He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden.

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God is an infinite and unlimited being Explanation of Verses

In the second verse from Surah Hadid. In these verses according to Imam Ali Ibn Al Hussein there are points to ponder about the beauty, the authority described in the best possible and profound manner. So God says, “His is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth.” (1) According to this proof life and death is in His hands and He has control over everything. The verse says, “He grants life and causes death, and He has power over all things.”

Then there is the other side of the verse and it may be the proof of God’s Oneness, His might, His rule and His being the arranger of all creations. The verse says, “He is the first and the last, the manifest and the hidden; He is the knower of all things.”

Five attributes of God have been mentioned in this verse and they collectively are the proof of His infinity. Every thing begins from Him, Every thing will end with Him, and He exists both in the manifest and in the hidden.

There are five attributes of God mentioned in this verse that are proof of His being infinite. He says, “. He is the first and the last, the manifest and the hidden.” He is present everywhere and there is none like Him because had there been any other god then they both would have had a beginning and an end and they could not be present both in the manifest as well hidden. Their knowledge could not have encompassed everything. If they had been two then both would have been limited and when one met the other he would die or it would be his end and the beginning of the second. The proof of His being One is that He is infinite. Fakhruddin Razi has said that most commentators consider “He is first” to be the proof of the Oneness of God. (2)

The third verse speaks of Hazrat Yusuf and two inmates who were incarcerated with him in the prison. They asked Hazrat Yusuf the interpretations of their dreams and he joined this to the god’s Oneness because it this that is the source of all enlightenment. He said, “O my fellow inmates! Are (many) gods who differ with another better or God, the One, the all-Dominant?” It is very interesting to note that Qura’n has used the word dominant six times (3) and on each occasion has mentioned it after the Oneness as if there is a special link between the two attributes. Dominance is also a proof of God’s oneness. (Reflect).

Hazrat Yusuf first placed this problem to their knowledge because the truth of Oneness (as we have said before) is in the core of human nature. So he said,

He said, “You believe in many gods and this includes one each for earth, heavens, fire, water and the Jinns and angels. Then the Pharaoh of Egypt is also your god. The idols of clay, stones, wood and other minerals too your gods and you worship them all so tell me is this group of gods better or the One God who dominates everywhere?

The word “dominance” here is used as a hyperbole and Raghib opines in Mafuradat that it means total power with which to throw the opposition into the abyss but this word is used often separately for both. In Majmaul Bayan Tabrisi says, dominant is that powerful entity who has no other as equal or partner.(4) It shows us the interconnection between Oneness and dominance because when we admit that He is dominant over all things or that He is infinite then we cannot imagine another or equal for whoever exists is subservient and one who is subservient cannot be infinite and a necessary being.

 


 

1. The word “Laho” denotes that the kingdom of the heavens and the earth depends on His pure existence.
2.Tafsir Kabeer Vol.29 Page 313 and Tafsir Ruhul Bayan Vol. 9 Page 347
3. See Surah Raad Verse 16, Ibrahim Verse 48, Saad Verse 65, Zumar 4, and Ghafir 16.
4. Tafsir Majmaul Bayan vol.5 page 403

 

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