Tafseer of The Smoke · Ad-Dukhaan · 44:7
Lord of the heavens and the earth and that between them, if you would be certain.
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.
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: رَبِّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُوقِنِينَ ("Lord of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, if you are certain") (7).
The Qurʾān-reciters differ over the reading of His saying ( رَبِّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأرْضِ ). Most of the reciters of Medina and Basra read it as "رَبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ" with a rafʿ-ending (nominative), in which case the inflection of "the Lord" follows the inflection of "the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing." Most of the reciters of Kufa and some of the Meccans read it as "ربِّ السمَاوَاتِ" with a khafḍ-ending (genitive), as a reference back to "the Lord" in His saying — exalted is His majesty —: رَحْمَةً مِنْ رَبِّكَ ("as a mercy from your Lord").
The correct position on this is that they are two well-known readings, both of which are correct in meaning; with whichever of the two the reciter recites, he has done what is right.
By His saying ( رَبِّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا ) He means — exalted is His mention —: The One who sent down this Book to you, O Muḥammad ﷺ, and sent you to these polytheists (mushrikīn) as a mercy from your Lord, is the Owner of the seven heavens and the earth and all the things that are between them.
And His saying ( إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُوقِنِينَ ) says: if you accept with certainty the truth of what I have informed you of — namely that your Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth —, then that of which I have informed you, namely that Allah is the One whose attributes are these attributes, and that this Qurʾān is His sending-down, and that Muḥammad ﷺ is His messenger, is a certain truth. So accept it with certainty, just as you accept with certainty the other realities of things.
