(84–89) “He alone is God in heaven and God on earth, and He is the All-Wise, the All-Knowing. Blessed is He to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them. With Him alone is knowledge of the Hour, and to Him you will be returned. Those whom they invoke besides Him have no power of intercession; only those who knowingly bear witness to the truth may benefit from it. If you ask them who created them, they will surely say, ‘Allah.’ How, then, can they be turned away? And [He knows] his plea: ‘My Lord, these are a people who do not believe.’ So overlook them and say, ‘Peace.’ They will soon know.”
Allah Most High informs us that He alone is the One rightfully worshipped in the heavens and on earth. All the inhabitants of the heavens, together with the believers among the inhabitants of earth, worship Him, magnify Him, humble themselves ⦗771⦘ before His majesty, and, because of His perfection, stand in utter need of Him.
“The seven heavens, the earth, and all within them glorify Him. There is not a single thing that does not glorify Him with praise.”
“All those in the heavens and on earth prostrate themselves to Allah, willingly or unwillingly.”
He, exalted is He, is therefore the One worshipped by all creatures—some willingly and by choice, and others unwillingly. This resembles His words: “He is Allah in the heavens and on earth.” That is, He is worshipped and loved in both realms. As for Him Himself, He is above His Throne, distinct from His creation, unique in His majesty and glorious in His perfection.
“And He is the All-Wise”: He has fashioned His creation with consummate wisdom and perfected His revealed law. He created nothing except for a wise purpose and prescribed nothing except with wisdom. His cosmic decree, revealed law, and judgment of recompense all embody wisdom. He is “the All-Knowing” of everything. He knows what is secret and what is yet more hidden. Not even an atom’s weight escapes Him in the upper or lower world, nor anything smaller or larger.
“Blessed is He to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them.” Here, “Blessed” means that He is exalted and supremely great; His goodness is abundant, His attributes are vast, and His dominion is immense. He therefore mentions the vastness of His dominion over the heavens, the earth, and all that lies between them, as well as the vastness of His knowledge and the fact that He knows all things. Indeed, He alone possesses knowledge of many unseen realities that He has disclosed to no created being—neither a prophet sent as a messenger nor an angel brought near. Thus He says: “With Him is knowledge of the Hour.” The phrase “with Him” is placed first to express exclusivity: no one but Him knows when the Hour will come.
Another aspect of the perfection and vastness of His dominion is that He is Sovereign of this world and the Hereafter. Thus He says: “And to Him you will be returned.” That is, in the Hereafter, when He will judge between you with His just judgment. Another aspect of His perfect dominion is that no creature possesses the slightest control over affairs, nor may anyone come forward to intercede before Him without His permission.
“Those whom they invoke besides Him have no power of intercession.” Every being invoked besides Allah—including prophets, angels, and others—has no power of intercession. They intercede only with Allah’s permission and only for those with whom He is pleased. Thus He says: “Only those who bear witness to the truth.” That is, the witness pronounces it with the tongue, affirms it in the heart, and knows that to which he testifies. The testimony must also be true: testimony to Allah’s oneness, to the prophethood and mission of His messengers, and to the truth of what they brought, including the fundamentals and subsidiary matters of the religion, its truths and its laws. These are the people for whom the intercession of the intercessors will be beneficial. They are the ones saved from Allah’s punishment who attain His reward.
Allah Most High then says: “If you ask them who created them, they will surely say, ‘Allah.’” That is, if you ask the polytheists about Allah’s exclusive Lordship—namely, who the Creator is—they will acknowledge that it is Allah alone, without partner.
“How, then, can they be turned away?” That is, how can they be turned away from worshipping Allah and devoting worship exclusively to Him?!
Their affirmation of Allah’s exclusive Lordship obliges them to affirm that He alone deserves worship. This is among the greatest proofs of the falsity of polytheism.
“And [He knows] his plea: ‘My Lord, these are a people who do not believe.’” This is coordinated with His words: “With Him is knowledge of the Hour.” That is, with Him is knowledge of the Messenger’s plea (peace and blessings be upon him), as he complains to his Lord that his people have rejected him, grieving over this and lamenting their failure to believe. Allah Most High knows this condition and is able to hasten punishment upon them. Yet He is Forbearing: He grants His servants respite and is patient with them so that they might repent and return.
Thus He says: “So overlook them and say, ‘Peace.’” That is, overlook the harm they inflict upon you in word and deed, pardon them, and let nothing proceed from you toward them except words of peace—the response with which people of sound reason and insight answer the ignorant. As He says of His righteous servants: “When the ignorant address them”—that is, in words dictated by their ignorance—“they say, ‘Peace.’”
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) complied with his Lord’s command. He met all harm directed at him by his people and others with pardon and forbearance, responding only by treating them well and speaking graciously to them.
May Allah’s blessings and peace be upon the one whom Allah singled out for magnificent character, by which he surpassed the inhabitants of earth and heaven and was elevated above the stars of al-Jawzā.
His words, “They will soon know,” mean that they will know the consequences of their sins and the outcome of their crimes.
This concludes the commentary on Sūrat al-Zukhruf.