Tafsir of Az-Zumar 39:63

"To Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth"—meaning their openers, as stated by Ibn Abbas, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, and others. It is said that this is a plural without a singular form from the same root. Another view is that it is the plural of miqlīd; another says it is the plural of miqlād, derived from taqlīd (the act of binding or obligation), as in the phrase taqlīd al-qaḍā' (assigning the judiciary), because it binds the judge to look into its affairs. Similarly, qilādah (necklace) is so named because it clings to the neck. When used as a name for the known tool, it conveys the meaning of safeguarding. Under all these linguistic views, it is Arabic. The most famous and manifest view is that it is an Arabized word, being the plural of iklīd, which is the Arabized form of aklīd. This plural is irregular (shādh), as the pattern af‘īl pluralized into mafā‘īl contradicts the rules of analogy, whereas aqālīd would be the analogical form. It is said that iklīd is also referred to as kilīd without the hamzah. Al-Shihab mentioned that in the language of the Romans, it is kleides, and kilīd is derived from it. The famous view is that kilīd is Persian, though aklīd with the hamzah is not well-known in Persian.

"To Him belong the keys..." is said to be a metaphor for His being the Master of their affairs and the One who disposes of them, based on the relationship of necessity. It is used as a metonymy (kināyah) for the meaning of power and safeguarding. It is permissible to consider the first meaning (keys) as metonymic, but it has become so common that it has reached the status of a literal referent, and thus it is used to imply the other meaning, resulting in a metonymy. Sometimes, the intent is limited strictly to the first meaning; thus, it is said here that the meaning is: No one owns the affairs of the heavens and the earth, nor has the power to dispose of them, except for Him, the Almighty.

Al-Baydawi, after mentioning this, said: "It is a metonymy for His, the Exalted’s, power over them and His safeguarding of them." This contains additional indication of independence and absolute authority due to the letter lām and the fronting (the structure lahu). Al-Raghib said: "The keys of the heavens and the earth are that which surrounds them." Others said: "Their treasuries." Others said: "Their openers." All these point to a single meaning: His, the Exalted’s, power over them and His protection of them.

It is also permitted that the meaning is: No one owns the disposal of the treasuries of the heavens and the earth—meaning the benefits deposited therein and for which they were prepared—except for Him, the Exalted. It is not hidden that if this sentence is in the position of providing a reason for His saying, "And He is a Guardian over all things," based on the first meaning, then the most apparent interpretation is to limit it to the fact that no one owns the affairs of the heavens and the earth—that is, the entire world—except Him, the Exalted. It is as if it were said: He, the Exalted, manages the disposal of everything because no one owns its affairs besides Him, the Almighty. If it is a reason for the second meaning, the most apparent interpretation is that no one has power over them except Him, the Almighty. It is as if it were said: He, the Exalted, safeguards everything because no one has power over it except Him, the Exalted. It is also allowed that it is a ‘atf bayān (explanatory apposition) for the preceding sentence, or an adjective for wakīl (Guardian), or a predicate after a predicate. Ponder this well.

Abu Ya’la, Yusuf al-Qadi in his Sunan, Al-Hasan al-Qattan in his Mutawwalāt, Ibn al-Sunni in ‘Amal al-Yawm wa al-Laylah, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abi Hatim, and Ibn Marduyah recorded from Uthman ibn Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) about the saying of Allah, the Exalted: 'To Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth.' He replied: 'There is no god but Allah, and Allah is the greatest, Glory be to Allah, and praise be to Allah, I seek forgiveness from Allah, the One besides Whom there is no god, the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden. He gives life and causes death, and He is the Living who does not die; in His hand is all good, and He is Powerful over all things.'"

In a narration by Ibn Marduyah from Ibn Abbas, Uthman came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said: "Inform me about the keys of the heavens and the earth." He said: "Glory be to Allah, and praise be to Allah, and there is no god but Allah, and Allah is the greatest. There is no power and no strength except with Allah, the Exalted, the Almighty. The First, the Last, the Manifest, and the Hidden. In His hand is all good; He gives life and causes death, and He is Powerful over all things. O Uthman, whoever says this ten times in the morning and ten times in the evening, Allah grants him six virtues..." [The narration continues, detailing the rewards and protection].

In a narration by Al-Aqili and Al-Bayhaqi in Al-Asmā’ wa al-Ṣifāt from Ibn Umar, Uthman asked the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) about the interpretation of "To Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth." He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "No one has asked me about it before. Its interpretation is: There is no god but Allah, and Allah is the greatest, and Glory be to Allah and His praise, and I seek forgiveness from Allah, and there is no power and no strength except with Allah. He is the First, the Last, the Manifest, and the Hidden. In His hand is all good; He gives life and causes death, and He is Powerful over all things."

In summary, the narrations regarding the answer differ. It is said concerning the Hadith of Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with both of them) that its chain is weak and contains those whose narration is not valid. Ibn al-Jawzi said it is fabricated, though this is not accepted from him. As for the other reports, Allah the Exalted knows best, though the suspicion is one of weakness. The meaning, according to them, is that these words belong to Allah, and with them, He is unified and glorified; they are the keys to the good of the heavens and the earth. Whoever among the believers utters them receives that good. The reason for applying the term "keys" to them is that they are conduits to good, just as keys are conduits to treasures.

"And those who disbelieve in the verses of Allah—it is they who are the losers."

This is conjoined to His saying, "Allah is the Creator of all things..."—meaning that He, the Almighty, is characterized by these magnificent attributes, while those who disbelieve and deny this are the ones who are complete in their loss. It is also said it is conjoined to "To Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth," though this is not apparent in some of the previous interpretations. Others say it is conjoined to an implied phrase, the estimation being: "So those who fear Allah—or those who believe in the verses of Allah—are the successful, and those who disbelieve..." This is forced.

It is allowed that it is conjoined to His saying: "And Allah saves..."—the meaning being: "And Allah saves the righteous, and those who disbelieve in the verses of Allah—it is they who are the losers." What is between them is a parenthetical clause to indicate that He, the Exalted, is the Overseer over the servants, aware of their deeds, and rewarding them for them. This serves to emphasize the reward of the believers and their success, and the punishment of the disbelievers and their loss. It does not say "and those who disbelieve are destroyed by their loss," as He said "And saves..." (a verb), to signal that the primary factor in the success of the believers is His, the Exalted's, favor. Thus, their salvation is attributed to Allah, occurring on the Day of Resurrection, not established beforehand by entitlement and works. This is contrary to the destruction of the disbelievers; they prepared it for themselves through what they were characterized by of disbelief and misguidance, and it was not attributed to Allah. Neither was it expressed in the imperfect verb form (mudāri’). In this is an explicit promise and a subtle threat, as it says "the losers" and does not say "the destroyed" or "the punished" or similar, which is the way of generosity.

Conjoining a nominal sentence to a verbal one is something that has no doubt of validity among grammarians. From what we have mentioned, one learns the refutation of Imam al-Razi's claim that this view is weak due to two reasons: first, the long interruption between the conjoined and the conjoining; second, the disagreement between them in being verbal or nominal, which he claims is not allowed. Imam Abu Hayyan denied that the interruption was long. Regarding the second point, he said: "It is the speech of one who has not contemplated the speech of the Arabs nor looked into the chapters of Ishtighāl (preoccupation)." Indeed, it is said in Al-Kashf that what supports the connection to what follows it—rather than the saying of the Exalted, "And saves..."—is that His saying, "And Allah saves," is connected to His saying, "And on the Day of Resurrection, you will see those who lied..." If one were to say after it, "And those who disbelieve in the verses of Allah—it is they who are the losers," it would not be sound, because the most sound in this flow is to precede it before the saying, "And Allah saves," in a way that is not hidden. Furthermore, it is like a transition to what follows it of the talk about command, worship, and sincerity. Then, the exclusivity (ḥaṣr) necessitated by the definition of both sides and the pronoun of separation (ḍamīr al-faṣl) is with regard to perfection, as we have indicated, not with regard to absolute loss, for that is not exclusive to them. It is also permissible that it is a qaṣr qalb (inversion exclusivity), as they claim the believers are the losers.