Tafsir of An-Nur 24:42

Surah An-Nur 24:42

ﲹ ﲺ ﲻ ﲼ ﲽ ﲾ ﲿ ﳀ

And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and to Allah is the destination.

Tafsir

Ruh al-Ma'ani

Verse range: 24:42

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And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth.

This indicates that it belongs to none other than Him—Exalted is He—whether independently or by way of partnership, because He, Glorified is He, is the Creator of both of them and of all the entities and attributes contained therein. He is the Disposer of all affairs within them, through bringing into existence and rendering non-existent, and through originating and restoring.

And His saying—Exalted is He—"And to Allah," meaning to Him—Mighty and Majestic is He—exclusively, and not to any other at all, is "the destination."

This means the return of everything through annihilation and resurrection. It is an explanation of the exclusivity of dominion to Him—Exalted is He—in the ultimate end, following the explanation of its exclusivity to Him—Exalted is He—in the beginning. It has been said that the sentence serves to clarify that what is witnessed of the manifestation of some effects at the hands of created beings does not contradict the aforementioned restriction, by conveying that the ultimate end is to Him—Exalted is He—and not to any other, and that is sufficient for the restriction. Perhaps the first interpretation is more appropriate.

The manifestation of the Majestic Name (Allah) in place of the pronoun is for the sake of cultivating awe and signaling the cause of the ruling.