| Al-Hadid (The Iron): (4) It is He Who created...

Verse (4): {It is He Who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then established Himself above the Throne.}

This verse has been explained previously in Al-A'raf. The purpose here is to demonstrate the proofs of His Power.

Verse (5): {He knows what penetrates into the earth and what emerges from it, what descends from the heaven and what ascends to it.}

This verse has been explained previously in Saba'. The purpose here is to establish the perfection of His Knowledge. His description of Power is mentioned before His description of Knowledge because knowledge of His being Powerful precedes knowledge of His being Knowing. Therefore, a group of verifiers holds that the first thing known about God is the knowledge of His being Powerful. Others maintain that the first thing known about God is the knowledge of His being an Agent (Muth'ir). In either case, knowledge of His being Powerful precedes knowledge of His being Knowing.

Verse (6): {And He is with you wherever you are. And Allah, of what you do, is Seeing.}

This verse contains several issues:

Know that it is established that everything other than the Necessary Being (al-Wajib al-Haqq) is possible (mumkin). Every possible thing derives its existence from the Necessary Being. Thus, the attainment of existence by a possible essence occurs through the Necessary Being granting that existence to that essence. Therefore, the Truth, exalted is He, is the intermediary between every essence and its existence. He is closer to every essence than the existence of that essence itself.

From this secret, the verifiers said: "I have not seen anything except that I saw Allah before it." The moderates said: "I have not seen anything except that I saw Allah with it." The literalists said: "I have not seen Allah after it [i.e., I saw Allah, and then I saw the thing]."

Know that these subtle points we have revealed in these passages have two stages:

1. That a person reaches them through the requirement of thought, reflection, contemplation, and deliberation.
2. That the soul attains a gustatory power (quwwa dhawqiyya) and an experiential state (ḥāla wijdāniyya) that cannot be expressed. The relationship of perception to this experience is like the relationship of one who eats sugar to one who describes its sweetness with their tongue.

The theologians (Mutakallimūn) said that this companionship ({معية}) is either through Knowledge or through Preservation and Guarding. In both cases, there is a consensus that He, exalted is He, is not with us in terms of place, direction, or physical space. Therefore, the statement {And He is with you} must involve interpretation (ta'wīl). If we permit interpretation in one instance, we must permit it in all other instances.

Know that there is a wonderful arrangement in these verses. He first established, through the statement {He is the First, the Last, the Manifest (al-Ẓāhir), the Hidden (al-Bāṭin)}, His divinity over all possible beings and creatures. Then, He established His divinity over the Throne, the heavens, and the earths. Then, through the statement {And He is with you wherever you are}, He established His companionship with us, due to the power of creation and origination, and due to His Knowledge, as He is Knower of our outward and inward states. Reflect upon the manner of this arrangement, and then reflect upon the wording of these verses, for they contain wondrous secrets and indications toward lofty matters.

Verse (7): {To Him belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. And to Allah return all matters.}