Tafsir of Al-Kahf 18:44

"At that place," meaning: in that station and in that state in which the destruction occurred, "the sovereignty (or protection) belongs to Allah, the Truth." This means that the victory belongs to Allah, Exalted is He, alone; no one can achieve it. Thus, the sentence is a confirmation and emphasis of His saying, “And he had no party to help him,” etc., or that He grants victory therein to His believing allies over the disbelievers, just as He, the Glorified, granted victory through what He did to the disbeliever against his believing brother. Al-wilāyah (sovereignty/protection) in the sense of victory applies to both interpretations, except that in the former it is absolute or restricted to the one in distress and the one upon whom destruction has befallen; while in the latter, it is restricted to those who are not in distress, namely, the believers. What reinforces the idea that it refers to their victory is His saying, “He is best for reward and best for an outcome,” meaning: the best ultimate consequence for His allies. The reason for this is that the verse concluded with the state of the allies, so it is appropriate that its beginning be likewise.

The two brothers (Hamzah and al-Kisa'i), al-A'mash, Ibn Wathab, Shaybah, Ibn Ghazwan from Talhah, Khalaf, Ibn Sa'dan, Ibn 'Isa al-Asbahani, and Ibn Jarir read al-wilāyah with a kasrah on the waw. Al-wilāyah (with fathah) and al-wilāyah (with kasrah) are considered to have the same meaning by some linguists, like al-wakālah (agency) and al-wikālah. Al-Zamakhshari said: "With fathah, it is victory and guardianship; with kasrah, it is authority and dominion." Meaning: There, the dominion belongs to Him, the Mighty and Majestic; He is not overcome, nor is anything prevented from Him, nor is anyone worshipped besides Him—like His saying, “When they ride in the ship, they call upon Allah, sincere to Him in religion.” Thus, the sentence serves as a reminder that his saying, “Would that I had not associated partners,” etc., was out of distress and panic, and not out of true repentance and remorse. It is narrated from Abu 'Amr and al-Asma'i that they said: "Breaking the waw is a grammatical error (laḥn) here, because the form fi'ālah only occurs in things that are a craft or a position one assumes, like al-kitābah (clerkship), al-imārah (governorate), and al-khilāfah (caliphate). There is no assumption of authority here; rather, it is al-wilāyah with fathah, in the sense of religion, but no reliance is placed upon that."

Abu Hayyan favored the view that "there" refers to the Hereafter, meaning: in that Abode, the sovereignty belongs to Allah, the Truth. This aligns with His saying, “He is best for reward and best for an outcome,” and it would be like His saying, “To whom belongs the kingdom this day? To Allah, the One, the Prevailing.” The most apparent reading—given all of this—is that the pause is at muntaṣiran (a helper), and His saying “hunālika...” begins a new clause. In that case, al-wilāyah is the subject (mubtada’), and lillāh is the predicate, while the prepositional phrase relates to the implied stability (al-istiqrār). The sentence indicates exclusivity due to the definiteness of the subject and the connection of the predicate with the lam of specialization, as established in “Al-ḥamdu lillāh”. Abu al-Baqa’ said: It is permissible for “hunālika” to be the predicate of al-wilāyah, or for al-wilāyah to be in the nominative case because of it, while lillāh relates to the prepositional phrase, the agent within it, or to al-wilāyah itself. It is also permissible for it to relate to an omitted element acting as a state (ḥāl) of it.

Some said that the prepositional phrase relates to muntaṣiran, and the reference is to the Hereafter, intending to report the negation of having any helper in the Hereafter, after having already negated that he had any party to help him in the worldly life. Al-Zajjaj also made it relate to muntaṣiran, but said: "He was not a helper in that state," and al-ḥaqq is an adjective for the Majestic Name.

The two brothers, Humayd, al-A'mash, Ibn Abi Layla, Ibn Munadhir, al-Yazidi, and Ibn 'Isa al-Asbahani read al-ḥaqqu with a ḍammah as an adjective for al-wilāyah. Abu al-Baqa’ allowed that it could be the predicate of an omitted subject—i.e., "It is the Truth"—or that it is the subject while lillāh is the predicate. Ubayy read: “Hunālika al-wilāyatu lillāhi al-ḥaqqu,” placing al-ḥaqqu before [the prepositional phrase] and in the nominative, which strengthens the view that al-ḥaqqu is an adjective for al-wilāyah in the previous reading.

Abu Haywah, Zayd bin 'Ali, 'Amr bin 'Ubayd, Ibn Abi 'Ablah, Abu al-Samal, and Ya'qub—from 'Ismah from Abu 'Amr—read al-ḥaqqa with a fatḥah as a verbal noun (maṣdar) emphasizing the content of the sentence. The one governing it in the accusative is an implied agent, as in saying, "This is Abdullah, truly (ḥaqqan)." It is also possible that it is an adjective in the truncated case (na't maqṭū').

Al-Hasan, al-A'mash, Hamzah, 'Asim, and Khalaf read ‘uquban with a quiescent qāf and tanwin. From 'Asim, it is also read ‘uqbā with a shortened feminine alif (al-maqṣūr), according to the weight of ruj‘ā. The majority read it with a ḍammah on the qāf and tanwin. The meaning in all these is what has preceded.