al-Amīr ʿAbd al-Qādir b. Muḥyī al-Dīn al-Jazāʾirī · Kitāb al-Mawāqif fī baʿḍ ishārāt al-Qurʾān ilā al-asrār wa-l-maʿārif
المواقف
The Book of Stations
Mawqif 262 · “To God belong the hosts of the heavens”
In briefAI
Starting from Q 48:7, “To God belong the hosts of the heavens and the earth”, the Emir takes the heavenly hosts to be the divine Names and the earthly hosts their loci of manifestation, all under the all-comprehensive Name “Allāh”. They contend with each other, as the Names of Beauty with those of Majesty, and mercy overcame wrath. The hosts are no force against an adversary, since nothing confronts God. The verse ends “Mighty, Wise”: Mighty, independent of any help, and Wise in decreeing contention among His hosts.
See the print: Damascus 1966, p. 793 (archive.org)
قَالَ تَعَالَى: «وَلِلَّهِ جُنُودُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَاتِ وَٱلأَرْضِ».
He, exalted is He, said: “To God belong the hosts of the heavens and the earth” (Q 48:7).
أَخْبَرَ تَعَالَى أَنَّ الْجُنُودَ الَّتِي فِي الْأَرْضِ، وَالْجُنُودَ الَّتِي فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ كُلُّهَا مَمْلُوكَةٌ لِلَّهِ وَتَحْتَ قَبْضَةِ حُكْمِهِ وَتَصَرُّفِهِ.
He, exalted is He, informs us that the hosts that are in the earth and the hosts that are in the heavens are all owned by God and are under the grip of His rule and His disposal.
وَالْمُرَادُ بِالْجُنُودِ السَّمَاوِيَّةِ؟ الْأَسْمَاءُ الْاِلَهِيَّةُ، لِعُلُوِّ مَكَانَتِهَا.
What is meant by the heavenly hosts? The divine Names, because of the loftiness of their rank.
وَالْجُنُودُ الْأَرْضِيَّةُ مَظَاهِرُهَا، فَالْكُلُّ فِي قَبْضَةِ الِاسْمِ الْجَامِعِ «اللَّهِ».
And the earthly hosts are their loci of manifestation; so all is in the grip of the all-comprehensive Name, “Allāh”,
وَاِنْ تَبَايَنَتْ تَصُّرُفَاتُهَا وَمَطَالِبُهَا وَمَا تَقْتَضِيهِ ذَوَاتُهَا.
even if their acts of disposal, their demands and what their essences require differ from one another.
وَهَذِهِ الْجُنُودُ تَتَنَازَعُ مَعَ بَعْضِهَا بَعْضاً، فَتُنَازِعُ أَسْمَاءُ الْجَمَالِ وَمَظَاهِرُهَا أَسْمَاءَ الْجَلَالِ وَمَظَاهِرَهَا،
These hosts contend with one another: the Names of Beauty and their loci of manifestation contend with the Names of Majesty and their loci of manifestation,
كَمَا نَازَعَتِ الرَّحْمَةُ الْغَضَبَ وَسَابَقَتْهُ فَغَلَبَتْهُ وَكَانَ الدَّوْلَةُ لَهَا.
just as mercy contended with wrath, raced it and overcame it, and the ascendancy was its own.
وَهَكَذَا جَمِيعُ الْجُنُودِ الَّتِي هِيَ لِلَّهِ،
And so it is with all the hosts that belong to God.
فَلَيْسَ الْمُرَادُ أَنَّ لِلَّهِ جُنُودَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ، يُقَابِلُ بِهَا جُنُودَ مُقَابِلٍ لَهُ مُعَانِدٍ،
So what is meant is not that God has the hosts of the heavens and the earth with which He would confront the hosts of an adversary who opposes Him and resists Him,
فَاِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُقَابِلُهُ شَيْءٌ يَسْتَعِينُ عَلَيْهِ بِجُنُودِ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ.
for nothing confronts God against which He would seek help through the hosts of the heavens and the earth.
كَيْفَ؟! وَقَدْ ذَكَرَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ، وَالَّذِي يُقَابِلُهُ عَلَى فَرْضِ وُجُودِهِ أَيْنَ يَكُونُ هُوَ وَجُنُودُهُ؟!
How could that be?! He has named the heavens and the earth; so the one who would confront Him, supposing he existed, where would he and his hosts be?!
وَلِذَا تَمَّمَ الْآيَةَ بِقَوْلِهِ: «وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَزِيزاً حَكِيماً».
That is why He completed the verse with His words: “And God is Mighty, Wise” (Q 48:7).
«فَكَانَ» هُنَا، وَفِي مِثْلِهَا مُعَدَّاةٌ عَنِ الزَّمَانِ، بِمَعْنَى وُجِدَ اللَّهُ، هُوَ الِاسْمُ الْجَامِعُ الَّذِي لَهُ جُنُودُ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ تَحْتَ تَصُّرُفِهِ وَفِي قَبْضَتِهِ،
“Fa-kāna” here, and in similar cases, is removed from time, in the sense of “God is found (exists)”, He being the all-comprehensive Name to whom belong the hosts of the heavens and the earth, under His disposal and in His grip,
عَزِيزاً مَنِيعَ الْحِمَى، غَنِيّاً عَنِ الْجُنُودِ الَّتِي يُسْتَعَانُ بِهَا، فَاِنَّهُ لَا كُفْءَ لَهُ،
Mighty, His precinct unassailable, independent of the hosts through which help is sought, for He has no equal;
حَكِيماً فِيمَا حَكَمَ بِهِ مِنْ وُجُودِ الْمُنَازَعَةِ بَيْنَ جُنُودِهِ، مَعَ كَوْنِهَا كُلُّهَا تَحْتَ اِرَادَتِهِ أَيِ الِاسْمِ «اللَّهِ».
Wise in what He decreed, namely that contention should exist among His hosts, although all of them are under His will, that is, the will of the Name “Allāh”.
Translations, word glosses and term notes are AI-generated (Claude) and marked as such; no published translation is reproduced.Word analysis is automatic (CAMeL Tools), guided by the text's vowelling. How this text was established.
Hear when new texts are published
Occasional news of a new text or a new layer. If there is a text you would like to read here, say so below.