سُوْرَةُ المَآئِدَةِ
Surah Al-Maaida (5) — Ayah 40
أَلَمْ تَعْلَمْ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَهُۥ مُلْكُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ يُعَذِّبُ مَن يَشَآءُ وَيَغْفِرُ لِمَن يَشَآءُ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ ﴿40﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
Know you not that to Allâh (Alone) belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth! He punishes whom He wills and He forgives whom He wills. And Allâh is Able to do all things.
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
أَلَمْ
alam
Do not
تَعْلَمْ
taʿlam
you know
أَنَّ
anna
that
ٱللَّهَ
l-laha
Allah
لَهُۥ
lahu
to Him (belongs)
مُلْكُ
mul'ku
(the) dominion
ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ
l-samāwāti
(of) the heavens
وَٱلْأَرْضِ
wal-arḍi
and the earth
يُعَذِّبُ
yuʿadhibu
He punishes
مَن
man
whom
يَشَآءُ
yashāu
He wills
وَيَغْفِرُ
wayaghfiru
and He forgives
لِمَن
liman
[to] whom
يَشَآءُ ۗ
yashāu
He wills
وَٱللَّهُ
wal-lahu
And Allah
عَلَىٰ
ʿalā
(is) on
كُلِّ
kulli
every
شَىْءٍۢ
shayin
thing
قَدِيرٌۭ
qadīrun
All-Powerful
Tafsir al-Quran al-Karim — Hafiz Abdus Salam Bin Muhammad Bhutvi
Tafsir al-Quran al-Karim is a 4-volume Quran commentary by Hafiz Abdus Salam bin Muhammad Bhutvi, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar and Sheikh ul-Hadith from Pakistan. Based on over 45 years of teaching and research, this tafsir follows the methodology of Tafsir bil-Ma'thur — interpreting the Quran through authentic Hadith, statements of the Companions, and the understanding of the early generations (Salaf). It is distinguished by its complete avoidance of Israeliyyat (Judeo-Christian narratives) and unverified reports. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
(Ayah 40) {اَلَمْ تَعْلَمْ اَنَّ اللّٰهَ لَهٗ مُلْكُ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضِ …… :} This was stated so that no one would be surprised that a thief was given a severe punishment for a minor offense. (Muwaddih) The address of this verse is to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), but the intent is all people, or it is an address to every individual. (Fath al-Bayan) That is, no one can receive leniency from Allah; whoever commits a crime will be punished. In this matter, no one of higher status is given preference over one of lower status, or it means that Allah has full authority to prescribe whatever punishment He wills for any crime; He has complete authority over His creation. (Qurtubi) An atheist poet, Abu al-Ala al-Ma'arri, objected to this command of Allah, saying: "Look, a hand whose blood money was fifty camels was cut off for the paltry value of a quarter dinar; this is a strange contradiction." Then, to escape arrest for objecting to the Qur'an, he fled. Thus, many scholars wrote responses to him. Qadi Abdul Wahhab said: {’’لَمَّا كَانَتْ اَمِيْنَةً كَانَتْ ثَمِيْنَةً فَلَمَّا خَانَتْ هَانَتْ‘‘} "As long as the hand was trustworthy, it was valuable; when it committed treachery, it became worthless." (Ibn Kathir) One purpose of punishments is also to prevent sins. To deter the crime of cutting off a hand, it was necessary to set a high blood money for the hand, so that people would refrain from cutting someone's hand. And to prevent theft, it was necessary to set a low threshold for cutting the hand, so that people would refrain from stealing.
