هُوَ الَّذي خَلَقَ السَّماواتِ وَالأَرضَ في سِتَّةِ أَيّامٍ ثُمَّ استَوىٰ عَلَى العَرشِ ۚ يَعلَمُ ما يَلِجُ فِي الأَرضِ وَما يَخرُجُ مِنها وَما يَنزِلُ مِنَ السَّماءِ وَما يَعرُجُ فيها ۖ وَهُوَ مَعَكُم أَينَ ما كُنتُم ۚ وَاللَّهُ بِما تَعمَلونَ بَصيرٌ
It is He who created the heavens and the earth in six days; then settled on the Throne. He knows whatever enters the earth and whatever emerges from it, and whatever descends from the sky and whatever ascends to it, and He is with you wherever you may be, and Allah sees best what you do.
EXEGESIS
The verb yaliju (enters) in whatever enters the earth is explained later under verse 6. And the verb yaʿruju (ascends) in whatever ascends to it is from ʿaraja, to ascend, rise, mount.[1] It is used with this meaning of ascent in 15:14, 32:5, 34:2, and 70:4. The Quran also speaks of maʿārij (43:33, 70:3) with the meaning of stairways,[2] lofty stations,[3] ways of ascent,[4] or ascending stairways,[5] and the Prophet’s miraculous ascension to the heavens is called miʿrāj, all with the meaning of an ascent.
Al-baṣīr (all-seeing) is said often of God (2:110, 17:1, 22:61, 35:31, 40:20, 40:44, 42:11, 58:1, 67:19, amongst others). Unlike naẓar (to look), baṣar is vision, insight, discernment, perception (cf. 10:43). It is the opposite of an empty-looking that is heedless and devoid of instruction-taking (7:198, 10:43). It implies looking with knowledge and insight.[6] Rāghib argues the words baṣurtu bi-mā lam yabṣurū bi-hi (20:96) is not merely ‘I saw what they didn’t see’ but rather ‘I knew that which they knew not’[7] and that it may even refer to the heart’s ability to perceive the truth (cf. 50:22, 53:17).[8] And hence the Arabic expression, lahu baṣar bi … means ‘he has knowledge of …’ or ‘he is familiar with …’. Similarly, the ulū al-abṣār (3:13, 24:44, 59:2) are the people of deep insights.
At times, baṣar (pl. abṣār) may be used for mere seeing and the faculty of sight (2:20, 6:46, 15:15, 16:77, 19:42, 21:97, 24:30-31, 24:43, 33:10, 41:22, 47:23, 68:51, and others) but this is contrasted with baṣīrah (pl. baṣāʾir), from a common root, to denote mental perception and the deeper sense of perceptivity that is admonition-giving (28:43, 75:14). See also 12:108, 17:59, 27:13, and 32:12. Also see the Exegesis of 69:39 for more on baṣar and baṣīrah.
EXPOSITION
Having mentioned that everything in the heavens and the earth glorifies God (verse 1) and that to Him they all belong (verse 2), this verse reiterates further that this ownership of the heavens and the earth was not inherited or bestowed; rather it is so because It is He who created the heavens and the earth.
The creation of the heavens and the earth in six days is mentioned seven times in the Quran, the first time in 7:54 and the last in this verse.[9] Six days is not the same measure of time that is ordinarily experienced by humans but rather six periods (awqāt)[10] of unspecified durations. Other verses speak of a day with your Lord is like a thousand years of your reckoning (22:47; cf. 32:5). The breakdown of the days for the creation of everything is detailed under 41:9-12.
The Throne (ʿarsh), mentioned over twenty times in the Quran, is figurative for God’s power and knowledge, or, if understood literally, represents His entire creation. More accurately, the seat (kursī) (2:255) represents all of creation as God’s kingdom, and the Throne represents His decree and governing of this creation (32:5) (see 69:17 for more on ʿarsh and kursī).
Therefore, settled on the Throne means: established His dominion and the regulation of the affairs of His creation. Istawā (settled) has also been interpreted as equidistant, from the word sawiyyah (equal, even, level. Cf. 9:19), such that istawā on the Throne can also mean: He created the heavens and the earth such that His omnipresence does not allow for anything to be further or nearer to Him than another. See Insights from Hadith for more.
The words, He knows whatever enters the earth and whatever emerges from it, and whatever descends from the sky and whatever ascends to it also occur in 34:2 to mean He knows everything; He knows whatever there is in land and sea. No leaf falls without His knowing it, nor is there a grain in the darkness of the earth, nor anything fresh or withered but it is in a manifest book (6:59). As mentioned under verse 2 as well, the mention of the heavens and the earth together, itself suggests ‘all things in existence’. So the additional descriptions of whatever enters or emerges from the earth and whatever descends or ascends from the heavens (see Review of Tafsīr Literature for specific examples) is to drive this point home, that nothing escapes the notice and knowledge of God, no matter how small or big, and nothing exists or moves without His will and allowance.
He is with you wherever you may be confirms His being all-encompassing. He encompasses man as He does all things so it is impossible for anyone or anything to disappear from Him. Wherever you may be is stressed because one who is aware of something ceases to be so when it disappears from him and the known moves away from the knower. But time, space, and conditions are irrelevant to God, the exalted. They remain the same to Him so He remains aware of you, wherever you may be. In Imam Ali’s (a) words: ‘And the voice of one person does not distract Him from the voice of another.’[11]
And Allah sees best what you do (also 2:233, 2:237, 3:156, 33:9, 48:24, 49:18, 60:3, 64:2) is to remind that besides being with you at all times and being aware of both the apparent good and evil you do, He also knows your hidden intentions and the reality of your actions. Sees best is given in Arabic as His attribute of al-baṣīr, which, unlike mere seeing, denotes perceiving or a seeing filled with a deep awareness of something.
This is again to bring a greater realisation of His omniscience and omnipotence, as a clarification and extension to the fact that He knows everything that comes into or out of the heavens and the earth and that He is with you wherever you may be.
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- From the Prophet: ‘To Him ascends the actions of the night before the day and the actions of the day before the night.’[12]
- From the Prophet: ‘The best faith of a man is for him to know that God is with him wherever he is.’[13]
- When Gabriel asked the Prophet about beneficence (iḥsān), he replied: ‘To worship God as if you see Him. For [even] if you do not see Him, He certainly sees you.’[14]
- Prophet Moses (a) asked God: ‘Where shall I find you, O Lord?’ He said: ‘O Moses, whenever you intend [to set out] towards Me, you have arrived to Me.’[15]
- Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) was asked about the verse, The All-beneficent, settled on the Throne (20:5), he said: ‘[It means] He is equidistant (istawā) from all things, and not a single thing is nearer to Him than another.’[16] And in another similar version, he added: ‘… nothing that is far can move further from Him and nothing close can move closer to Him. He is equidistant from all things.’[17]
Note: This hadith beautifully illustrates that had God been physically seated on a throne, then, necessarily, some of His creation would be closer to Him than others, which is an impossibility to ascribe to God. Secondly, the Imam appears to interpret ʿarsh as all of creation and hence the word istawā on the Throne as meaning ‘equidistant from (istawā min) all things’. For more, see the note on this hadith under 69:17.
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
If we summarise the meaning of settled on the Throne to mean the establishment of God’s control over the universe and His regulating their affairs (32:5), then, as a continuation, He knows whatever enters the earth and whatever emerges from it is, according to Tabatabai, because knowledge is an integral part of this regulating of affairs.[18] In other words, it is because of His awareness of all matters that nothing can be distanced from Him any more than another. And according to Rāzī, the entire statement He knows … is to highlight the perfection of God’s knowledge[19] (cf. 6:59, 13:10).
Suyūṭī interprets He knows whatever enters the earth in the literal sense, as rain and buried corpses, and likewise, whatever emerges from it to mean vegetation and minerals,[20] but Tustarī gives it a more esoteric interpretation. Just as the demise of a human being may be equated to the collapse of the world (see the Exposition of 82:1), Tustarī likens the human natural self (nafs al-ṭabʿ) to the earth: ‘[In] the inner meaning of the verse, the earth is the natural self (nafs al-ṭabʿ), and thus He knows, among the things which enter it [the natural self], that which is wholesome (ṣalāḥ) or corrupt (fasād) for the heart; and whatever emerges from it, in the way of diverse acts of obedience (funūn al-ṭāʿāt), the traces and marks of which are clearly seen upon the bodily members. And whatever descends from the sky, God’s codes of fair conduct (ādāb) towards Him which [descend] to it; and whatever ascends to it, the beautiful scents and remembrance of Him that ascend to God.’[21]
Some exegetes, like Suyūṭī and Qurṭubī, have said His being with you at all times is only a metaphor to mean His power or knowledge encompasses everything, such that He is aware of you at all times.[22] This is a particularly favoured interpretation for those who understand God anthropomorphically and interpret the words settled on the Throne literally. Like Ṭabarī, for example, who is explicit: ‘He witnesses you, O people; wherever you are, He knows you and He knows your actions, and your comings and goings, and He is on His Throne above His seven heavens.’[23] Most, however, have said this ‘with-ness’ is through His very essence or being,[24] and that agrees with many other similar verses such as, whichever way you turn, there is the face of Allah! (2:115).
A literal understanding of God being with you wherever you may be does not violate His transcendence if we do not interpret Him anthropomorphically, firstly because if the verse only means ‘He is aware of you’ then it is no different from the words that follow: and Allah sees best what you do; and secondly, the realisation of God’s immanence and constant presence with a person, such as the words of Prophet Moses (a), Certainly not! Indeed my Lord is with me. He will guide me (26:62), is more conducive to greater faith and conviction rather than simply a detached awareness that God knows one’s condition.
But as Nasr notes, though God is with you wherever you may be at all times, and this follows logically from His being the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden (verse 3), nonetheless, such ‘with-ness’ can only be affirmed for God in relation to human beings, but not for human beings in relation to God, since You are the ones who stand in need of Allah, and Allah – He is the all-sufficient, the all-laudable (35:15).[25]
[1] Hans Wehr, ʿ-r-j.
[2] Qarai, 43:33.
[3] Qarai, 70:3.
[4] Yusufali, 70:3; Shakir, 70:3.
[5] Pickthall, 70:3.
[6] Hans Wehr, b-ṣ-r.
[7] Lane, b-ṣ-r.
[8] Raghib, b-ṣ-r.
[9] In the order of the compilation of the surahs and not necessarily the order of revelation.
[10] Qummi, 2/350.
[11] Nahj, sermon 195.
[12] Muslim, 1/79.
[13] Suyuti, 6/171.
[14] Bukhari, 1/2; Muslim, 1/1; Ahmad, 2/107.
[15] Bursawi, 9/351.
[16] Qummi, 2/59; Kafi, 1/127.
[17] Kafi, 1/128.
[18] Mizan, 19/146.
[19] Razi, 29/448.
[20] Jalalayn, p. 541.
[21] Tustari, p. 161.
[22] Suyuti, 6/171; Qurtubi, 17/237.
[23] Tabari, 27/125.
[24] Razi, 29/449.
[25] Nasr, p. 1332.