His words, “He has prescribed mercy for Himself,” mean that the upper and lower worlds are under His dominion and governance. He has extended His mercy and beneficence to them and enveloped them in His mercy and favor. He has decreed for Himself that His mercy shall prevail over His wrath, that giving is dearer to Him than withholding, and that Allah has opened the gates of mercy to all His servants—if they do not close those gates against themselves through their sins. He has invited them to His mercy—if their acts of disobedience and faults do not prevent them from seeking it.
His words, “He will surely gather you together on the Day of Resurrection, about which there is no doubt,” constitute an oath sworn by Him. ⦗252⦘ He is the most truthful of all who speak and has established proofs and demonstrations that make this certain beyond doubt. Yet the wrongdoers persist in denial. They reject Allah’s power to resurrect creation, rush headlong into disobedience to Him, and grow bold enough to disbelieve in Him. They have thus lost both this world and the Hereafter. Hence He says, “Those who have lost themselves will not believe.”
(13–20) “To Him belongs whatever dwells in the night and the day, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. * Say, ‘Shall I take anyone other than Allah as a protector—the Originator of the heavens and earth—when He feeds and is not fed?’ Say, ‘I have been commanded to be the first to submit and not to be one of the polytheists.’ * Say, ‘I fear, if I disobey my Lord, the punishment of a tremendous Day.’ * Whoever is spared on that Day has certainly received His mercy. That is the manifest triumph. * If Allah touches you with harm, none can remove it except Him; and if He touches you with good, He has power over all things. * He is the Subjugator, above His servants, and He is the All-Wise, the All-Aware.”
Know that this noble surah establishes monotheism through every rational and revealed proof. Indeed, nearly the entire surah concerns monotheism and the refutation of those who associate partners with Allah and deny His Messenger.
In these verses, Allah mentions that which makes guidance clear and vanquishes polytheism. He states that “to Him belongs whatever dwells in the night and the day.” This encompasses every created being: humans, jinn, angels, animals, and inanimate things. All are created beings under His governance and servants subjugated to their magnificent Lord, the Subjugator and Sovereign. Can either reason or revelation accept that one of these owned creatures, which possesses no power to benefit or harm, should be worshiped while sincere devotion is withheld from the Creator, Governor, and Sovereign, who brings both harm and benefit? Rather, sound minds and upright natural dispositions call for worship, love, fear, and hope to be devoted exclusively to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
He is “the All-Hearing” of every voice, despite their different languages and varied needs; “the All-Knowing” of what has been, what will be, and what has not been—knowing, had it occurred, how it would have occurred. He is fully aware of all that is outward and inward.
“Say” to those who associate partners with Allah: “Shall I take anyone other than Allah as a protector?” Shall I choose one of these powerless created beings to care for me and aid me?
I shall therefore take no protector besides Him, for He is the Originator of the heavens and earth—that is, their Creator and Governor. “He feeds and is not fed”: He provides for all creation without needing any of them. How, then, could it be fitting for me to take any protector besides the Creator and Provider, the Self-Sufficient and Praiseworthy?
“Say, ‘I have been commanded to be the first to submit’” to Allah by affirming His oneness and yielding to Him in obedience, for I am more obligated than anyone else to obey my Lord’s commands.
“And not to be one of the polytheists”: I have also been forbidden from being among the polytheists—whether by adopting their beliefs, sitting in their company, or joining their gatherings. This is the foremost duty incumbent upon me and the most binding obligation.
“Say, ‘I fear, if I disobey my Lord, the punishment of a tremendous Day.’” For disobedience consisting in polytheism entails eternal punishment in the Fire and the wrath of the Almighty Compeller. That is the Day whose punishment must be feared and whose chastisement must be guarded against. Whoever is spared punishment on that Day has received mercy, and whoever is saved on that Day is truly successful, just as whoever fails to escape it is ruined and wretched.
Another proof of His oneness is that He alone relieves adversity and brings goodness and prosperity. Thus He says, “If Allah touches you with harm”—such as poverty, illness, hardship, grief, anxiety, or the like—“none can remove it except Him; and if He touches you with good, He has power over all things.” Since He alone brings benefit and harm, He alone deserves to be worshiped and acknowledged as God.
“He is the Subjugator, above His servants.” No one among them acts, no moving thing moves, and no still thing remains still except by His will. Neither kings nor anyone else can escape His dominion and authority; rather, they are governed and subdued. Since He is the Subjugator and all besides Him are subdued, He alone deserves worship.
“He is the All-Wise” in what He commands and forbids, in how He rewards and punishes, and in what He creates and decrees; “the All-Aware,” fully acquainted with inner secrets, hidden thoughts, and the concealed realities of all matters. All of this constitutes evidence of monotheism.