يُسَبِّحُ لِلَّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ ۖ لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ ۖ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ (1)
(64:1) All that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth extols Allah's glory. *1 His is the sovereignty *2 and to Him is all praise due; *3 He has power over everything. *4
*1) For explanation, see E.N. I of the commentary on Surah AI-Hadid. A study of the following theme by itself shows why the discourse has ban begun with this sentence. What has been stated below about the Universe and Man is that AIIah alone is their Creator, Master, Ruler, and He has not made this universe without purpose and wisdom, that Man has not been created and left irresponsible, so that he may act as he may please, and there should be nobody to call him to account, and that the Ruler of this universe is not a care-free and ignorant king so that he may have no knowledge of what is happening in his kingdom. The best introduction to this theme could be the same as has been couched in this brief sentence. In view of the context, the introduction means: In whichever direction you may turn your gaze, from the earth to the limitless vastnesses of the heavens, you will clearly see that everything from a particle to the great galaxies not only testifies to the existence of God but also bears evidence that its God is free from every defcet. every weakness and error. Had them been the least probability of a defect or fault, weakness or deficiency, in His essence and attributes, in His acts and decrees, this perfect and wise system could not have come into being at aII, nor continue to function so consistently and immutably from eternity to eternity.
*2) That is, "The Kingdom of the universe solely belongs to Him. He has not just created it and Ieft it alone after giving it the initial push, but He alone is actually ruling over it every moment. No one else has any role or share whatever in this rule and sovereignty. If others possess temporarily and on a limited scale some powers of ownership or rule somewhere in the universe, these are not their personal powers, which they might have acquired by virtue of their own power, but these have been granted to them by Allah. They possess these powers as long as Allah wills, and they can be withdrawn as and when He so desires."
*3) In other words; He alone is worthy of all praise. Whatever other being has any praiseworthy quality, it has ban granted by Allah. And if hamd (praise) be taken in the sense of shukr (thankfulness), the meaning would be: In reality Allah alone is worthy of being thanked, for all. good things in the world have been created by Him, and He alone is the teal Benefactor of aII kinds of creation. When we thank another being for favour, we thank it for the reason that Allah conveyed His blessing thought it or him to us, otherwise neither the being itself is the creator of the blessing nor could it convey the blessing to you without Allah's permission and help.
*4) That is, "He is the possessor of absolute power: He can do whatever. He wills, there is no power to restrain or limit His Omnipotence.