قَالَ رَبُّ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَآ ۖ إِن كُنتُم مُّوقِنِينَ
[Moses] said, "The Lord of the heavens and earth and that between them, if you should be convinced."
Introduction
This is āyah 24 of Sūrat Ash-Shu'araa (The Poets), the 47th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 19. 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
- 47 of 114
- Surah
- Ash-Shu'araa (26)
“The Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between the two.” “Pharaoh, even if you do not know and do not have access to His tawḤīd, nonetheless the seven heavens, the seven earths, and everything in between are the mark and testimony of the Lord and His oneness. The engendered and newly arrived things are all the signs and banners of His power.” In each thing He has a sign showing that He is one. The chronicle of the Beginningless and the Endless is one instant at the beginning of His welcome, the blessings of both houses are a dust mote in the ray of the sun of His bounteousness, those pre- pared for service are the ones burned by His love, and those wounded by tribulation are the ones exalted by His presence. He is the Lord who is worthy of all laudations, with no equal in Essence and no companion in attributes. He does what He wants according to His choice, takes care of things without testing, forgives the disobedient, does the beautiful toward the destitute, brings forth the darknesses, brings out the lights, sees the states, and knows the secrets. Next to the color of your face, tulips are worthless; next to the scent of your tresses' tips, perfume is trifling. Know that in these verses, the Real ascribes creation to Himself in four places. He says, “the Lord of the worlds” [26:23], “the Lord of the heavens, the earth, and whatsoever is between the two” [26:24], “The Lord of you and your fathers, the first ones” [26:26], and “the Lord of the east, the west, and what is between the two” [26:28]. This sort of ascription-that is, of God's Essence to His creation-comes in the Qur'an in two respects: one is partial ascription, and the other univer- sal ascription. Thus He says to MuṣṬafā, “Remember thy Lord [7:205], And worship thy Lord [15:99], And when thy Lord said [2:30], And for thy Lord be patient [74:7], And thy Lord magnify [74:3], And thy Lord creates [28:68].” In the Qur'an there are many examples of this, and all of them bestow eminence and honor on MuṣṬafā. The Real is the Lord of all created and newly arrived things, but He singled out MuṣṬafā by mentioning him in order to make him great in the hearts of the servants.
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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