قُلِ ٱللَّهُمَّ مَٰلِكَ ٱلْمُلْكِ تُؤْتِى ٱلْمُلْكَ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتَنزِعُ ٱلْمُلْكَ مِمَّن تَشَآءُ وَتُعِزُّ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتُذِلُّ مَن تَشَآءُ ۖ بِيَدِكَ ٱلْخَيْرُ ۖ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ قَدِيرٌۭ
Say, "O Allah, Owner of Sovereignty, You give sovereignty to whom You will and You take sovereignty away from whom You will. You honor whom You will and You humble whom You will. In Your hand is [all] good. Indeed, You are over all things competent.
Introduction
This is āyah 26 of Sūrat Aal-i-Imraan (Family of Imran), the 89th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Medinan period and sits within Juzʾ 3. Medinan verses often address community life, law, and the building of society.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Medinan
- Order revealed
- 89 of 114
- Surah
- Aal-i-Imraan (3)
(Say: O Allah! Owner of Sovereignty!) [3:26]. Ibn 'Abbas and Anas ibn Malik said: �When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, conquered Mecca and promised his nation the kingdoms of Persia and Byzantium, the hypocrites and Jews said: 'How far fetched! How far fetched! How on earth can Muhammad conquer the kingdoms of Persia and Byzantium? They are too mighty and strong for that. Are Mecca and Medina not enough for Muhammad that he covets the kingdoms of Persia and Byzantium?' And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�. Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Marwazi informed in his epistle> Abu'l-Fadl Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Haddadi> Muhammad ibn Yahya> Ishaq ibn Ibrahim> Rawh ibn 'Ubadah> Sa'id> Qatadah who said: �It was mentioned to us that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, requested Allah to grant his nation the kingdoms of Persia and Byzantium, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Say: O Allah! Owner of Sovereignty!)�. The master Abu Ishaq al-Tha'alibi informed us> 'Abd Allah ibn Hamid al-Wazzan> Muhammad ibn Ja'far al-Matiri> Hammad ibn al-Hasan> Muhammad ibn Khalid ibn 'Athmah> Kathir ibn 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr ibn 'Awf> his father> his father who said: �On the day of the Confederates, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, drew lines indicating where the Ditch was to be dug and he assigned ten men for every forty cubits. 'Amd ibn 'Awf said: 'Myself, Salman [al-Farisi], Hudhayfah [ibn al-Yaman] al-Nu'man ibn Muqarrin al-Muzani and six men of the Helpers were assigned to dig forty cubits. We dug until we reached beneath Dhu Nab whereupon we came upon a rock of flint which broke our steel and proved extremely hard to break. And so we told Salman to go up and inform the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, about this rock and to consult him about either to go round it or command us something else about it, for we did not like going beyond the line he drew. So Salman went up to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, who had on him a Turkish collar. He said: 'O Messenger of Allah! We came across a white rock of flint inside the ditch which has broken our steel and proved very hard to break, for we did everything we could to break it but in vain.
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.
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