67. Al-Mulk (Dominion)
Mecca 77
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
هُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْأَرْضَ ذَلُولًا ...
67: 15. It is He Who has made the earth manageable for you,
C5571. Dhalul is used in 2:71 for an animal trained and tractable: here it is used to qualify the earth, and I have translated 'manageable'.
Man has managed to make paths through deserts and over mountains: through rivers and seas by means of ships; through the air by means of airways; he has made bridges and tunnels and other means of communication. But this he has only been able to do because Allah has given him the necessary intelligence and has made the earth tractable to that intelligence.
... فَامْشُوا فِي مَنَاكِبِهَا وَكُلُوا مِن رِّزْقِهِ ...
so traverse ye through its tracts and enjoy of the Sustenance which He furnishes:
... وَإِلَيْهِ النُّشُورُ ﴿١٥﴾
but unto Him is the Resurrection.
C5572. In describing Allah's gifts and mercies and watchful care in this our temporary sojourn on this earth, it is made clear that the ultimate end is the Hereafter. The real Beyond, which is the goal, is the life after theResurrection.
أَأَمِنتُم مَّن فِي السَّمَاء أَن يَخْسِفَ بِكُمُ الأَرْضَ فَإِذَا هِيَ تَمُورُ ﴿١٦﴾
67: 16. Do ye feel secure that He Who is in heaven will not cause you to be swallowed up by the earth when it shakes (as in an earthquake)?
C5573. Cf. 17:68. and n. 2263.
Also Cf. the story of Qarun in 28:76-82.
If we feel safe on land, it is because Allah has made this earth amenable, manageable and serviceable to us (verse 15 above). But if we defy Allah and break Ms Law, have we any security that even this comparatively unimportant safety in a fleeting world will last? Looking at it from a purely physical point of view, have there not been dreadful earthquakes, typhoons, and tornadoes?
أَمْ أَمِنتُم مَّن فِي السَّمَاء أَن يُرْسِلَ عَلَيْكُمْ حَاصِبًا ...
67: 17. Or do ye feel secure that He Who is in Heaven will not send against you a violent tornado (with showers of stones),
C5574. Cf. 17:68; and 29:40, n. 3462. Such a violent wind destroyed the wicked Cities which defied Lut's warning.
...فَسَتَعْلَمُونَ كَيْفَ نَذِيرِ ﴿١٧﴾
so that ye shall know how (terrible) was My warning?
وَلَقَدْ كَذَّبَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ فَكَيْفَ كَانَ نَكِيرِ ﴿١٨﴾
18. But indeed men before them rejected (My warning):
then how (terrible) was My rejection (of them)?
C5575. Cf. 22:42-44, and n. 2822.
Asad’s Version:
67:15 He it is who has made the earth easy to live upon: 14 go about, then, in all its regions, and partake the sustenance which He provides: but [always bear in mind that] unto Him you shall be resurrected.
(67: 16) Can you ever feel secure that He who is in heaven 15 will not cause the
earth to swallow you up when, lo and behold, it begins to quake?
67:17 Or can you ever feel secure that He who is in heaven will not let loose against you a deadly stormwind," whereupon you would come to know how [true] My warning was?
(67: 18) And, indeed, [many of] those who lived aforetime 17 did give the lie [to My warnings]: and how awesome was My rejection [of them]!
Yuksel’s Version:
67:15 He is the One who made the earth subservient to you. So roam its paths, and eat from His provisions; and to Him is the final summoning.
67:16 Are you secure that the One in heaven will not cause the earth to rupture, thus causing it to shake?
67:17 Or are you secure that the One in heaven will not send upon you a violent storm? Then you will know the value of the warning.
67:18 Those before them have rejected; so how terrible was My requital!
[[Asad’s version - 14 Lit., "who has made the earth submissive (dhalulan) to you": i.e., yielding to the intelligence with which He has endowed man.
1 5 This expression is, of course, purely metaphorical since God is limitless in space as well as in time. Its use here is apparently meant to stress the unfathomable quality of His existence and power, which penetrates, and reveals itself in, every aspect of His cosmic creativeness, symbolized in the term "heaven" .
16 Lit., "a stormwind that raises stones".
17 Lit., "before them" (min qablihim). Lhis personal pronoun relates - as does the whole of the passage beginning with verse 1 3 - to people of all times, who are herewith reminded of what happened to deniers of the truth in earlier times; hence my rendering of min qablihim as "aforetime". ]]