Tafsir of Az-Zumar 39:67

"And they have not appraised Allah with true appraisal" (39:67): That is, they have not magnified Him—glorified be His Majesty—with the greatness He truly deserves, for they worshipped others besides Him, the Exalted, and requested of His Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—the worship of someone other than Him, the Sublime. This was stated by al-Hasan and al-Suddi. Al-Mubarrad said: Its origin is from their saying, "Such a person is of great qadr (measure/standing)," by which they mean his majesty. The origin of al-qadr is the attribution of a thing to greatness, smallness, or equality. Al-Raghib said: It means they have not known His essence—the Almighty and Exalted. This has been countered by noting that knowledge of His essence—meaning the reality of His being—is not particular to these people, for grasping the truth of it is impossible. Hence, the saying: "The inability to attain perception is itself perception, and searching for the essence of Allah’s nature is polytheism (ishrak)." It is not hidden that this is a subject of disagreement, and what was mentioned—even if accepted—can be countered by careful consideration. Indeed, better than that is what has been said: "They have not known Him as He deserves to be known," in that they ascribed partners to Him. The apparent intent of some is that the statement is predicated upon a deleted addition; that is, they did not appraise in themselves, nor did they conceive of Allah’s greatness as they ought to have conceived it. Thus, they did not magnify Him as He deserves—the Almighty and Exalted—by describing Him with that which does not befit His sublime affairs, such as ascribing partners to Him and the like. Regardless, it relates to what preceded it, in that it serves to rebuke them for their polytheism and their summoning the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—to it.

It is also said: The meaning is that they have not described Allah—the Exalted—with His true attributes, for they denied the Resurrection and described Him—the Exalted—as having created creation in vain, and that He—the Exalted—is incapable of restoring and resurrecting them. This is contrary to the apparent meaning; according to this, it serves as a preamble to the matter of the blowing into the Trumpet. The collective pronoun, according to all that has been mentioned, refers to the disbelievers of Quraysh, as is narrated from Ibn Abbas—may Allah be pleased with both of them. It is also said the pronoun refers to the Jews, who spoke about the attributes of Allah and His majesty, falling into heresy, anthropomorphism, and all manner of confusion, so this was revealed. Al-A'mash read haqqa qadrihi with a fatha on the dal. Al-Hasan, Isa, Abu Nawfal, and Abu Haywa read wa ma qaddaru with a shadda on the dal, and haqqa qadrihi with a fatha on the dal.

"And the earth will be folded within His grip on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens will be folded in His right hand." The sentence is in the position of a state (hal) from the Exalted Name. Jami'an (all) is a state from the subject according to those who permit it, or it refers to a hidden predicate such as "He will hold them all," as has been said. It functions like a confirmatory state, in that the governing agent is derived from the essence of the sentence. In closer approximation, it is a state from the pronoun in qabdatihi (His grip) because it carries the meaning of maqbudah (gripped). It would have been apparent for it to come after it, but it was placed before to make it known at the outset that the news which follows does not concern one earth or some parts to the exclusion of others, but the entire earth or all of its parts. This advancement is permissible because the verbal noun (masdar) did not act due to its being a verbal noun, but due to its meaning as a passive participle (ism al-maf'ul). Al-Hufi said: The agent of the state is what qabdatihi signifies, not the word itself; this is as you see. Yawm al-Qiyamah (the Day of Resurrection) is governed by qabdatihi. Originally, it refers to the singular act of grasping, and is applied to the amount grasped, like al-qabdah (a handful) with a damma on the qaf; it is then considered an assimilated adjective. Some have allowed it to mean the thing grasped, and the masdar meaning here is secondary; the speech on the second is according to a deleted addition: dhawat qabdatihi, meaning He grips them—the Exalted—in one grip. Al-Hasan read qabdatihi with a nasb (fatha) on the basis that it is a specialized adverb likened to a general one; this is the view of the Kufans. The Basrans say that such a nasb is an error and impermissible, and that it is necessary to explicitly state fi (in).

Isa and al-Jahdari read matwiyat with nasb on the basis that al-samawat (the heavens) is a conjunction to al-ard (the earth), sharing in its ruling—that is, the heavens are also His grip. Matwiyat is a state from al-samawat according to those who permit such a state, or from its implied pronoun in qabdatihi in the sense of maqbudatihi, or from a deleted pronoun—that is, He establishes them folded. Bi-yaminihi (with His right hand) relates to matwiyat, or on the basis that al-samawat is the subject and bi-yaminihi is the predicate, while matwiyat is also a state—either from the subject, the deleted pronoun, or the implied pronoun in the predicate, based on the school of al-Akhfash, which permits the advancement of the state in such instances.

According to many later scholars, the speech is a representation (tamthil) of the state of His greatness—the Exalted—and the effectiveness of His power—the Almighty—and the insignificance of the great actions that bewilder the imagination when compared to Him. It is like the state of one who has in his grip the entire earth and a right hand with which he folds the heavens, without suggesting a direction for the grip or the right hand, whether literally or metaphorically, in relation to the One to whom this is attributed—Allah, the Exalted in Majesty.

Some have said: The intent is to alert [us] to the increase of His majesty—the Exalted—and His greatness—the Sublime—by signifying that the entire earth is under His ownership—the Exalted—on the Day of Resurrection, and no one else shall dispose of it at all, as He—the Exalted—said: "The sovereignty that Day belongs to Allah." And the heavens are folded, like the folding of a scroll for books, by His power, which nothing can resist.

In this there is a symbol that what they associate with Him—the Exalted—whether earthly or heavenly, is subjugated under His authority—the Exalted in Majesty and the Almighty in Power. The "grip" is a metaphor for ownership or disposal, as one says: "Such and such a country is in the grip of so-and-so." And the "right hand" is a metaphor for absolute power. It is said: The "grip" is a metaphor for what was mentioned, and the "right hand" refers to the oath, meaning the heavens will be annihilated by reason of His oath, for He—the Almighty and Exalted—has sworn to annihilate them. This is something to be taken seriously, not something to be toyed with.

The predecessors also say: The speech is an alert to the increase of His majesty—the Exalted—and His greatness—the Sublime—and a symbol that their deities, whether earthly or heavenly, are subjugated under His authority—the Almighty and Exalted. However, they do not say that the "grip" is a metaphor for ownership or disposal, nor the "right hand" for power; rather, they declare Allah—the Exalted—to be free from limbs and organs, and they believe in what He has attributed to His Essence in the meaning that He—the Exalted—intended. They do the same regarding the reports that have come down in this context.

Al-Bukhari, Muslim, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i, and others narrated from Ibn Mas'ud who said: A rabbi came to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and said: "O Muhammad, we find that Allah carries the heavens on the Day of Resurrection on one finger, the earths on one finger, the trees on one finger, the water and the soil on one finger, and the rest of the creation on one finger, and then He says: 'I am the King.'" The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—laughed until his molars appeared, confirming the statement of the rabbi. Then the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—recited: "And they have not appraised Allah with true appraisal..." The allegorizers (al-muta'awwilun) interpret the "fingers" as power and the absence of difficulty, as in the saying of a speaker: "I kill Zayd with my finger." This is made distant by the apparent meaning of what Imam Ahmad, al-Tirmidhi (who authenticated it), al-Bayhaqi, and others narrated from Ibn Abbas, who said: A Jew passed by the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—while he was sitting. He said: "How do you say, O Abu al-Qasim, when Allah places the heavens on this—pointing with his index finger—and the earths on this, and the mountains on this, and the rest of the creation on this?" He kept pointing with his fingers, so Allah—the Exalted—revealed: "And they have not appraised Allah with true appraisal." Some of the allegorizers made the pointing an aid to representation and imagery. Some claimed that the verse was revealed in response to the Jew, as he had made a comparison and leaned towards anthropomorphism, and that his laughter—peace and blessings be upon him—mentioned in the previous report was also for the sake of rejection, confirming him in the report from the narrator’s speech, as understood. It is not hidden that this is highly contrary to the apparent meaning. They also made his—peace and blessings be upon him—action when reciting this verse a matter of aiding the representation and imagining the greatness. Al-Shaybani, al-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, and a group narrated from Ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—recited this verse one day on the pulpit: "And they have not appraised Allah with true appraisal, and the earth will be folded within His grip on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens will be folded in His right hand." The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said this with his hand and moved it, clenching and unclenching it, glorifying the Lord—"I am the Compeller, I am the Proud, I am the King, I am the Mighty, I am the Generous." The pulpit shook with the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—until we said, "It will surely collapse with him."

In Sahih Muslim, from Abdullah ibn Maqsam, he looked at Ibn Umar to see how he imitated the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He said: "Allah—the Exalted—will take His heavens and earths with His hands and say: 'I am Allah,' and He will clench His fingers and spread them: 'I am the King.'" In the Sharh al-Sahih by Imam al-Nawawi, quoting al-Maziri: "The clenching of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—of his fingers and spreading them is a representation of the clenching of these creations and gathering them after spreading them, and an imitation of what is spread and gripped, which are the heavens and the earths, not a reference to the clenching and spreading which is an attribute of the One who grips and spreads—the Exalted and Most High—nor is it a representation of the hearing-based attribute of Allah called 'Hand,' which is not a limb." End quote.

Furthermore, the apparent meaning of some reports suggests that the clenching of the earth is after the folding of the heavens, and that it is with another hand. Muslim narrated from Ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: "Allah—the Exalted—will fold the heavens on the Day of Resurrection, then He will take them with His right hand and say: 'I am the King; where are the oppressors? Where are the proud?' Then He will fold the earths with His left hand and say: 'Where are the oppressors? Where are the proud?'" In the Sharh, also quoting al-Maziri: "The ascription of two hands to Allah—the Exalted—is interpreted as power, and it is alluded to by 'two hands' because our actions occur with two hands; we were addressed with what we understand so that it would be clearer and more emphatic in the souls. The 'right' and the 'left' were mentioned so that the interpretation might be complete, for we take with the right hand what we honor, and with the left what is below that; and because the right hand in our case gives strength to what the left gives strength to. It is known that the heavens are greater than the earth, so He ascribed them to the right and ascribed the earths to the left to show the approximation in the metaphor, even though Allah—the Exalted and Most High—is not described as having anything lighter or heavier upon Him than another." End quote. The Sufis speak of "formal manifestation" (al-tajalli al-suriy) while maintaining the transcendence and negation indicated by "There is nothing like unto Him," and the matter in that is very easy.

Moreover, the disposal of the earth and the heavens will occur while people are on the Sirat (the Bridge), as has come in a report narrated by Muslim from Aisha—may Allah be pleased with her—in marfu' form. It is also narrated from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri from the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—that he said: "The earth will be like a single loaf of bread on the Day of Resurrection; the Compeller will flip it with His hand just as one of you flips his loaf of bread while traveling, as provision for the people of Paradise." The speech regarding this report is like the speech regarding its counterparts. Beware of anthropomorphism and corporealization, and likewise from attributing that to the predecessors. Do not be like the Mu'tazila in their unfairness towards them and attacking them. It is sufficient as proof of the Mu'tazila's ignorance of their Lord that they claim He—the Exalted—has delegated matters to the servants, so they do what He does not will, and He wills what they do not do. "Exalted and High is He above what they associate [with Him]."

( 67 ) "Far is He—Exalted be He—above what they associate [with Him]." That is, His power and greatness are far beyond their polytheism, or beyond the partners they associate [with Him]. Subhana is for astonishment. 'An (above/from) relates to it by interpreting it as what was mentioned, and ma is potentially a verbal noun or a relative pronoun.