Transliteration:( Qulil laahumma Maalikal Mulki tu'til mulka man tashaaa'u wa tanzi'ul mulka mimman tashhaaa'u wa tu'izzu man tashaaa'u wa tuzillu man tashaaa'u biyadikal khairu innaka 'alaa kulli shai'in Qadeer )
"Please declare (O Beloved Prophet) [54]: 'O my Allah, You are the Master of all sovereignties. You give sovereignty [55] to whom You please, and You take sovereignty away from whom You please [56]. You honor whom You please and You abase whom You please. The entire good is in Your Hand [57]. Surely, You are the Almighty over everybody [58].'"
When the Prophet ﷺ gave glad tidings about the coming victories over Persia and Rome, the Yahud and hypocrites mocked this idea, claiming weak Muslims could never achieve such feats. This verse was revealed in response.
The word “Say” here signifies that although the words are from Allah, they are being spoken through the Prophet’s ﷺ tongue, and by extension, those granted permission by him, including Prophets and Saints.
The physical world is governed by outward power (kingdoms), while the spiritual world operates under divine sovereignty. Outward dominion may belong to people, but ultimate control over life, death, fortune, and destiny rests solely with Allah.
Allah grants guidance, honour, and dignity to whom He wills.
This does not mean one can act unrighteously and still be honoured. As Allah says:
"Honour belongs to Allah, His Messenger, and the believers." (Surah Al-Munafiqun, 63:8)
Disgrace too is from Allah and comes upon those who reject His truth.
The word “good” here refers to all types of blessing, and is attached to Allah out of respect. Though both good and evil are within His creation, out of adab (reverence), only good is attributed to Him explicitly.
Allah has complete control over everything that is possible.
This does not include logical absurdities or impossibilities, such as Allah lying—such notions are invalid.
For deeper analysis, scholars refer to works like Tafseer Naeemi on Divine Attributes and logical categories.
26. Say: “O Allah! Possessor of the power, You give power to whom You will, and You take power from whom You will, and You endue with honor whom You will, and You humiliate whom You will. In Your Hand is the good. Verily, You are able to do all things. 27. You make the night to enter into the day, and You make the day to enter into the night, You bring the living out of the dead, and You bring the dead out of the living. And You give wealth and sustenance to whom You will, without limit.
Allah said,
(Say) O Muhammad , while praising your Lord, thanking Him, relying in all matters upon Him and trusting in Him.
(O Allah! Possessor of the power) meaning, all sovereignty is Yours,
(You give power to whom You will, and You take power from whom You will, and You endue with honor whom You will, and You humiliate whom You will.) meaning, You are the Giver, You are the Taker, it is Your will that occurs and whatever You do not will, does not occur. This Ayah encourages thanking Allah for the favors He granted His Messenger and his Ummah. Allah transferred the prophethood from the Children of Israel to the Arab, Qurashi, Makkan, unlettered Prophet, the Final and Last of all Prophets and the Messenger of Allah to all mankind and Jinn. Allah endowed the Prophet with the best of qualities from the prophets before him. Allah also granted him extra qualities that no other Prophet or Messenger before him was endowed with, such as granting him (more) knowledge of Allah and His Law, knowledge of more of the matters of the past and the future, such as what will occur in the Hereafter. Allah allowed Muhammad’s Ummah to reach the eastern and western parts of the world and gave dominance to his religion and Law over all other religions and laws. May Allah’s peace and blessings be on the Prophet until the Day of Judgment, and as long as the day and night succeed each other. This is why Allah said,
(Say: “O Allah! Possessor of the power,”) meaning, You decide what You will concerning Your creation and You do what you will. Allah refutes those who thought that they could decide for Allah,
(And they say: “Why is not this Qur’an sent down to some great man of the two towns (Makkah and Ta’if)”) ﴿43:31﴾.
Allah refuted them by saying,
(Is it they who would portion out the Mercy of your Lord) ﴿43:32﴾, meaning, “We decide for Our creation what We will, without resistance or hindrance by anyone. We have the perfect wisdom and the unequivocal proof in all of this, and We give the prophethood to whom We will.” Similarly, Allah said,
(Allah knows best with whom to place His Message) and,
(See how We prefer one above another (in this world)) ﴿17: 21﴾
Allah said,
(You make the night enter into the day, and You make the day enter into the night) meaning, You take from the length of one of them and add it to the shortness of the other, so that they become equal, and take from the length of one of them and add it to the other so that they are not equal. This occurs throughout the seasons of the year: spring, summer, fall and winter. Allah’s statement,
(You bring the living out of the dead, and You bring the dead out of the living.) means, You bring out the seed from the plant and the plant from the seed; the date from its seed and the date’s seed from the date; the faithful from the disbeliever and the disbeliever from the faithful; the chicken from the egg and the egg from the chicken, etc.
(And You give wealth and sustenance to whom You will, without limit.) meaning, You give whomever You will innumerable amounts of wealth while depriving others from it, out of wisdom, and justice.
(3:26) Say: ‘O Allah, Lord of all dominion! You give dominion to whom You will, and take away dominion from whom You will, and You exalt whom You will, and abase whom You will. In Your Hand is all good. Surely You are All-Power-ful.
There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.
[121]- See footnote to 2:19.
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