That is, what will their condition be, and how dreadful will be the fate awaiting them? It will be a condition beyond description, whose horror cannot be imagined, for that Day is the Day when every soul will be paid in full for what it earned and recompensed with justice, not injustice. It is well known that this will be commensurate with people’s deeds, and their deeds mentioned above make clear that they will be among those who suffer the severest punishment.
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(26–27) “Say, ‘O Allah, Master of all dominion, You grant dominion to whom You will and strip dominion from whom You will. You honor whom You will and humble whom You will. All good is in Your hand. You are indeed capable of all things. You cause the night to enter the day and the day to enter the night. You bring the living out of the dead and the dead out of the living, and You provide for whom You will without measure.’”
Allah says to His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, “Say, ‘O Allah, Master of all dominion,’” meaning: You are the King who possesses every kingdom. Absolute kingship belongs to You; the entire realm, both upper and lower, is Yours, and all authority and governance belong to You. He then details some of the ways in which He alone, Most High, directs affairs, saying, “You grant dominion to whom You will and strip dominion from whom You will.” This indicates that Allah Most High would strip dominion from the Persian and Byzantine emperors and their followers and grant it to the nation of Muhammad. He has indeed done so, praise be to Allah.
The granting and removal of dominion are subject to Allah Most High’s will. This does not conflict with the worldly and religious means through which Allah has established His customary order and which bring about the acquisition and preservation of dominion or its disappearance. All of them operate by Allah’s will; no cause produces anything independently. Rather, all causes are subject to His decree and predestination. Among the means Allah has made conducive to gaining dominion are faith and righteous deeds, including Muslim unity and concord, preparing whatever resources they are capable of, steadfastness, and refraining from dispute. Allah Most High says, “Allah has promised those among you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession in the land, just as He granted it to those before them”—to the end of the verse. He thus informs us that faith and righteous deeds are the means to the succession mentioned. Allah Most High also says, “He is the One who supported you with His aid and with the believers, and united their hearts”—to the end of the verse. Allah Most High also says, “O you who believe, when you encounter an opposing force, stand firm and remember Allah often, so that you may succeed. Obey Allah and His Messenger, and do not dispute with one another, lest you lose courage and your strength depart. Be steadfast; surely Allah is with those who are steadfast.” He thus informs us that harmony among the believers, their steadfastness, and their avoidance of disputes are means of victory over their enemies.
If you survey the history of Muslim states, you will find that the greatest cause of their loss of dominion was their abandonment of the religion and their division, which emboldened their enemies against them and turned their might against one another.
Allah Most High then says, “You honor whom You will” through obedience to You, “and humble whom You will” through disobedience to You. “You are indeed capable of all things.” Nothing whatsoever is beyond You; rather, all things are subject to Your will and power.
“You cause the night to enter the day and the day to enter the night,” meaning that You cause each to enter into the other. From this arise the seasons, brightness and light, sunshine and shade, repose and activity—all of which constitute some of the greatest proofs of Allah’s power, greatness, wisdom, and mercy.
“You bring the living out of the dead,” such as the chick from the egg, the tree from the seed, the crop from its grain, and the believer from the disbeliever. “And You bring the dead out of the living,” such as the egg from the bird, the seed from the tree, the grain from the crop, and the disbeliever from the believer. This is among the greatest proofs of Allah’s power and shows that all things are subjected to His governance and possess no power whatsoever to direct affairs. His creation of opposites, each from its opposite, demonstrates that they are utterly subjugated.
“And You provide for whom You will without measure,” meaning that You grant abundant provision to whom You will, from where he neither expects nor earns it. Allah Most High then says: