The Ocean of the Quran

A verse by verse explanation of The Ultimate Scripture

Luqmān – Verse 30

ذٰلِكَ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الحَقُّ وَأَنَّ ما يَدعونَ مِن دونِهِ الباطِلُ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ العَلِيُّ الكَبيرُ

That is because Allah is the truth, and whatever they invoke besides Him is falsehood, and because Allah is the all-exalted, the all-great.

EXEGESIS

The demonstrative pronoun That (dhālika) at the inception of this verse refers to what was mentioned in the previous verse of the passing of the night into day and vice versa, as well as the subjection of the sun and the moon to mankind’s benefit;‎[1] and/or it could refer to God’s expansive knowledge, exhaustive power, and wondrous creation mentioned in previous verses.‎[2] The particle bi adjoined to the particle anna (bi-anna) denotes causality, meaning ‘because’,‎[3] while the intent of the word al-ḥaqq is what is absolutely firm, stable, abiding, eternal, and steady, such that falsehood and nullity do not come close to it, just as the intent of the word al-bāṭil is what is in opposition to al-ḥaqq, meaning that which has no stability and firmness, that which is evanescent and fleeting.‎[4]

EXPOSITION

That, which is reference to His magnificent creation, vast knowledge, the countless variety of His creations, and the all-encompassing nature of His power, as mentioned in the previous verses, is because Allah is the truth, by whose will every other truth is realised. He is the ultimate truth, through which all other truths come to being and find their meaning. This means that God exists independently, and His existence is untainted by falsehood. It is the truth. In other words, His existence is all-encompassing and present in every aspect. His existence is absolute and not limited by any conditions or restrictions. It is necessary existence and it is impossible for Him not to exist. All other existent beings rely on the assumption of their cause, which is dependent on something other than themselves, and their existence is not inherently necessary.

If the truth of a thing is determined by its steadfastness, then God is the ultimate truth in and of Himself, and all other truths are realised through Him. By contemplating this idea, we can understand that all things and systems depend on God for their existence and functions. Attributes of existence, such as knowledge, power, life, and unity, are inherent in God in a manner befitting His majesty and holiness. Some attributes, like knowledge and power, are part of His essence, while others, like creation and mercy, are derived from His actions.

Thus, God, as the ultimate truth, cannot be associated with any partner in His being or in His governance, nor with anything that implies deficiency or loss. These are negative attributes that are denied in relation to Him, such as the denial of multiplicity, corporeality, spatiality, temporality, ignorance, incapability, invalidity, and impermanence. The absolute nature of His existence, unbound by any limitations, negates all forms of non-existence, effectively affirming His absolute existence or truth.‎[5]

Therefore, He is the all-exalted since there is no authority and power beyond His authority and power, and because He rises above everything.‎[6] Thus, He is the one towards whom worship should necessarily be directed or oriented.‎[7] He has created this system in the manner in which you see it, and it was not created by any other being such as the idols or other beings worshipped as deities.‎[8]

Indeed, where God describes Himself in this verse as the truth, He actually restricts this quality to Himself. He does this in two ways: firstly, by the insertion of the third person singular personal pronoun huwa (he) into the verse, denoting emphasis and restriction.‎[9] So instead of saying bi-annallāha al-ḥaqq – because surely Allah is the truth – the verse says bi-annallāha huwa al-ḥaqq – because surely Allah, He is the truth. This has the effect of restricting the description to the thing thus described, which is Allah.‎[10] And secondly, by the rendering of the word truth (ḥaqq), which is the predicate of the nominal sentence He is the truth, definite by the definite particle al. This has the effect of conveying specificity and exclusivity in that the predicate can only apply to the subject (huwa – He) and nothing else.‎[11] That means: He is the truth can only apply to Allah, for the obvious reason that the truth is the firm and stable existence to which falsehood and nullity do not reach. Since God is the necessary being, inexistence or nullity do not touch Him, for if that were to happen then such a being would fall outside the scope of being the necessary being. Thus He is the truth in the absolute sense.

As for beings other than Him, they are contingent beings. Hence, they are, in and of themselves not necessary existences or necessary beings, rather they obtain their existence from God. Thus they are, in and of themselves, unsteady and infirm (al-bāṭil).‎[12] This meaning becomes apparent if we recognise that a contingent being obtains the grace of its existence moment by moment from God, and if its link to God is severed at any moment, inexistence would overcome it. Therefore, it is correct to say that God is the truth and all else apart from Him is null and void from this perspective.‎[13]

The poet al-Labīd has rightfully said: ‘Hearken! Everything apart from God is null and void, and every bliss and comfort is undoubtedly fleeting.’ It is said that ʿUthmān ibn Maẓʿūn, while agreeing with the first statement, objected vehemently to the second and said in protest: ‘Save the bliss and comfort of paradise!’‎[14] This remonstration is correct from one perspective and incorrect from another. It is correct from the perspective that God has not decreed extinction for paradise and its constituents, however from another perspective the objection is incorrect since paradise and its constituents are from the contingent beings. Contingent beings are, in and of themselves, potentially prone to losing their existence. Thus, had it not been for the flowing forth of God’s grace at every moment, on paradise and its comforts, inexistence would overwhelm it.‎[15]

He is the all-great, great and magnificent in His existence, power, and might,‎[16] and because He encompasses everything in His power‎[17] and knowledge; the all-great in His attributes.‎[18] None deserves His attributes save Him, the exalted.‎[19]

Three attributes of God have been mentioned in this verse: al-ḥaqq (the truth), al-ʿalī (the all-exalted), and al-kabīr (the all-great). Perhaps the first attribute points to the necessity of God’s existence for the being that is absolutely firm and stable, and is the truth, al-ḥaqq, is the one whose existence is necessary and essential,‎[20] absolute, unrestricted, and unconditional.‎[21] His non-existence is impossible.‎[22] The second attribute al-ʿalī points to God’s transcendence from negative attributes; while the third attribute al-kabīr points to His positive attributes.‎[23] This verse is rich in meaning and verses 29-30 occur again in 22:61-62 with slight variations.

[1] Tabrisi.J, 3/285; Munyah, 21/150.
[2] Safi, 4/150.
[3] Tabrisi.J, 3/285; Munyah, 21/150.
[4] Mizan, 16/235; Munyah, 21/150.
[5] Mizan, 16/236-237
[6] Tibyan, 8/286; Safi, 4/150.
[7] Tibyan, 8/286; Tabrisi, 8/504-505.
[8] Munyah, 21/150.
[9] Munyah, 21/150.
[10] Munyah, 21/150.
[11] Mizan, 16/235-236.
[12] Munyah, 21/150.
[13] Munyah, 21/150.
[14] The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, p. 169, cited in Munyah, 21/150.
[15] Munyah, 21/150.
[16] Munyah, 21/150.
[17] Safi, 4/150.
[18] Tibyan, 8/286.
[19] Tibyan, 8/286.
[20] Munyah, 21/150.
[21] Mizan, 16/236.
[22] Mizan, 16/236.
[23] Mizan, 16/237; Munyah, 21/150.