Sūrat al-Mulk is also one of the very important chapters of the Holy Qur'an and carry a special message contained in thirty verses. Revered Hadith collector Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) has been reported as saying in the noted Hadith collections At-Tirmidhi and Abu Dawood:
I heard the Messenger of Allah saying, “There is a Surah in the Quran which contains thirty Ayat which keeps interceding for a man until his sins are forgiven. This Surah is ‘Blessed is He in Whose Hand is the dominion (the opening verse of Surat Al-Mulk).’"This surah thus gives a hope to the believers that of the recite it regularly simply to please Allah, and also act upon what has been said in it, then surely Surah Mulk will intercede for him in the Hereafter. The Prophet of Allah regularly recited Surah Al Mulk besides Surah Al Sajada before going to sleep so that all evils stay from him during his sleep. It has also been narrated by Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) said, “Surah Mulk is a protector; a rescuer; saving from the chastisement of the grave.”
As per the text, this surah has been divided into a number of parts to better understand the divine message to draw maximum benefit out of this important chapter of the Holy Qur'an:
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful"
(1. Blessed be He in Whose Hand is the dominion; and He is Able to do all things.) (2. Who has created death and life that He may test you which of you is best in deed. And He is the Almighty, the Oft-Forgiving;) (3. Who has created the seven heavens one above the other; you can see no fault in the creation of the Most Gracious. Then look again. Can you see any rifts) (4. Then look again and yet again, your sight will return to you, and worn out.) (5. And indeed We have adorned the nearest heaven with lamps, and We have made such lamps (as) lances to drive away the Shayatin / Satan / iblees, and have prepared for them the torment of the blazing Fire.)
The very open verse tells the reciters and the listeners that it is Allah alone, and no one else, who is the master of His dominion, which includes the entire universe beyond which there is nothing. It is He who created the universe from nothing and created life and death for every living being as a test to see who believes in Him and does good deeds for a far greater rewards that awaits in the life in the hereafter. While He would test everyone, He would also listen to those who after sinning and wrongdoing turn to Him in repentance and seek forgiveness, and He is the Oft-Forgiving.
And for those who doubt Allah's claim, they have been asked to move around and look hard to find any fault in His creation and no wonder their exercise would end in utter futility and frustration for Allah has created everything that can be seen with naked eye and those beyond that and hidden from the perception of the man in complete perfection and absoluteness.
And for those who doubt Allah's claim, they have been asked to move around and look hard to find any fault in His creation and no wonder their exercise would end in utter futility and frustration for Allah has created everything that can be seen with naked eye and those beyond that and hidden from the perception of the man in complete perfection and absoluteness.
6. And for those who disbelieve in their Lord (Allah) is the torment of Hell, and worst indeed is that destination. 7. When they are cast therein, they will hear the (terrible) drawing in of its breath as it blazes forth. 8. It almost bursts up with fury. Every time a group is cast therein, its keeper will ask: "Did no warner come to you?" 9. They will say: "Yes indeed; a warner did come to us, but we belied him and said: 'Allah never sent down anything (of revelation), you are only in great error.'" 10. And they will say: "Had we but listened or used our intelligence, we would not have been among the dwellers of the blazing Fire!" 11. Then they will confess their sin. So, away with the dwellers of the blazing Fire.
Verses 6-11 are for those who still do not believe in Allah, His countless blessings and the message brought to them through His chosen messenger, there is tiding for a place burning with blazing fires where they would burn alive forever for negating and doubting Allah's commandments and denying the prophet hood of Allah's chosen messengers. And there would be no time to repent and curse themselves for not having listened to the messengers of Allah, for they brought to them the true message. And on their way to hell, the doormen would ask: "Did no warner come to you?" And they would reply: "Yes indeed; a warner did come to us, but we belied." him. And then losers would admit that they deserved the punishment that was being meted out to them.
12. Verily! Those who fear their Lord unseen (i.e. they do not see Him, nor His Punishment in the Hereafter, etc.), theirs will be forgiveness and a great reward (i.e. Paradise). 13. And whether you keep your talk secret or disclose it, verily, He is the All-Knower of what is in the breasts (of men). 14. Should not He Who has created know? And He is the Most Kind and Courteous (to His slaves) All-Aware (of everything).In verses 12-l4, tells of people who remain fearful of Allah in this world shall be rewarded. All their virtuous deeds are in the knowledge of Allah and He shall duly honour them. For Allah is the Most Kind and Courteous (to His slaves) All-Aware (of everything).
15. He it is, Who has made the earth subservient to you (i.e. easy for you to walk, to live and to do agriculture on it, etc.), so walk in the path thereof and eat of His provision, and to Him will be the Resurrection. 16. Do you feel secure that He, Who is over the heaven (Allah), will not cause the earth to sink with you, then behold it shakes (as in an earthquake)? 17. Or do you feel secure that He, Who is over the heaven (Allah), will not send against you a violent whirlwind? Then you shall know how (terrible) has been My Warning? 18. And indeed those before them belied (the Messengers of Allah), then how terrible was My denial (punishment)? 19. Do they not see the birds above them, spreading out their wings and folding them in? None upholds them except the Most Beneficent (Allah). Verily, He is the All-Seer of everything. 20. Who is he besides the Most Beneficent that can be an army to you to help you? The disbelievers are in nothing but delusion. 21. Who is he that can provide for you if He should withhold His provision? Nay, but they continue to be in pride, and (they) flee (from the truth). 22. Is he who walks without seeing on his face, more rightly guided, or he who (sees and) walks on a Straight Way (i.e. Islamic Monotheism). 23. Say it is He Who has created you, and endowed you with hearing (ears), seeing (eyes), and hearts. Little thanks you give.in verses 15-23, Allah tells those who do not believe that He has made earth full of bounties and blessings so that they benefits from these. But these pleasures come with a warning that one day he will be held accountable for their fair usage or otherwise. It has been said: "Look: the earth on which you move about with full satisfaction and peace of mind, and from which you obtain your sustenance has been subdued for you by Allah; otherwise this earth might at any time start shaking suddenly so as to cause your destruction, or a typhoon might occur, which may annihilate you completely. Look at the birds that fly above you; it is only Allah Who is sustaining them in the air. Look at your own means and resources: if Allah wills to inflict you with a scourge, none can save you from it; and if Allah wills to close the doors of sustenance on you, none can open them for you. These things are there to make you aware of the truth, but you see them like animals, which are unable to draw conclusions from observations, and you do not use your sight, hearing and minds which Allah has bestowed on you as men; that is why you do not see the right way." [1
24. Say: "It is He Who has created you from the earth, and to Him shall you be gathered (in the Hereafter)." 25. They say: "When will this promise (i.e. the Day of Resurrection) come to pass? if you are telling the truth." 26. Say (O Muhammad ): "The knowledge (of its exact time) is with Allah only, and I am only a plain warner." 27. But when they will see it (the torment on the Day of Resurrection) approaching, the faces of those who disbelieve will be different (black, sad, and in grieve), and it will be said (to them): "This is (the promise) which you were calling for!"In verses 24-27, it has been said: "You have ultimately to appear before your God in any case. It is not for the Prophet to tell you the exact time and date of the event. His only duty is to warn you beforehand of its inevitable occurrence. Today you do not listen to him and demand that he should cause the event to occur and appear prematurely before you; but when it does occur, and you see it with your own eyes, you will then be astounded. Then, it will be said to you "This is the very thing you were calling to be hastened."
28. Say (O Muhammad (peace be upon him)): "Tell me! If Allah destroys me, and those with me, or He bestows His Mercy on us, - who can save the disbelievers from a painful torment?" 29. Say: "He is the Most Beneficent (Allah), in Him we believe, and in Him we put our trust. So you will come to know who is it that is in manifest error."In verses 28-29 replies have been given to what the disbelievers of Makkah said against the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) and his Companions. They cursed the Holy Prophet and prayed for his and the believers destruction. To this it has been said: "Whether those who call you to the right way are destroyed, or shown mercy by Allah, how will their fate change your destiny? You should look after yourselves and consider who would save you if you were overtaken by the scourge of God?You regard those who believe in God and put their trust in Him as the misguided. A time will come when it will become evident as to who was misguided in actual truth.
30. Say (O Muhammad ): "Tell me! If (all) your water were to be sunk away, who then can supply you with flowing (spring) water?"In conclusion, the people have been asked this question and left to ponder over it "If the water which has come out from the earth at some place in the desert or hill country of Arabia and upon which depends your whole life activity, should sink and vanish underground, who beside Allah can restore to you this life giving water?"
You may now like to listen to Arabic recitation of Surah Al Mulk with English subtitles:
You may refer to our post "114 Chapters (Sūrahs) of the Holy Qur'an" for translation, meaning and summary of other chapters (Though not complete but building up from 30th Part backwards for chapters in 30th Part are shorter and easier to understand)
Photo | References: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
Reading the Holy Quran should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully.
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An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Holy Qur'an from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that:
- The plain translation has been taken from the Holy Quran officially published by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
- The exegesis of the chapters of the Holy Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi. [1]
In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided by [2], additional input has been interjected from following sources:
- Exegesis by Maulana Mufti Muhammad Sharif, revised by Justice Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani
- Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle
- Tafsir Ibn Khatir
- Al-Quran, Yusuf Ali Translation
In addition the references of other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.
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