67: Control
This chapter of 30 Meccan verses
was revealed after The Mount 52 and before
Reality 69. The next two Parts
of the Qur`an (XXIX and XXX) are Meccan again
except for the short chapter called [Divine] Support 110 and they comprise
two score lyric gems. The present chapter gives us a picture of how the
Universe was
formed as well as another of the final Blaze which will mark the end of
the world (I).
The title Al- Mulk gives some difficulty in translation from the Arabic.
In a so-called republican or pseudo-democratic age, I prefer the word control
instead
of monarchical terms such as dominion or sovereignty since control here
refers
to the ultimate power of the Divinity, while actual political power was
being slowly
forged in Arabia through a confederation of Arab tribes, the Islamic commonwealth
or Umma which the Prophet tried to achieve. Control also gives us an easier
verb form to use. God is here addressed as the Mercy-giving or Ar-Rahman.