Surah As-Sajda (32) — Ayah 5

(Ayah 5) ➊ { يُدَبِّرُ الْاَمْرَ مِنَ السَّمَآءِ اِلَى الْاَرْضِ … :} There is much difference of opinion among the scholars regarding the interpretation of this verse, to the extent that some have entrusted its details to Allah’s knowledge and have remained silent, because in every interpretation there remains some deficiency and room for objection. Here, two of these interpretations are mentioned: one is that whatever decision Allah makes, He enforces it from the heaven to the earth, then the news of its enforcement ascends back to Him in a day whose measure is equal to a thousand years of what you count, because the distance between the heaven and the earth is five hundred years, so the distance of descending and ascending is a thousand years. Ibn Jarir Tabari said: “This is better than all the other statements, because it is the clearest in its meaning and closest to the apparent words of the Qur’an.” Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) has also mentioned the statement of Mujahid, Qatadah, and Dahhak: “The descent of the angel (carrying Allah’s command) is in a distance of five hundred years, and his ascent is also in a distance of five hundred years, but he covers it in the blink of an eye. That is why Allah said: «{ فِيْ يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهٗۤ اَلْفَ سَنَةٍ مِّمَّا تَعُدُّوْنَ }» [ السجدۃ : ۵ ] ‘In a day whose measure is a thousand years of what you count.’” (Ibn Kathir) Qasimi, Ibn Juzayy (author of Al-Tashil), Baghawi, Sa’di, and many other commentators have stated this meaning or preferred it.

It should be noted that in the Noble Qur’an, the word {’’ يَوْمٍ ‘‘} has come for a period of fifty thousand years as well as for a thousand years, for the ordinary days of the world and also for the smallest fraction of time, as He said: «{ يَسْـَٔلُهٗ مَنْ فِي السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضِ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ هُوَ فِيْ شَاْنٍ }» [ الرحمٰن : ۲۹ ] “Whoever is in the heavens and the earth asks of Him; every day He is in a new affair.” Here, “every day” means every moment. The purpose of this verse is that after creating the heavens and the earth in six days, Allah did not become detached from them so that someone else is running their affairs, rather, from the heaven to the earth, from the greatest to the smallest, He Himself manages every affair. He has complete knowledge of the execution of every command, and despite the thousand-year distance between the earth and the heavens, all of this happens in moments by His command.

In this verse is a refutation of those ignorant Sufis and polytheists who say that Allah has handed over the system of the universe to His beloved ones and is now free, and that they are running the entire system. Then these people have even established official ranks for this, according to which one of their saints is at the rank of Qayyum, another is Qutb, another is Ghawth, some are Abdal, and some are Awtad, and these are the ones running the world’s system. According to this, they have given Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani the rank of Ghawth al-A’zam (the greatest helper). Instead of calling upon Allah alone, these people sometimes call upon one for help and sometimes another. In reality, behind their misguidance is that same corrupt belief which Allah has refuted in this verse: that the One who manages every affair from a thousand-year distance in moments and has complete knowledge of it, why should anyone worship or call upon someone who has no share in the management of any affair, instead of worshipping and asking from Him alone?

➋ The second interpretation is that Allah has been managing every affair of His creation from the time He created the heavens and the earth, and this process will continue until they perish. Then all these affairs ascend to Him so that He may decide concerning them in a day whose measure is a thousand years of what you count. The commentator Al-Maraghi, Ibn Ashur, Abu Bakr Al-Jazairi (author of Aysar Al-Tafasir), Ibrahim Al-Qattan (author of Tayseer Al-Tafseer), and many other commentators have sufficed with this meaning, and many others have preferred it. The reason for preferring this meaning is that Allah has mentioned in the Noble Qur’an the return of every affair and every person to Allah, as He said: «{ وَ اِلَى اللّٰهِ الْمَصِيْرُ }» [ آل عمران : ۲۸ ], «{ ثُمَّ اِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُوْنَ }» [ البقرۃ : ۲۸ ], «{ وَ اِلَيْهِ يُرْجَعُ الْاَمْرُ كُلُّهٗ }» [ ھود : ۱۲۳ ], «{ ثُمَّ اِلَيْهِ مَرْجِعُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُوْنَ }» [ الأنعام : ۶۰ ] and He said: «{ اِلَيْهِ مَرْجِعُكُمْ جَمِيْعًا وَعْدَ اللّٰهِ حَقًّا اِنَّهٗ يَبْدَؤُا الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيْدُهٗ }» [ یونس : ۴ ]

There is an objection to this interpretation, that in Surah Al-Ma’arij (4), Allah has mentioned the measure of the Day of Resurrection as fifty thousand years, whereas here a thousand years is mentioned. The solution is that a thousand years merely signifies abundance, because in the Arabic language the largest number is {’’أَلْفٌ‘‘} (a thousand). If a greater number is needed, other numbers are added, for example {’’خَمْسُوْنَ أَلْفًا‘‘} or {’’مِائَةُ أَلْفٍ‘‘ }, and sometimes for the expression of abundance, {’’أَلْفٌ‘‘} alone is used. Therefore, both {’’ خَمْسِيْنَ اَلْفَ سَنَةٍ ‘‘} and {’’ اَلْفَ سَنَةٍ ‘‘} refer to the Day of Resurrection, and both numbers are meant to express abundance. It is possible that the actual duration is much greater, which Allah alone knows best. (And Allah knows best) Some commentators have stated this solution: that the days of calamity are long, so the length of fifty thousand years will be for the disbelievers, as He said: { فَذٰلِكَ يَوْمَىِٕذٍ يَّوْمٌ عَسِيْرٌ (9) عَلَى الْكٰفِرِيْنَ غَيْرُ يَسِيْرٍ } [ المدثر : ۹، ۱۰ ] “So that day is a difficult day, not easy for the disbelievers.”