Surah Ghafir Ayat 15 (40:15 Quran) With Tafsir

Ala-Maududi

(40:15) Exalted in Rank,^[23] Lord of the Throne:^[24] He causes the spirit to descend on whomsoever of His servants He pleases^[25] so as to warn them of the Day of Encounter;^[26]

23. That is, He is exalted far above all the creations of the world. Anything that exists in the universe, whether an angel or a prophet or a saint, or borne other creation, may be very exalted and superior to other creations, but it cannot be imagined to have a station anywhere near the highest rank and position of Allah, not to speak of its being an associate in His attributes and powers and authority.

24. That is, He is King and Ruler of the whole universe, and Master of the Throne of the Kingdom of the universe. For explanation, see (Surah Al-Aaraf, Ayat 54) note 41 thereof; (Surah Younus, Ayat 3); (Surah Ar-Raad, Ayat 2); (Surah TaHa, Ayat 5) and the E.Ns thereof).

25. “The inspiration” implies Revelation and Prophethood. For explanation, see (Surah An-Nahl, Ayat 2); (Surah Bani-Israil, Ayat 85) and the E.Ns thereof. And the words: “He places the inspiration of His command upon whom He wills of His slaves” mean this: Nobody has a monopoly over the bounties of Allah. Just as no one has a right to object as to why was so and so given beauty, and so and so was given extraordinary powers of memory or intelligence, so also no one has the right to abject as to why so and so only was chosen to be a prophet and why a person of some one’s own choice was not made a prophet.

26. “The Day of Meeting”: The Day when all mankind, jinn and satans will be gathered together before their Lord simultaneously and the witnesses of their acts and deeds also will be present to bear the witness.

Ibn-Kathir

15. (He is Allah) Owner of high ranks and degrees, the Owner of the Throne. He sends the revelation by His command to any of His servants He wills, that he may warn of the Day of Mutual Meeting. 16. The Day when they will come out, nothing of them will be hidden from Allah. Whose is the kingdom this Day It is Allah’s, the One, the Irresistible! 17. This Day shall every person be recompensed for what he earned. This Day no injustice. Truly, Allah is swift in reckoning.

Allah tells us of His might and pride, and that His Mighty Throne is raised above all of His creation like a roof. This is like the Ayah:

(From Allah, the Lord of the ways of ascent. The angels and the Ruh (Jibril) ascend to Him in a Day the measure whereof is fifty thousand years.) (70:3-4). If Allah wills, we will discuss below which is the most correct view the distance between the Throne and the seventh earth according to a group of earlier and later scholars. More than one scholar said that the Throne is made of red rubies. The width between two corners of it is the distance of a fifty thousand year long journey and its height above the seventh earth is the distance of a fifty thousand years long journey.

(He sends the revelation of His command to any of His servants He wills,) This is like the Ayat:

(He sends down the angels with the Ruh (revelation) of His command to whom of His servants He wills (saying): “Warn mankind that none has the right to be worshipped but I, so have Taqwa of Me.”) (16:2), and

(And truly, this is a revelation from the Lord of all that exits, Which the trustworthy Ruh (Jibril) has brought down Upon your heart that you may be (one) of the warners.) (26:192-194) Allah says:

(that he may warn (men) of the Day of Mutual Meeting.) `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas said: “The Day of Mutual Meeting is one of the names of the Day of Resurrection, of which Allah warns His servants.” That is the Day when everyone will find out about his deeds, good and bad.

(The Day when they will come out, nothing of them will be hidden from Allah.) means, they will all appear in the open, with nothing to give them shelter or shade, or cover them. Allah says:

(The Day when they will come out, nothing of them will be hidden from Allah.) meaning, everything will be equally known to Him.

(Whose is the kingdom this Day It is Allah’s, the One, the Irresistible!) We have already mentioned the Hadith of Ibn `Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, that Allah will roll up the heavens and the earth in His Hand and will say,

(“I am the King, I am the Compeller, I am the Proud, where are the kings of the earth Where are the tyrants Where are the proud”) In the Hadith about the Trumpet, it says that Allah will take the souls of all of His creatures, and there will be none left but Him Alone, with no partner or associate. Then He will say, “Whose is the kingdom today” three times, and He will answer Himself by saying,

(It is Allah’s, the One, the Irresistible!) meaning, He is the Only One Who has subjugated all things.

(This Day shall every person be recompensed for what he earned. This Day no injustice (shall be done to anybody). Truly, Allah is swift in reckoning.) Here Allah tells us of His justice when He judges between His creation; He does not do even a speck of dust’s weight of injustice, whether it be for good or for evil. For every good deed He gives a tenfold reward and for every bad deed He gives recompense of one bad deed. Allah says:

(This Day no injustice (shall be done to anybody).) It was reported in Sahih Muslim from Abu Dharr, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah said that Allah said:

(“O My servants, I have forbidden injustice for Myself, and made it unlawful for you, so do not commit injustice to one another …”) up to: (“O My servants, these are your deeds, I record them for you then I will recompense you for them. Whoever finds something good, let him give praise to Allah, and whoever finds something other than that, let him blame no one but himself.”)

(Truly, Allah is swift in reckoning.) means, He will bring all His creation to account as if He is bringing just one person to account. This is like the Ayah:

(The creation of you all and the resurrection of you all are only as a single person) (31: 28).

(And Our commandment is but one as the twinkling of an eye.) (54:50)