Surah As-Saff >> Currently viewing Surah As-Saff Ayat 1 (61:1)

Surah As-Saff Ayat 1 in Arabic Text

سَبَّحَ لِلَّهِ مَا فِي ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِۖ وَهُوَ ٱلۡعَزِيزُ ٱلۡحَكِيمُ
Sabbaha lillaahi maa fisamaawaati wa maa fil ardi wa huwal ‘Azeezul Hakeem

English Translation

Here you can read various translations of verse 1

Sahih International
Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth exalts Allah, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.

Yusuf Ali
Whatever is in the heavens and on earth, let it declare the Praises and Glory of Allah: for He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.

Abul Ala Maududi
All that is in the heavens and all that is on earth extols Allah’s glory. He is the Most Mighty, the Most Wise.

Muhsin Khan
Whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth glorifies Allah. And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.

Pickthall
All that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth glorifieth Allah, and He is the Mighty, the Wise.

Dr. Ghali
Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth extols to Allah; and He is The Ever-Mighty, The Ever-Wise.

Abdel Haleem
Everything in the heavens and earth glorifies God––He is the Almighty, the Wise.

Muhammad Junagarhi
زمین وآسمان کی ہر ہر چیز اللہ تعالیٰ کی پاکی بیان کرتی ہے اور وہی غالب حکمت واﻻ ہے

Quran 61 Verse 1 Explanation

For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah As-Saff ayat 1, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir.

Ala-Maududi

(61:1) All that is in the heavens and all that is on earth extols Allah’s glory. He is the Most Mighty, the Most Wise.[1]


1. This is a brief introduction to this discourse. For its explanation, see (Surah Al-Hadid, ayat 1) note 1,2. The discourse has been opened with this introduction so that before hearing or reading what is going to follow, one may well understand that Allah is free from and far above this that the functioning of His Godhead should depend on someone’s faith and another one’s help and sacrifices. If He exhorts the believers to adopt sincerity in faith and urges them to exert their utmost for the success and victory of the truth, that is for the sake of their own good; otherwise the will of Allah is accomplished by His own power and by His own design, whether somebody makes no effort at all towards its implementation, and whether the whole world joins together to frustrate and resist it stubbornly.

Ibn-Kathir

1. Whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth glorifies Allah. And He is the Almighty, the All-Wise. 2. O you who believe! Why do you say that which you do not do 3. Most hateful it is with Allah that you say that which you do not do. 4. Verily, Allah loves those who fight in His cause in rows as if they were a solid structure.


Chastising Those Who say what They do not do

We mentioned in many a places before the meaning of Allah’s statement,

﴿سَبَّحَ لِلَّهِ مَا فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَمَا فِى الاٌّرْضِ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ ﴾

(Whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth glorifies Allah. And He is the Almighty, the All-Wise.) Therefore, we do not need to repeat its meaning here. Allah’s statement,

﴿يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لِمَ تَقُولُونَ مَا لاَ تَفْعَلُونَ ﴾

(O you who believe! Why do you say that which you do not do) This refutes those who neglect to fulfill their promises. This honorable Ayah supports the view that several scholars of the Salaf held, that it is necessary to fulfill the promise, regardless of whether the promise includes some type of wealth for the person receiving the promise or otherwise. They also argue from the Sunnah, with the Hadith recorded in the Two Sahihs in which Allah’s Messenger said,

«آيَةُ الْمُنَافِقِ ثَلَاثٌ: إِذَا وَعَدَ أَخْلَفَ، وَإِذَا حَدَّثَ كَذَبَ، وَإِذَا اؤْتُمِنَ خَان»

(There are three signs for a hypocrite: when he promises, he breaks his promise; when speaks, he lies; and when he is entrusted, he betrays.) And in another Hadith in the Sahih,

«أَرْبَعٌ مَنْ كُنَّ فِيهِ كَانَ مُنَافِقًا خَالِصًا،وَمَنْ كَانَتْ فِيهِ وَاحِدَةٌ مِنْهُنَّ كَانَتْ فِيهِ خَصْلَةٌ مِنْ نِفَاقٍ حَتْى يَدَعَهَا»

(There are four characteristics which if one has all of them, he is the pure hypocrite, and if anyone has any of them, he has a characteristic of hypocrisy, until he abandons it.) So he mentioned breaking the promise among these four characteristics. We mentioned the meaning of these two Hadiths in the beginning of the explanation of Sahih Al-Bukhari, and to Allah is the praise and the thanks. Therefore Allah implied this meaning, when He continued His admonishment by saying,

﴿كَبُرَ مَقْتاً عِندَ اللَّهِ أَن تَقُولُواْ مَا لاَ تَفْعَلُونَ ﴾

(Most hateful it is with Allah that you say that which you do not do.) Imam Ahmad and Abu Dawud recorded that `Abdullah bin `Amir bin Rabi`ah said, “Allah’s Messenger came to us while I was a young boy, and I went out to play. My mother said, `O `Abdullah! Come, I want to give you something.’ Allah’s Messenger said to her,

«وَمَا أَرَدْتِ أَنْ تُعْطِيَهُ؟»

(What did you want to give him) She said, `Dates.’ He said,

«أَمَا إِنَّكِ لَوْ لَمْ تَفْعَلِي كُتِبَتْ عَلَيْكِ كَذْبَة»

(If you had not given them to him, it would have been written as a lie in your record.)” Muqatil bin Hayyan said, “The faithful believers said, `If we only knew the dearest good actions to Allah, we would perform them.’ Thus, Allah told them about the dearest actions to Him,saying,

﴿إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الَّذِينَ يُقَـتِلُونَ فِى سَبِيلِهِ صَفّاً﴾

(Verily, Allah loves those who fight in His cause in rows) Allah stated what He likes, and they were tested on the day of Uhud. However, they retreated and fled, leaving the Prophet behind. It was about their case that Allah revealed this Ayah:

﴿يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لِمَ تَقُولُونَ مَا لاَ تَفْعَلُونَ ﴾

(O you who believe! Why do you say that which you do not do) Allah says here, `The dearest of you to Me, is he who fights in My cause.”’ Some said that it was revealed about the gravity of fighting in battle, when one says that he fought and endured the battle, even though he did not do so. Qatadah and Ad-Dahhak said that this Ayah was sent down to admonish some people who used to say that they killed, fought, stabbed, and did such and such during battle, even though they did not do any of it. Sa`id bin Jubayr said about Allah’s statement,

﴿إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الَّذِينَ يُقَـتِلُونَ فِى سَبِيلِهِ صَفّاً﴾

(Verily, Allah loves those who fight in His cause in rows (ranks)) “Before Allah’s Messenger began the battle against the enemy, he liked to line up his forces in rows; in this Surah, Allah teaches the believers to do the same.” He also said that Allah’s statement,

﴿كَأَنَّهُم بُنْيَـنٌ مَّرْصُوصٌ﴾

(as if they were a solid structure.) means, its parts are firmly connected to each other; in rows for battle. Muqatil bin Hayyan said, “Firmly connected to each other.” Ibn `Abbas commented on the meaning of the Ayah,

﴿كَأَنَّهُم بُنْيَـنٌ مَّرْصُوصٌ﴾

(as if they were a solid structure.) by saying, “They are like a firm structure that does not move, because its parts are cemented to each other.”

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