تَنزيلٌ مِن رَبِّ العالَمينَ
Gradually sent down from the Lord of all the worlds.
EXEGESIS
There are eleven verses in the Quran very similar to this, with slight variations (26:192, 32:2, 36:5, 39:1, 40:2, 41:2, 41:42, 45:2, 46:2, 56:80, 69:43).
Having said what it is not, the Quran now clarifies what it is – a divine revelation. One of the proofs of its divine origin is that despite being Gradually sent down over twenty-three years, its message is consistent and free of discrepancies (4:82). And the words from the Lord of all the worlds reconfirms that the earlier verse It is indeed the speech of a noble messenger was only meant to emphasise his being a messenger; otherwise, it is the speech of God alone, the Lord of all the worlds.
This verse is therefore a rebuke to those who say that the Quran is old fables (6:25, 8:31, 16:24, 23:83, 25:5, 27:68, 68:15, 83:13), or the speech of a poet (verse 41), or that of a soothsayer (verse 42).
The Quran uses both the term tanzīl (and its derivatives) and inzāl (and its derivatives) to describe its revelation. Many exegetes (including Zamakhsharī, Rāghib, and Tabatabai) have explained this difference, based on their verb forms, as follows: tanzīl (the infinitive of tafʿīl) and nazzala (on the second verb form faʿʿala) imply a gradual, piecemeal descent (since the verb form implies repetition) – and hence the word gradually in this verse’s translation. Conversely, inzāl (as the infinitive of ifʿāl) and anzala (on the fourth verb form afʿala) suggest an at-once descent.
And this is because most scholars also hold the view that the Quran was first revealed in its universal form, from the preserved tablet (lawḥ maḥfūẓ) (see 56:78) to the lowest heaven (or according to some accounts to the Prophet’s heart), in a specific night (the Night of Ordainment (laylat al-qadr)) in the month of Ramadan, as an all-at-once (dafʿatan) revelation (2:185, 44:2-3, 97:1). And thereafter, its actual words were revealed to the Prophet a second time, gradually and in instalments (17:106, 25:32) over the twenty-three year period of the Prophet’s mission.
Whilst this two-phase descent of the Quran may be true, the attempts by exegetes to explain all verses that speak of the Quran’s revelation as meaning gradual versus at-once based on the use of tanzīl versus inzāl (and their derivatives) respectively, does not always hold. This is explained in detail under the Review of Tafsīr Literature for 3:3 and summarised again under the Review of Tafsīr Literature for this verse. Such a restricted, binary interpretation of a Quranic term is similar to what was mentioned earlier under verse 9 concerning the meaning of khaṭīʾah as an offence versus a mistake, based on the verb form khaṭaʾa (first verb form) versus akhṭaʾa (fourth verb form).
Regardless, the sending down of the Quran is of course not literal and physical but implies revelation to the Prophet as a simplification or decoding of God’s message from a more universal (and hence higher) source (cf. 6:59, 43:4, 85:22) to a level that man (and jinn) can comprehend. In departing from its higher level to a lower one, the Quran is bound by language and contextualised for the spatio-temporal realm of humans and jinn. The fact that the Quran is not sent down in any physical sense is also shown in the verses that speak of this as being the polytheists’ demand: They say: ‘We will not believe in you until … you bring down for us a book that we may read’ (17:90-93), meaning their demand to witness a physical book descending from the heavens.
The word rabb can broadly be understood with two meanings: that of an owner, lord, and master possessing complete control over what he owns, and that of a nurturer and sustainer.
With the first meaning in mind, a housewife, for example, one who manages and controls the affairs of her house, is called rabbat al-manzil, and a landlady is called rabbat al-bayt. And with the second meaning of nurturer and sustainer, also used in reference to the upbringing (tarbiyah) and raising of a child, a nursemaid is called rābbah or rabībah.
When rabb is used for God to imply the first meaning of ownership and possession, its opposite is ʿabd (slave): There is none in the heavens and the earth but he comes to the All-beneficent as a servant (ʿabd) (19:93).
And with the second meaning of nurturer and sustainer, that Rāghib aptly defines as ‘to rear someone or something, from one state to another (cf. 84:19), until it is complete and fully grown’, rabb signifies one who directs a thing toward its perfection by purifying it of deficiencies and developing in it the traits of perfection, in accordance with the nature of its existence, and what perfection means for it. This meaning applies to animals and plants and all things in existence, just as it does for the human being: our Lord (rabb) is He who gave everything its creation then guided it (20:50).
Yet these two meanings of rabb (lord versus sustainer) are not distinct. They converge and combine, giving us the idea of a master who takes care of his possession. This is because sometimes the owner of a possession is ignorant, weak, or incapable of looking after and nurturing what he possesses. God, on the other hand, is completely in control of what He has given existence to, and He has neither created them in vain (23:115) nor left them to their own devices (75:36).
And this is especially true in the expression rabb al-ʿālamīn. God as the rabb of all the worlds highlights the fact that He not only gives existence to all creation and has full control over every aspect of their existence, but also continuously nurtures them.
Such a meaning is very appropriate in this verse: just as the tanzīl (revelation) of the Quran is a gradual descent, it is from the rabb al-ʿālamīn who nurtures and gives growth as a gradual (and often cyclical) process, especially in the case of human beings (cf. 56:80).
If the goal of creation is to constantly seek perfection by attaining higher consciousness of God, then God Himself is constantly nurturing and nudging His creation to find this perfection and know Him. God does not create and then retire, leaving His creation to its whims and natural course of existence. Rather, He continues to sustain, keep in existence, give growth, and drive His creation towards Himself: Indeed Allah sustains [literally, ‘holds’] the heavens and the earth lest they should fall apart, and if they were to fall apart there is none who can sustain them except Him (35:41). And despite what may appear as chaotic on the outside, He is in complete control of every aspect of His creation: Indeed Allah carries through His command. Certainly Allah has set a measure for everything (65:3).
The attribute of God as rabb also emphasises His immanence over His transcendence. Almost every supplication in the Quran begins with ‘my Lord’ (rabbī) or ‘our Lord’ (rabbanā), highlighting this immanence. In addressing his Creator as rabb, man not only acknowledges his nurturer and sustainer but is also asking for what he supposes to be good for his growth (tarbiyah) and perfection from the only one who truly knows what suits the person in those conditions. Mystics also note the verse: When your Lord (rabb) took from the children of Adam, from their loins, their descendants and made them bear witness over themselves, [He said to them]: ‘Am I not your Lord (rabb)?’ They said: ‘Yes, indeed! We bear witness’ (7:172) as proof that God’s lordship (rubūbiyyah) is the prime divine quality inscribed in the heart of man and planted in his soul. It is what man is most innately familiar with and by which he inherently knows God.
Exegetes also debate the meaning of ʿālamīn, as to whether it covers all existents besides God including multiple worlds and the entire universe and cosmos, or whether it is restricted to rational beings and specifically man. These views are explored under the Review of Tafsīr Literature for this verse.
EXPOSITION
The metaphoric use of sent down for revelation is, in a sense, no different from the verses that speak of God’s ‘aboveness’ (fawqiyyah) (16:50) or ‘highness’ (ʿuluww) (42:51) or being ‘in the heavens’ (67:16, 67:17) to where angels and other matters ascend (4:158, 32:5, 35:10, 70:4), or from where He ‘sends down’ revelation or angels or directs His commands (32:5).
All such verses that appear to fix a location for God (when interpreted literally), or suggest any movement from Him or by Him (2:210, 6:158, 89:22), are either figurative or need to be understood with the inclusion of an omitted word or phrase. This is because God is ubiquitous and transcends any anthropomorphic notion – Nothing is like Him (42:11) – and He existed before space, time, or dimension and direction had any meaning. And therefore, imagining Him as being ‘above’ or ‘in the heavens’ or any fixed location is an absurdity in Islamic theology.
Rather, such expressions of His ‘aboveness’, in relation to His creation, are references to His exaltedness and true reality over all existents besides Him. Coming close(r) to God is understood in the sense of attaining higher consciousness of Him or to mean honour and prestige before God, and not spatially, which is impossible to ascribe to God. As well, the reason why matters ‘ascend’ to Him or ‘descend’ from Him is that God’s governance of His creation is always from a ‘higher’, i.e. more universal source, that is ‘closer’ to God insofar as its reality is greater, and God’s presence therein is magnified and more self-evident. Maʿrifat explores all such verses in the Quran and explains them at great length, summarised under the Exposition for 32:5.
Even when the Quran speaks of the sending down of corporeal and material objects, such as cattle (39:6), garments (7:26), provisions (10:59), and iron (57:25), it is not a physical descent like that of rain. Rather, they all follow the principle: There is not a thing but that its sources are with Us, and We do not send it down except in a known measure (15:21). The sending down of such blessings is to highlight the fact that they are from God; that their creation is based on God’s divine ordinance and plan from beforehand; and that they come from an inexhaustible source and treasure with God, of which these are only a part and sample of His many bounties. On this, see also the explanations given under 39:6 and 57:25.
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
The expression rabb al-ʿālamīn occurs forty-two times in the Quran and mostly in Meccan surahs (except for surahs 2, 5, and 59 which are Medinan), while the term ʿālamīn is found seventy-three times altogether. It always occurs in the accusative and in the regular form of plural and never in the nominative ʿālamūn, or the commonly used broken plural ʿawālim or the singular ʿālam.
Much of the debate amongst exegetes is whether ʿālamīn refers to all of creation including all that is contained in the world, universe, or cosmos, or only to rational, sentient beings and intelligent life forms such as man, jinn, angels, and devils, and perhaps, in certain contexts, only man and jinn for whom the Quran is revealed.
The case for ʿālamīn being restricted only to rational beings is that firstly, this form of sound plural cannot be applied to inanimate objects, for which the broken plural ʿawālim would be used. Some have argued that even as a singular, ʿālam can only refer to rational beings because the etymology of ʿālam traces back to ʿilm (knowledge) and this indicates the term refers back to those endowed with knowledge or those through whom the Creator can be known. Ṭūsī and Ṭabrisī, for example, argue that one can speak of ‘an ʿālam of people came to me’ but never ‘an ʿālam of cattle came to me’. Tabatabai acknowledges that while ʿālam can be used for non-rational beings, and one can speak of ʿālam al-jamād (the world of minerals), ʿālam al-nabāt (the world of vegetation), or ʿālam al-ḥayawān (the animal world) versus ʿālam al-insān (the human world), in the context of Sūrat al-Fātiḥah (1), the chapter opens with a praise and listing of God’s names, including rabb al-ʿālamīn (1:2) until it stops at Master of the Day of Judgement (1:4), and because the Day of Judgement only applies to humans, or humans and jinn, therefore ʿālamīn (at least in the context of Sūrat al-Fātiḥah) quite likely is restricted to rational beings.
And this would be no different than, for example, that he may be a warner to al-ʿālamīn (25:1), which would only apply to man and jinn since animals or inanimate objects do not receives admonitions via the prophets of God. Likewise, O Mary … and He has chosen you above the women of the ʿālamīn (3:42), And Lot, when he said to his people: ‘What! Do you commit an outrage none in the ʿālamīn ever committed before you?!’ (7:80; cf. 26:165) all suggest ʿālamīn as references to the human world only.
But the meaning of ʿālamīn in and of itself cannot be limited to humans or rational beings (including jinn and angels) because, as mentioned, the singular ʿālam, besides ʿālam al-insān (the human world), can be used for non-human existents such as the world of minerals, plants, and animals or even ʿālam al-tabʿ (the world of nature) in general, ʿālam al-mithāl (the world of forms), and so forth.
The case for ʿālamīn being comprehensive of all creation is that the word ʿālamīn is a plural of ʿālam, which, in and of itself, is a collective noun referring to all species, and in fact all that exists besides God.
The clearest example of what rabb al-ʿālamīn represents, as the creator, owner, and sustainer of all that exists, is given by the Quran itself: Pharaoh said: ‘And what is “the rabb al-ʿālamīn?”’ He [Moses] said: ‘The rabb of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them’ (26:23-24).
And as for the sound plural ʿālamīn being used for rational beings versus the broken plural ʿawālim for the non-sentient, it can easily be argued that ʿālamīn is used because it includes rational beings, and who, because of their rationality, have dominated over other species and that is why the broken plural ʿawālim is not used.
Rāzī has even suggested multiple physical worlds with intelligent life or a multiverse:
‘He, the exalted, has power to create thousands and thousands of worlds outside this world, each one of which is greater and immensely larger than this world and each one of those worlds having their own unique systems in place like ours, including the[ir own] throne, seat, heavens, earths, sun, and moon. The proofs of philosophers to prove that there is only one world is a weak and feeble one based on a frail premise.’
Most exegetes have therefore favoured the more comprehensive meaning of ʿālamīn as referring to the whole universe and all species. They have argued that if the singular ʿālam can be used to mean a whole world, then its plural, ʿālamīn, cannot be used as a restrictive term to apply to rational beings only. Just as aʿrāb cannot be the plural of ʿarab (Arab) because the latter term refers to all the Arabs in general; so aʿrāb is restrictive in meaning and can only refer only to those of them that live in the desert (the Bedouins) and the rural Arabs.
A more mystical understanding of the term is that ʿālam traces its etymology back to ʿalāmah (indication, sign) and therefore the whole universe (ʿālam) is, in a sense, that which points to the existence of God and to His oneness.
Put differently, ʿālamīn symbolises all through which God can be known. Creation is an act of self-manifestation of the divine. The relationship of ʿālamīn to rabb, in 1:2 and all other verses including the verse under discussion, is that unlike other attributes of God that emphasise His transcendence and being untouched by existence and non-existence, rabb distinguishes itself for emphasising His immanence, and points at that by which the divine can be known. And because there exists the ʿālam, it points back to its Creator and acts as an ʿalāmah (sign), pointing to Him. This offers ʿilm (knowledge), which (outside God’s essence or dhāt) is only possible where there is existence.
[1] Nasr, 69:43.
[2] Raghib, n-z-l; Zamakhshari, 1/336; Mizan, 3/7.
[3] Kafi, 2/628-9, h. 6; Wasail, 10/316, h. 13499; Thalabi, 2/68; Razi, 5/252.
[4] Hans Wehr, rabbah.
[5] Raghib, rabb; Hans Wehr, rabbah.
[6] Fayyumi, rabb.
[7] Raghib, rabb.
[8] Alusi, 1/83.
[9] Tamhid, 3/113.
[10] Tamhid, 3/109-115.
[11] Simonetta Calderini, ‘Tafsīr of ʿālamīn in rabb al-ālamīn, Qurʾān 1:2’, in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, vol. 57, no. 1 (1994), p. 52.
[12] Qurtubi, 1/138; Zamakhshari, 1/10.
[13] Zamakhshari, 1/10; Taj, ʿ-l-m.
[14] Tibyan, 1/32; Tabrisi, 1/95.
[15] Mizan, 1/21.
[16] Similar to jaysh (army, troops), whose plural is juyūsh but in and of itself is a plural.
[17] Jalalayn, p. 4.
[18] Razi, 1/24.
[19] Simonetta Calderini, ‘Tafsīr of ʿālamīn in rabb al-ālamīn, Qurʾān 1:2’, in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, vol. 57, no. 1 (1994), p. 55.
[20] Ibn Kathir, 1/46; Razi, 1/24; Manar, 1/51.