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* تفسير Tafsir al-Tustari


{ تَبَارَكَ ٱلَّذِي بِيَدِهِ ٱلْمُلْكُ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ }

Blessed be He in whose hand is all sovereignty…He said:That is, Exalted and Magnified is He above having likenesses, sons and rivals. He in whose hand is all sovereignty turns it over through His power (ḥawl) and strength (quwwa), grantingit to whomever He will and removing it from whomever He will, and He is All-Powerful (al-Qādir) over it.His words, Exalted is He:

…and He has power over all things,! He who created death and life…He said:Death in this world is in disobedience, and life in the Hereafter is in obedience. It was for this reason that God, Exalted is He, addressed Moses saying, ‘O Moses, truly the first of my creatures to die was Iblīs, may God’s curse be on him, because he disobeyed Me, and I count the one who disobeys Me as being from among the dead.’Then he said:Death was created in the form of a handsome ram (kabsh amlaḥ). Whatever it passes by and [merely] catches a whiff of it, lives. It has been related in a tradition that the people of Paradise will fear death but the people of Hell will wish for death. It will be brought in the form of a handsomeram. Then it will be said, ‘This is death, so behold what God is going to do with it.’ Then it will be turned on its side and slaughtered. Thereupon God, Exalted is He, will [re] make it in the form of a horse which will be set free to graze in Paradise. Whoever among the inhabitants of Paradise sees it will enjoy its company, without realising that it is death. His words, Exalted is He:


Tafsīr al-Tustarī, trans. Annabel Keeler and Ali Keeler
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