”; that is, all creatures will return to Him and their ultimate destination is with Him, so that He may recompense them for their deeds.