بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ تَبَٰرَكَ ٱلَّذِى بِيَدِهِ ٱلْمُلْكُ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ قَدِيرٌ
Blessed is He in whose hand is dominion, and He is over all things competent -
Introduction
This is āyah 1 of Sūrat Al-Mulk (The Sovereignty), the 77th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 29. Meccan verses tend to address faith, the oneness of God, and the hereafter.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Meccan
- Order revealed
- 77 of 114
- Surah
- Al-Mulk (67)
Blessed is He in whose hand is the kingdom, and He is powerful over everything. The kingdom of the 18,000 worlds is in His hand. The heads of all the headmen are in the grasp of His predetermination, the necks of all the proud wear the collar of His subjection, the forelocks of all the tyrants are acquiescent to the severity of His all-compellingness. It has come in a report, “'I am the King. The hearts and the forelocks of the kings are in My hand, and I make them fluctuate as I will.' I am the king, I am king over all kings. Exalting and abasing the servants is in My hand. The hearts of the world's folk are in My grasp. I turn them any way I want and I drive their secret cores according to My desire. If I want, I call them and make them laugh. If I want, I drive them away and make them weep. “O you who are the world's folk! Do not busy your breasts because of kings and do not attach your hearts to them. Attach your hearts to My religion, trust in My generosity, and turn your face to the threshold of obedience to Me. Serve the religion so that this world may follow you. Serve the King of kings, so that the kings of this world may serve you.” Serve Him so that kings may serve you, be His boy and the sultan will be your servant. The kingdom of human nature is one thing, the kingdom of the heart another, and the kingdom of the spirit still another. Human nature runs the kingdom in this world, the heart runs the kingdom in the next world, and the spirit runs the kingdom in the World of the Haqiqah. The kingdom of human nature is this: Surely the life of this world is but play, diversion, and adornment [57:20]. The kingdom of the heart is this: He loves them, and they love Him [5:54]. The kingdom of the spirit is this: Faces that day will radiant, gazing upon their Lord [75:22-23]. That exalted man of the road said, “Tomorrow when the banner of His magnificence is raised at the resurrection-Whose is the kingdom? [40:16]-with His permission I will open up a door in the corner of my heart and give out some of my pain for Him.
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
Community resources
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