255.
" allah! there is no god but he, the ever-living,
the self-subsisting (the sustainer of all things); slumber seizes him not,
nor sleep; to him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in
the earth. who is it that can intercede with him save by his leave?
he knows what is before them and what is behind them, while they
comprehend nothing of his knowledge except what he wills.
his kursiy (knowledge) extends over the heavens and the earth; and
preserving them both tires him not; and,
he is the highest, the greatest."
'ayat-ul-kursiy, one of the most
important verses
upon the importance and excellence of this verse, the only holy
tradition narrated from the holy prophet (p.b.u.h.), explained in the
following, is enough.
once, the messenger of allah (p.b.u.h.) asked ubayy-ibn-ka`b
which verse of the verses of the qur'an was the most important one,
and he answered the verse saying:
" allah! there is no god but
he, the ever-living, the self-subsisting
(the sustainer of all things);..."
then the messenger of allah (p.b.u.h.) touched
his chest as a
sign of favour and told him " may your
knowledge be wholesome to you.by
the one in whose hand is muhammad's soul, this verse has two tongues
and two lips which glorify the lord below the divine throne of authority." 1
another tradition narrated from imam baqir (a.s.) says: "
the one
who recites 'a¥yat-ul-kursiy once, allah will remove one thousand
unbecoming things from his worldly unbecoming affairs, the easiest of which
is poverty, and one thousand unbecoming things from his (affairs) in the
hereafter, the easiest one among which is the pain of grave." 2
commentary:
the verse begins with the pure essence of allah and continues
with the subject of unity, asma'-ul-husna, and his attributes. it says:
" allah! there is no god but
he, ..."
" allah " is the particular
appelation for god which means the
essence that includes all the attributes of divine perfection, glory, and
beauty.
then, it adds two other attributes of allah, saying that he is the
lord who is alive forever and is self-subsisting so that all other
creatures in the universe depend on him. it says:
"... the ever-living, the
self-subsisting (the sustainer of all things); ..."
it is evident that life for allah is the real
life, because his life is
the same as his essence, his knowledge, and his power. it is not like
that of living creatures whose lives are causual and after a length of time
they die.
allah is completely different from his creatures from the point
of life, as verse 58 from sura al-furghan, no. 25 says: " and rely you
on the (ever) living one who dies not, ..."
then, to indicate that neither drowzines, nor deep sleep seizes
him and never he stops managing the world, it continues saying:
"... slumber seizes him not,
nor sleep; ..."
the arabic term /sanah/ `slumber' is the sleep
which appears first
in the eyes, but when it becomes deeper and reaches the mind, it is
termed in arabic /naum/ `sleep'. this verse, pointing to the latter state,
means that the governance of the absolutely bountiful, allah, is
perpetual and never ceases, even for a moment.
then, it refers to the absolute ownership of allah, saying:
"... to him belongs whatsoever
is in the heavens and whatsoever
is in the earth. ..."
this is the fifth attributes from the
attributes of allah mentioned
here. formerly, four other attributes of allah were referred to :
oneness of allah, the everliving, the self-subsisting, and that he
never sleeps.
it is quite clear that this attribute, ö that everything belongs to
allah, has a great training effect in human beings. when they know
that whatever they have does not really belong to themselves and it is
temporarily handed over them as a deposit to use for a short time, they
will surely avoid of transgressing others' rights. these people, with this
cognition, will certainly withdraw committing such wrong actions as
colonization, hoarding, greed, miserliness, and the like.
for the sixth attribute, it says:
"...who is it that can
intercede with him save by his leave? ..."
in fact, by a positive interrogation with a
negative sense, it says
that no person can intercede at his presence but by his leave.
intercession was discussed fairly vastly when commenting on verse
48, sura al-baqarah, no. 2, in vol. part 1, pp. 174-177.
referring to the seventh attribute, it says:
"...he knows what is before
them and what is behind them, ..."
therefore, whatever is in the expause of time
and place is entirely
manifest in his knowledge. that is why everything, even intercession,
depends upon his command.
in stating his eighth attribute, this fact is pointed out that he
has let others know only a small part of his knowledge that has been
advisable and proper for them. it says:
"... while they comprehend
nothing of his knowledge except what
he wills. ..."
thus, the limited knowledge of others is a
beam of the light of his
illimited knowledge.
so, two other points is also understood from the above phrase.
the first is that no creature has cognition from his own and all human
cognizance is from the source of allah.
the second is that allah may award a part of some concealed
knowledge and some hidden secrets to those he pleases.
his ninthly and tenthly attributes are stated thus:
"...his kursiy (knowledge)
extends over the heavens and the earth; and
preserving them both tires him not; ..."
then, power and sovereignty of allah encompass
the totality of
the heavens and the earth, and his knowledge (kursiy) encompasses all
of these expansions wholly, so that nothing is out of his dominion and
authority.
it is, even, understood from some of the islamic traditions that the
expansion of kursiy is very larger than the heavens and the earth. for
example, in a tradition imam sadiq has said: "
heavens and earth,
comparing kursiy, is like a ring in the midst of a desert; and kursiy, in
comparison with `arsh, is like a ring in the midst of a desert." 3
it is true, of course, that science has not discovered the secret of
this meaning yet.
describing his eleventh and twelveth attributes, it says:
"...and, he is the highest, the
greatest."
the lord, who is the highest and the infinite,
is able to do
everything so that nothing is difficult for him. never he tires of
managing the world of existence. never he (s.w.t.) remains neglectful,
unaware and feable of it. his knowledge involves all things because he
is omnipotent, omnipresent.
it is worthy to note that, in spite of what is popular, the verse
entitled ` 'ayat-ul-kursiy ' is this very single verse alone.
1
durr-ul-manthur, vol. 2, p. 8
2 bihar-ul-anwar, vol. 92, p. 262
3 al-burhan fi tafsir-il-qur'an, vol. 1, p. 241 |
