The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 9
PT. 11 YŪNUS CH. 10 beauties and excellences. Similarly, are صفات تشبيهية belong to the group of Throne) by) عرش the bearing of the | الرحمان Lord of all the worlds) رب العالمين الدين يوم (Gracious), (Merciful) and UL. (Lord of the Day of Judgement). On the Day of Judgement the four corresponding transcendent attributes, i. e. will also come into operation. The may be called attributes of similitude, because these attributes are similar to the attributes manifested by human beings. For instance, as kings display their majesty by seating themselves on their thrones, similarly the glory of God lies in His being the "Lord of the Throne. " But on the Day of Judgement, this attribute will manifest its transcendent phase and no other being will bear to God the slightest resemblance in that respect. angels means only that its true reality is disclosed and manifested through them. It is evident that man cannot understand and realize the transcendent attributes of God except through His attributes of similitude, i. e. such as are manifested in relation to His creatures and are shared by them. Thus the attributes of God as are manifested in relation to His creatures are, as it were, the bearers of His transcendent attributes, which means that the former kind of attributes help man to understand and realize the latter kind of attributes. Another verse giving rise to the idea that the is created is 23:87, in which God is spoken of as "the Lord of the seven heavens and the Lord of the Great Throne. " It is argued that as God is the ✓ (Lord) of the (Throne), therefore He must be its Creator, for the word also means Creator. But (Lord) does not necessarily mean Creator; it also means Owner or Possessor. So (Lord) رب Some scholars have erroneously inferred from certain verses of the Quran that (Throne) is something created. This inference, among other verses, is drawn from 69:18, in which angels are represented as "bearing" the Throne of God. It is wrongly considered that, having been represented as being "borne" by angels, the must be something material. But the truth is that the word (bearing) is used not merely to denote the bearing of a material thing in the physical sense but also figuratively. Thus in 33:73 man is spoken of as "bearing" the Law which was offered to him by God as a trust; but the Law of God is not a material It may be asked, if the word thing. The expression only means that (Lord) has been used in the sense of >> man accepted and acted upon the Law or (Owner or Possessor), why of God and thereby helped to bear it has not either of the two latter words aloft by revealing its manifold | been used instead of ✓✓ (Lord)? The would mean "the Possessor or Owner of the Throne. " God has been spoken of as a (the Possessor of mercy) in 18:59. But mercy is an attribute of God and has not been created by Him. The description of God as the Possessor of "mercy" or as the Owner of (Throne) does not therefore imply His creation of either of them. راب 1217