(And they esteem not Allah as He hath the right to be esteemed…) [39:67]. Abu Bakr al-Harithi informed us> Abu’l-Shaykh al-Hafiz> Ibn Abi ‘Asim> Ibn Numayr> Abu Mu‘awiyah> al-A‘mash> ‘Alqamah> ‘Abd Allah who said: “A man from the people of the Book went to see the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said to him: ‘O Abu’l-Qasim, did you not hear that Allah carries all created being on one finger, all the earth on one finger, all trees on one finger, all the soil on one finger and then says: I am the King?’ The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, laughed so much that he molars showed. Allah, exalted is He, revealed (And they esteem not Allah as He hath the right to be esteemed...)”. This means that Allah, exalted is He, is able to hold the earth and all that is in it of created beings, trees and so as one of us is able to carry some things with his fingers. We have only been addressed in our usual speech so that we can understand. Do you not see that Allah, exalted is He, says (when the whole earth is His handful on the Day of Resurrection…), i.e. it is His handful by means of His power.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
