هُنالِكَ الوَلايَةُ لِلَّهِ الحَقِّ ۚ هُوَ خَيرٌ ثَوابًا وَخَيرٌ عُقبًا
Thereat all authority belongs to Allah, the real. He is better for reward, and best in final end.
EXEGESIS
Hunālika (thereat) means ‘there’ or ‘thereover’ (ʿinda dhālika). It is the sister of the words hunā and hunāka. Hunā means here close by, while hunāka means over there, and hunālika is even further over there; such as the verse, Thereat (hunālika) Zachariah supplicated his Lord (3:38).
Walāyah (authority) comes from the root of walāʾ and can mean many different things. It is the relation of two things that have gained close proximity to each other. Thus from this root meanings such as friendship, guardianship, closeness, help, mutual aid, and suchlike are derived.
In this case the exegetes are divided over its meaning in this verse. Some have said that walāyah is different from wilāyah and means help (nuṣrah) and allegiance (tawallī), while the word wilāyah means authority (amārah) and dominion (sulṭān). Others still have said that there is no difference between walāyah and wilāyah. Both options are discussed briefly below.
Ḥaqq (real) is to agree and coincide with the truth. God is the ultimate truth, That, then, is Allah, your true (ḥaqq) Lord (10:32), and, Then they are returned to Allah, their real (ḥaqq) master (6:62). Like in those verses, here too ḥaqq is an adjective describing God.
ʿUqb (final end) is the same as ʿāqibah, meaning a thing’s end and final outcome.
The word best (khayr) is repeated in the verse for emphasis and also perhaps because better for reward may refer to the reward, help, and walāyah that God may give in this world, whilst final end refers to the reward, help, and walāyah of the hereafter.
EXPOSITION
The exegetes are divided over the meaning of this verse because of the differences they have in understanding what the word hunālika refers to as well as the meaning of walāyah.
Thereat all authority belongs to Allah: some have said Thereat refers to the Day of Judgement. Accordingly, if walāyah is taken to mean friendship and closeness, then the verse is telling us that the help and closeness of God will manifest itself on the Day of Judgement, or that the believers will seek the friendship of God on that day.
If we understand walāyah to mean authority, it would mean that on the Day of Judgement the authority of God cannot be denied by anyone and all claims to the contrary would cease, like what is described in the verse, ‘To whom does the sovereignty belong today?’ ‘To Allah, the one, the all-paramount!’ (40:16).
Another opinion is Thereat is referring to the time of difficulty, like the loss experienced by the rich man when his gardens were destroyed. At such times the help of God will come to the believers and He will aid the believers and help them overcome their opponents. This would be in contrast to the previous verse that described how the faithless will have no helpers or anyone who comes to their aid. Rather, those who seek the friendship of God will find Him by their side at trying times. In this sense, the verse would be very similar to the one in Sūrat Muḥammad: That is because Allah is the protector (mawlā) of the faithful, and because the faithless have no protector (47:11).
Tabatabai contends that this latter meaning is incorrect. Rather, walāyah should mean God’s authority over all things and His complete control over affairs. The main impetus of the verses is that all affairs and all causes emanate from the power and will of God. Everything besides God is merely an illusion and mirage, nothing more. By adorning this world God has adorned that illusion, and has done so in order to test mankind. Often at a time of crisis and difficulty a person realises that they are not in control of matters, even if prior to that they thought of themselves as independent and self-sufficient. It is at such moments that he realises that all power is in the hand of God, who is the only one who deserves to be worshipped, and judges according to justice. The other causes to which man may turn and whom he has in effect placed as partners for God, are powerless to help him or to do anything independent of God. They can only have effect if God wills it and gives them leave to act. Any independence that we perceive them to have is just a construct of our minds. Therefore, every cause other than God is actually bāṭil (false) in and of itself, and only becomes ḥaqq (true) through its attachment to God.
This is the most fitting understanding considering the connection of earlier verses to causality and all affairs being under the absolute command of God. Though this does not mean that the earlier understandings are incorrect; they may simply refer to the many layers and possibilities of the general declaration of the verse.
The real: the one who is truly God and deserving of being worshipped. He is the only real sovereign and the only true power and independent being. To consider things other than Him of being in possession of power and effect is only an illusion and a part of the veil of the material world that is drawn over the eyes of some people.
The connection to Him and His ultimate reality and truth is the only thing which can have a good outcome and will manifest a reward in the hereafter. This is why actions only find value and become deserving of reward when they are done out of pure intentions for the pleasure of God. It must be connected to God’s reality, That which is with you will be spent but what is with Allah shall last (16:96).
He is better for reward: the reward of God is better than the reward which may be garnered through any other source or cause.
And best in final end: the final end of submission to God is better an outcome than submission to other than Him. God is the best final end for those who wish Him and seek Him. This is because God is everlasting, unlike the temporality of worldly things. These are several ways to look at this statement, all of which are correct.
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
Ṭabrisī relates Thereat could be the moment of debate between the believer and the nonbeliever.
Rāzī posits that a possible meaning of this verse is that at the moments of hardship all people will seek the help and closeness (walāyah) of God, like the man who exclaimed at the moment of loss, I wish I had not ascribed any partner to my Lord (verse 42). In other words, he simply said that because of the difficulty he was facing, otherwise he would not have turned to God.
Ṭūsī raises the question as to why God says He is better for reward, whilst in reality no one but Him may actually reward? Say: ‘Have you then taken others besides Him for guardians (awliyāʾ), who have no control over their own benefit or harm?’ (13:16). One possibility according to him is that it is an answer to those who claim out of ignorance that other than God may reward. In a way saying that ‘if it were so, then in that case God is the best in rewarding’. The second possibility is that the reward God gives is the best reward that could be imagined for actions.
Perhaps another way to frame this is to say that it is referring to the difference between material rewards of this world – given to believer and nonbeliever alike – and the lasting reward of paradise that God gives as a requiting to the believers, like in the verses, Whatever things you have been given are only the wares of the life of this world and its glitter, and what is with Allah is better and more lasting. Will you not apply reason? (28:60), When they sight a deal or a diversion, they scatter off towards it and leave you standing! Say: ‘What is with Allah is better than diversion and dealing, and Allah is the best of providers’ (62:11).
In other words, the reward of the hereafter, which is with God, is better than any temporary worldly reward.
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. Those who know Your name will put their trust in You, for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.
- You are my hiding place; You will preserve me from trouble.
- Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
[1] Tibyan, 2/448.
[2] Zamakhshari, 2/724; Baghawi, 3/194; Lisan, 15/407; Tantawi, 8/523.
[3] Tibyan, 7/50; Zamakhshari, 2/724; Lisan, 15/407; Tantawi, 8/523.
[4] Like Qurtubi, 10/411. He says they are like raḍāʿah (suckling) and riḍāʿah. See also Alusi, 8/270; Mizan, 13/317.
[5] Raghib, p. 246.
[6] Tabrisi, 6/729; Tantawi, 8/524.
[7] Tibyan, 7/51; Tabrisi, 6/729; Thalabi, 6/172; Baghawi, 3/194; Qurtubi, 10/411.
[8] Tibyan, 7/51; Razi, 21/467.
[9] Tabrisi, 6/729; Tabari, 15/164.
[10] Qurtubi, 10/411.
[11] Razi, 21/466; Muhit, 7/182; Alusi, 8/270; Mizan, 13/317; Tantawi, 8/523.
[12] He argues that in such a case the attribute used to describe God should not be al-ḥaqq (the real), but rather something like al-qawī (the powerful) or al-ʿazīz (the mighty). He also rejects the first opinion about the verse being in reference to the Day of Judgement.
[13] Mizan, 13/317-318.
[14] Tabari, 15/164.
[15] Mizan, 13/318.
[16] Tabrisi, 6/729.
[17] Qurtubi, 10/411.
[18] Mizan, 13/318.
[19] Tabrisi, 6/729.
[20] Razi, 21/466-467. See also Alusi, 8/270; Tantawi, 8/523.
[21] Muhit, 7/182.
[22] Tibyan, 7/50; Tabrisi, 6/730. See also Qurtubi, 10/411.
[23] Tibyan, 7/50.
[24] See also 20:131 and 62:11.
[25] Psalms 9:9-10.
[26] Psalms 32:7.
[27] Isaiah 41:10.