Tafseer of Those drawn up in Ranks · As-Saaffaat · 37:5
Lord of the heavens and the earth and that between them and Lord of the sunrises.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
And His statement رَبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا (the Lord of the heavens and the earth and what is between them). He says: He is the One, the Creator of the seven heavens and the creation that is between them, and the Owner of all that, and the Sustainer of all that. He says: worship is fitting only for the One who possesses this attribute, so worship none other than Him, and set up alongside Him in your worship of Him no one as a partner who neither harms nor benefits, and who neither creates anything nor destroys anything.
The Arabic linguists differed concerning the reason for the nominative case (rafʿ) of "rabbu al-samāwāti." Some grammarians of Basra said: it stands in the nominative with the meaning of: verily your God is a Lord. Another said: it is a referring-back (radd) to "verily your God is one (wāḥid)," after which He explained "the One" by saying: the Lord of the heavens, and it is a referring-back to "wāḥid" (one). And this statement, in my estimation, is the most consistent with what is correct, because the predicate (al-khabar) is His statement لَوَاحِدٌ (verily one), and His statement رَبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ (the Lord of the heavens) is a further explanation (tarjama) of it, and an elucidation that is traced back to its case-inflection.
And His statement وَرَبُّ الْمَشَارِقِ (and the Lord of the easts). He says: and the Director of the easts of the sun in winter and summer, and its wests, and the Sustainer and Reformer thereof. He omitted the mention of the wests because the words point to them, and the mention of the easts was sufficient to stand in place of mentioning them, since it is known that with them the wests go along.
And in the spirit of what we have said concerning this, the scholars of exegesis spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda إِنَّ إِلَهَكُمْ لَوَاحِدٌ (Verily, your God is one): upon this the oath fell: verily your God is one رَبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا وَرَبُّ الْمَشَارِقِ (the Lord of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, and the Lord of the easts): he said: the easts of the sun in winter and summer.
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His statement رَبُّ الْمَشَارِقِ (the Lord of the easts): he said: the easts are three hundred and sixty easts, and the wests likewise, equal to the number of the days of the year.
