وَمَا قَدَرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِۦ وَٱلْأَرْضُ جَمِيعًۭا قَبْضَتُهُۥ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَٰمَةِ وَٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتُ مَطْوِيَّٰتٌۢ بِيَمِينِهِۦ ۚ سُبْحَٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَٰلَىٰ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ
They have not appraised Allah with true appraisal, while the earth entirely will be [within] His grip on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens will be folded in His right hand. Exalted is He and high above what they associate with Him.
Introduction
This is āyah 67 of Sūrat Az-Zumar (The Troops), the 59th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 24. 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
- 59 of 114
- Surah
- Az-Zumar (39)
(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.
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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