Surah At-Taghabun (The Mutual Loss and Gain)

Verse 1

Translation:

What is in the heavens and what is on the earth glorifies Allah. To Him belongs all sovereignty, and to Him belongs all praise, and He is over all things competent (Qadeer).

Scholarly Notes (Drawing upon the style of Fakhr al-Din al-Razi):

This verse initiates the Surah by establishing the universal scope of Tasbih (glorification) and affirming Allah's absolute dominion and power.

1. Universal Glorification (يسبح لله ما فى السماوات وما فى الا رض):
   • This is a comprehensive statement encompassing all created beings, both those visible (on earth) and those unseen (in the heavens).
   • The Tasbih here is understood in its most complete sense: acknowledging Allah's transcendence, perfection, and freedom from any defect or imperfection.

2. Sovereignty and Praise (له الملك وله الحمد):
   • Sovereignty (الملك): This signifies absolute ownership and control over all existence, implying that nothing occurs outside His decree.
   • Praise (الحمد): This encompasses all forms of commendation, both for His essence (attributes) and His actions (creation and decree). Since all good originates from Him, all praise is due to Him alone.

3. Omnipotence (وهو على كل شىء قدير):
   • This concludes the opening statement by affirming His absolute power (Qudrah).
   • This attribute serves as the foundation for the preceding claims: Because He possesses all dominion and deserves all praise, it must be because He is capable of executing whatever He wills concerning His creation. This power is unrestricted, applying to every thing.

At-Taghabun (The Mutual Loss): (1) All that is in the heavens...

Connection to the Previous Surah

The connection to the preceding Surah is clear. That Surah was directed against the lying hypocrites, whereas this Surah is directed against the hypocrites who are truthful (in their claims of faith) but whose actions betray them.

Furthermore, the previous Surah detailed the secret and public falsehoods of the hypocrites. This Surah, however, contains a severe warning for them, which is His statement:

{He knows what is in the heavens and what is on earth, and He knows what you conceal and what you reveal. And Allah is All-Knowing of the innermost thoughts.}

The connection between the end of the previous Surah and the beginning of this one is established because the end of the previous Surah reminded people of remembrance (Dhikr) and gratitude (Shukr). In the beginning of this Surah, it is indicated that if they turn away from remembrance and gratitude, there are people among the creation who constantly adhere to remembrance and gratitude—those who glorify (Tasbih):

{All that is in the heavens and all that is on earth glorifies Allah.}

Explanation of the Verses

And His statement:

{To Him belongs the dominion and to Him belongs all praise.}

This means that since everything in the heavens and the earth glorifies Allah, to Him belongs the dominion and to Him belongs all praise. Since the dominion belongs to Him, He is the one who manages His dominion. Management requires power, so He follows this with:

{And Allah is All-Powerful over all things.}

Al-Razi notes that in Al-Kashshaf, it is mentioned that the two prepositional phrases (referring to the heavens and the earth) were mentioned first to indicate the exclusivity of the dominion and praise belonging to Allah. This is because true dominion belongs to Him as the Originator, Creator, Sustainer, and Overseer of everything. Similarly, all praise is due to Him because the origins and branches of all blessings come from Him. As for the dominion of others, it is merely an authorization or a temporary grant, and their praise (of Allah) is an acknowledgment that a blessing from Allah has passed through their hands.

Regarding His statement: {And He is All-Powerful over all things}, it is said that this means: He is powerful over everything He wills. Another view is that He is powerful to do what He wills, to the extent He wills, neither more nor less. This has been discussed previously.

Points of Discussion (Mabahith) in the Verse

The Almighty said in Surah Al-Hadid: {Glorify Allah} (61:1), and similarly in Al-Hashr and As-Saff. However, in Al-Jumu'ah and At-Taghabun, He said: {All that is in the heavens and all that is on earth glorifies Allah} (or {glorifies Allah, what is in the heavens and what is on earth}).

The wisdom behind this difference? The answer to this has already been provided (in previous discussions).

In some places, He says: {All that is in the heavens and what is on earth glorifies Allah} (Al-Hashr: 1). In other places, He says: {All that is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Allah} (Al-Hadid: 1).

The wisdom behind this difference? There must be wisdom, though we may not know it perfectly. However, what comes to mind is that the totality of the heavens and the earth constitutes a single entity—a cosmos composed of celestial and elemental bodies. The Earth is one part of this totality, and everything else is another part.

Therefore, the statement {All that is in the heavens and what is on earth glorifies Allah} refers to this part (the heavens) and that part (the earth) simultaneously. Given this, it is plausible that Allah mentioned it differently in various Surahs to indicate that this physical world, while being one entity in one sense, is also two things, or even many things, in another sense. The creation in the totality is different from what is in one part, and different from what is in another part. The existence of something in the whole does not necessitate its existence in every single part without separate evidence.

Thus, the statement {All that is in the heavens and what is on earth glorifies Allah} serves as an emphasis (Mubalaghah) because it indicates the glorification of what is in the heavens and the glorification of what is on earth, unlike the phrasing {All that is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Allah}, which treats them more as a singular unit.

Continuation of the Surah