سُبحانَ رَبِّ السَّماواتِ وَالأَرضِ رَبِّ العَرشِ عَمّا يَصِفونَ

Clear is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, the Lord of the Throne, of whatever they allege [concerning Him]!

EXEGESIS

Lord of the Throne is an explicative apposition (ʿaṭf bayān) – a second expression that clarifies, specifies, or explains the first – to the phrase, the Lord of the heavens and the earth. This is because what is meant by the heavens and the earth is the totality of the visible cosmos, which is itself the Throne of God’s sovereignty and dominion – over which He has mastery, by which He rules, and whose affairs He administers.[1] Some exegetes understand the heavens and the earth to encompass all of creation whereby the heavens refers to all that is beyond matter, and the earth refers to the material realm.[2]

It is also possible that the Throne here alludes to the realm beyond nature, in contrast to the heavens and the earth, which point to the material world.[3]

Repeating rabb (lord) twice instead of saying ‘Lord of the heavens and the earth and the Throne’ is a means of showing the magnanimity of the Throne.[4] Other exegetes add that the repetition of rabb indicates that it is being used in a different meaning each time. The rabb of the heavens and the earth means the one who maintains the affairs of the cosmos, whereas rabb of the Throne means the possessor of the Throne, i.e. the one who has absolute ownership of creation.[5] This differentiation stems from the different meanings of rabb that lexicographers have opined. For example, Ṭurayḥī states that rabb is used for master, nurturer, bestower, and owner.[6]

EXPOSITION

If the previous verse was understood as a rhetorical strategy in which the impossible is seemingly accepted for the purpose of discussion, this verse then clarifies that this proposition in itself is something that God is exalted from.[7]

Clear (subḥān) is the Lord of the heavens and the earth: subḥān allāh (clear is Allah) is far more than a simple utterance of praise. It is a profound declaration of Allah’s absolute perfection and transcendence. It is a concise yet all-encompassing declaration that clears the mind and heart from any trace of anthropomorphism or deficiency regarding Allah. It is a phrase of immense weight, a form of remembrance that aligns the speaker with the glorification of all creation, and a seed planted for one’s eternal abode in paradise.

Exegetes differ as to why the specific description of God as Lord of the heavens and the earth is used as a means of negating His having a son. Some suggest that one who is the possessor of the heavens and the earth, who administers them, and who is the Lord of the mighty Throne, cannot be imagined to have a child because He is infinite existence, encompassing all realms of being and nurturing every domain of creation.[8]

Others postulate that a child is necessary only for one who requires assistance and companionship at times of weakness and solitude, both of which are negated from one who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. As such, these descriptions show that He is needless of a child.[9]

Moreover, the existence of a child is itself evidence of corporeality and of being confined within the bounds of time and space. The Lord of the Throne, and of the heavens and the earth – exalted above all these attributes – is therefore independent of any child.[10]

Lord of the Throne: God’s lordship over the Throne is a subtle reminder that the natural world is not a mechanical machine running on an independent system of laws. Rather, it is being maintained by an all-wise Lord who puts everything in its proper place, except that which man himself destroys due to his own volition, which has been given to him by God.[11]

According to some exegetes, the verse subtly presents an argument for God’s absolute oneness. If creation belongs to God alone – something even the opponents admit – then the management and ordering of creation must also belong to Him alone. After all, divine governance is not separate from creation; it is the act of arranging created things, bringing each into existence at its proper time, order, and place. Therefore, just as creation is exclusively God’s act, the governing of the universe is also exclusively His. So when God is described as Lord of the Throne, this means that His lordship extends over the whole order of existence: the heavens, the earth, and everything within them.[12]

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. It has been reported that a man asked ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb: ‘O Commander of the Faithful, what is the interpretation of subḥān allāh?’ He replied: ‘Within this enclosure there is a man who, when asked, gives an answer, and when others fall silent, he himself begins to speak.’ So the man entered, and there he was, Ali ibn Abī Ṭālib (a). He said: ‘O Abā al-Hasan, what is the interpretation of subḥān allāh?’ He replied: ‘It is the magnification of the majesty of God, mighty and exalted, and His declaration of transcendence above what every polytheist has said concerning Him. When the servant utters it, every angel sends blessings upon him.’[13]

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

According to Rāzī, the reason why God cannot have a son is because being the Necessary Existent necessitates that God is absolute and cannot have any parts to Him, whereas a child would be considered a part of God that has separated from Him.[14] Whilst this is factually true, it would seem unrelated to the verse as there is no implication in the verse towards God’s absoluteness or His being the Necessary Existent.

Another understanding is that the description of God as the Lord of the most powerful, the most encompassing, and the greatest of all creation, negates any notion that He could have a child, since procreation would serve no purpose in His case. The worlds have already been fully created, and the order governing their growth and continued existence has been established. From His being their Creator, it follows that He was not preceded by non-existence – for had He been, He would have required a creator Himself. And because He was not preceded by non-existence, He is not subject to extinction. Accordingly, the idea of Him having a child would be pointless and absurd.[15]

Some exegetes suggest that this verse alludes to God’s lordship in two different domains: lordship over the heavens and the earths alludes to His lordship in creation, i.e. He is the creator of all things, and lordship over the Throne alludes to His lordship in managing the affairs of the creation, Indeed your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and then settled on the Throne, directing the command (10:3).[16]

Some exegetes suggest that perhaps this verse could be a continuation of the words of the Holy Prophet, as per the previous verse.[17]

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the LORD your God, also the earth with all that is in it.[18]
2. And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”[19]

[1] Mizan, 18/126.
[2] Hadi, 3/271.
[3] Amthal, 16/104; Munyah, 25/253.
[4] Alusi, 13/105.
[5] Hadi, 3/271.
[6] Bahrayn, 2/64.
[7] Khatib, 13/170.
[8] Amthal, 16/104.
[9] Amthal, 16/104; Tabrisi, 9/88; Tibyan, 9/220; Munyah, 25/254.
[10] Amthal, 16/104; Makhzan, 12/54; Zamakhshari, 4/266; Atyab, 12/61.
[11] Hadi, 3/272.
[12] Mizan, 18/126.
[13] Tawhid, 1/311.
[14] Razi, 27/647; see also Muhit, 9/391.
[15] Ibn Ashur, 25/298.
[16] Furqan, 26/372.
[17] Ibn Ashur, 25/298.
[18] Deuteronomy 10:14.
[19] Revelation 5:13.