2:255-257

[Shakir 2:255] Allah is He besides Whom there is no god, the Everliving, the Self-subsisting by Whom all subsist; slumber does not overtake Him nor sleep; whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is His; who is he that can intercede with Him but by His permission? He knows what is before them and what is behind them, and they cannot comprehend anything out of His knowledge except what He pleases, His knowledge extends over the heavens and the earth, and the preservation of them both tires Him not, and He is the Most High, the Great.

[Pickthal 2:255] Allah! There is no deity save Him, the Alive, the Eternal. Neither slumber nor sleep overtaketh Him. Unto Him belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. Who is he that intercedeth with Him save by His leave? He knoweth that which is in front of them and that which is behind them, while they encompass nothing of His knowledge save what He will. His throne includeth the heavens and the earth, and He is never weary of preserving them. He is the Sublime, the Tremendous.

[Yusufali 2:255] Allah! There is no god but He,-the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him nor sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He permitteth? He knoweth what (appeareth to His creatures as) before or after or behind them. Nor shall they compass aught of His knowledge except as He willeth. His Throne doth extend over the heavens and the earth, and He feeleth no fatigue in guarding and preserving them for He is the Most High, the Supreme (in glory).

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 2:255]

 

This verse is known as the ayat ul kursi-the verse of the seat or throne of the almighty, omnipotent and wise authority of Allah. This verse is an ayah of protection. In it is mentioned all that we the mortals can ever know about Allah.
"Allah is He beside whom there is no god" - please refer to the commentary of verse 1 of al Fatihah for the word "Allah". 


Not only the denial of false gods, but also the belief in the absolute unity of Allah without any complexity of any kind, in any sense, in His ever-living and self-subsisting supreme being, is the first and the foremost doctrine of Islam. Complexity suggests an interdependence among the components which means the "whole" depends upon the performance of the components. All the prophets of Allah, before the Holy Prophet, also preached the unity of Allah, but the perfect unity made known through the Holy Prophet could not be presented to the people of earlier times because their intellect and perception had not developed enough to understand the ever-living and self-subsisting being of Allah. The following words, spoken by Isa, are quoted as an example:
There is still much that I could say to you, but the burden would be too great for you now. However, when he comes who is the spirit of truth, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but will tell only what he hears; and he will make known to you the things that are coming. (John 16: 12 and 13). Every prophet of Allah preached the unity of Allah. The idea of trinity was not given by Isa. It is an after-thought of the Christian church. Please read the following quotations from the Old and the New Testaments.
Old Testament:


God spoke, and these were His words:


"I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

You shall have no other god to set against me.

You shall not make a carved image for yourself nor the likeness of anything in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth". (Exodus 20: I to 4).

Hear O Israel, the Lord is our Lord, One Lord. (Deut 6: 4)

"I am the Lord, the Lord is my name; I will not give my glory to
another god, nor my praise to any idol." (Isaiah 42: 8)

Thus says the Lord, Israel's king, the Lord of hosts, his ransomer:
"I am the first and I am the last, and there is no god but me." (Isaiah 44: 6)

"I am the Lord, there is no other; there is no god beside me."

"I am the Lord, there is no other."

"There is no god but Me; there is no god other than 1."

"I am God, there is no other." (Isaiah 45: 5, 18, 21, 22).

"I am God, there is no other." (Isaiah 46: 9)

"I am He; I am the first, I am the last also. (Isaiah 48: 12) New Testament:
A false god has no existence in the real world.

There is no god but one.

Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom all beings comes. (1 Corinthians 8: 4 and 6)

One Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all. (Ephesians 4: 5 and 6). Prophet after prophet came and awakened man step by step and degree by degree. Finally the Holy Prophet, the brightest light, was sent to expose and explain the ultimate truth, as promised by Allah, to enlighten the human mind and heart with the knowledge through which man can become aware of the Lord God, but comprehends only what his power of contemplation can bear.
It is reported that there are three kinds of existence;


(1) WAJIB UL WUJUD
The self-existing existence. The primal cause. There can never be any effect without a cause. The universe, therefore, was created by the self-existing creator, the primal cause. (2) MUMKIN UL WUJUD
The creatures or created beings whose creation is possible only if the creator so wills. (3) MUMTANI UL WUJUD
The impossible existence. The existence of another being like Allah is not possible because there cannot be two equals in the sense of oneness. If there are two equals in this sense, then there is no meaning in their being two, separated from each other. They must be one. If there are two such beings then there must be a dividing factor which makes the two as two and maintains their two separate entities, in which case the dividing factor will be the wajib ul wujud, therefore, such an existence is neither possible nor real. Wajib ul wujud, therefore, means the self-existing existence of the ever-living and self-subsisting creator. To maintain His self-existing existence He must be an omnipotent authority who not only owns absolute knowledge of the existence but also the will that does what it wills. His control is absolute. His attributes are His self, inseparable from Him from any point of view or in any imaginable meaning or sense, as the meaning is inseparable from a word or as equiangularity is inseparable from an equilateral triangle. As the limited knowledge of the finite being cannot conceive of anything without referring to its attributes, we give names to the attributes of Allah, with the help of our visualisation, to have a suggestive idea of His absolute existence. Therefore, the Shia school holds it as a cardinal doctrine of faith not to think of any of His attributes as a separate entity from His existence. All the attributes of Allah are one absolute unity, because, if they are not, then it would mean complexity, which negates the absolute independence of the omnipotent authority. His existence means His authority, His authority means His knowledge, and likewise all His attributes are so linked together that they are one indivisible unity. Allah is a transcendental reality. He is unknowable. He is an infinite being, beyond the conceivability of our finite consciousness. He is inconceivable. He is hayyul qayyum, the ever-living, the self-subsisting (Ali Imran: 2; Ta Ha: 111, Mumin: 65).

Imam Ali says:
O He!

O He whom none knows what He is,

nor how He is,

nor where He is,

nor in what respect He is;

except He. (Dua al-Mashlul) Aqa Mahdi Puya says:

Qayyum is a magnified form of the adjective qayam - standing, lasting, enduring. It implies He who stands by Himself, and all others stand because of His (eternal) endurance. His relation to His creatures is like the source of light to the rays of the light, or like the mind to the concepts, not like the relation of an architect or a builder to a construction he builds. It is exactly as Ali ibna abi Talib has said-"Every thing stands by means of Him". He is the self-subsisting everlasting, therefore, He is the first and the last, and the apparent and the hidden (Hadid: 2 and 3); and He is the knower of all things, and He is with everything but is not computed with anything (Mujadilah : 7; Ma-idah: 73).
While trying to visualise His attributes, it is necessary not to be misled by the finite inferences. His activity does not at all mean movement to perform an act by employing energy as we do. Awareness of His attributes, based upon reason and contemplation, may appear pure and perfect to us, but, in fact, it remains a shadow of the reality which transcends all faculties of comprehension.
"Slumber does not overtake Him", means that He is not influenced by any change whatsoever. He is beyond time and states, for He encompasses time and all states. He is the ever vigilant, or the true and perfect vigilance itself.
"Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is His" means that He is the creator of matter. If the "matter" is not created by Allah, and is said to be eternally existing as He is, then He is only a fashioner of things out of matter, in which case nothing belongs to Him. There is no propriety in this conjecture. It is unreasonable to say that there are two independent eternal equals. If matter is accepted as an independent and uncreated eternal, then Allah, to prove His existence, will need the matter to carry out His creative plan, otherwise the matter will remain idle. There is no meaning in the idea of two eternal equals, separated from each other. They must be one. If there are two such beings, then there must be a dividing factor which makes the two as two and maintains their two separate entities, in which case the dividing factor, superior in will and authority will be the ever-existing supreme being.

"Who can intercede with Him, except by His permission?" implies that though Allah is the almighty and the absolute sovereign but as He is also the merciful, the compassionate, He has given permission to "Muhammad and Ali Muhammad", the thoroughly purified, to intercede on behalf of the sinners. The issue of intercession has been dealt with in detail in the commentary of verse 48 of this surah. Please refer to it.

"He knows what is before them and what is behind them, and they cannot comprehend anything out of His knowledge except what He pleases", means Allah's omniscience. The finite beings cannot hide anything from Allah. They cannot comprehend anything except what He pleases, no matter whatever knowledge and intelligence they possess. The facts which are unknown or unknowable to the finite beings are known to the infinite. Allah's knowledge is infinite and absolute. He is the knowing who knows ahead and in advance (in term of time and space) the origin and causality of knowledge. Although the ordinary human beings do not perceive that which is known to Allah only, but those who have been endowed with the divine knowledge are aware of the secrets of the universe.

In "His kursi (seat of authority and knowledge) extends over the heavens and the earth", although kursi literally means "chair", like arsh (used in other verses of the Quran) means "throne", but both these words have been used metaphorically. They refer to the divine knowledge and authority of the supreme, almighty and sovereign Allah, in relation to all that which has been created by Him. His "relation" with His creation, in time and space, remains unconditionally unaffected. His control over everything, created by Him, is perfect, complete and absolute. There is no limitation to the infinity of His existence, because the ever-existing existence is only His and it is He who gives existence to whom He wills. When we say "He is here, there and everywhere", we only make use of our limited and inadequate ability to understand and express His absolute infinity. He is the creator of time and space, therefore, His infinite existence cannot be conceived by the help of the knowledge derived from the system based upon experience and induction.

According to the Ahl ul Bayt kursi or arsh, not connected with any kind of matter, is the manifestation of His knowledge and authority in relation to all that which has been created. It includes all the heavens and the earth. Arsh refers to Allah's hold and sway over all creation. In other words, the creation as a whole is the kursi or the throne of Allah from which all His divine attributes of knowledge, wisdom, might and glory manifest.

"And the preservation of them does not tire Him" means the creation, as a whole, is sustained by Him, and its continued existence is maintained by Him. The laws (created by Him), governing the operation of creation, produce fatigue, therefore, He is independent of such laws. His absolute existence is eternal and everlasting.

"He is the most high, the great", according to the Holy Prophet, is one of the most important verses of the Quran, which deals with the unity of Allah, His attributes, His relation to His creatures, the position of man in the order of creation, his instinctive desire to turn unto Him, his means of salvation and the ultimate reward and punishment.

In order to prevent the total seizure of mind and heart by the greatness of the kursi, mentioned in this verse, it is made clear in the end that Allah alone is the most high, the greatest.

[Shakir 2:256] There is no compulsion in religion; truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error; therefore, whoever disbelieves in the Shaitan and believes in Allah he indeed has laid hold on the firmest handle, which shall not break off, and Allah is Hearing, Knowing. 

[Pickthal 2:256] There is no compulsion in religion. The right direction is henceforth distinct from error. And he who rejecteth false deities and believeth in Allah hath grasped a firm handhold which will never break. Allah is Hearer, Knower. 

[Yusufali 2:256] Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things. 

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 2:256]

Aqa Mahdi Puya says:

This verse states a psychological fact that the submissive attitude of the mind and heart towards any sacred object cannot be obtained by force or compulsion, therefore, only a clear view of the sacred generates the spontaneous conviction to adopt the right and reject the wrong. It is not an imperative but an indicative statement. There is no room for considering this verse as having been abrogated by any other verse dealing with jihad. This verse also asserts that after the right way has become clearly distinct from error, man must reject the false gods and believe in Allah.

This verse confirms that which has been said, in detail, in the commentary of verses 190 to 193 of this surah, about the false accusation by the European historians that the Holy Prophet used the sword to preach Islam.

Sir Edward Dennison Ross says:

"For many centuries the acquaintance which the majority of Europeans possessed of Muhammadanism was based almost entirely on distorted reports of fanatical Christians which led to the dissemination of a multitude of gross calumnies. What was good in Muhammadanism was entirely ignored, and what was not good, in the eyes of Europe, was exaggerated or misinterpreted. It must not, however, be forgotten that the central doctrine preached by Muhammad to his contemporaries in Arabia, who worshipped the stars; to the Persians who acknowledged Ormuz and Ahriman; the lndians, who worshipped idols; and the Turks, who had no particular worship, was the unity of God, and that the simplicity of his creed was probably a more potent factor in the spread of Islam than the sword of the ghazis". Even William Muir, the worst enemy of Islam, in the following passage, admits that:
It is strongly corroborative of Muhammad's sincerity that the earliest converts to Islam were not only of upright character, but his own bosom friends and people of his household; intimately acquainted with his private life, who could not fail otherwise to have detected those discrepancies which ever more or less exist between the professions of the hypocritical deceiver abroad and his actions at home." Through this verse peace, love and mutual understanding have been prescribed for the Muslims. Also refer to verse 125 of Bani Israil. There is no need for compulsion in religion because verse 2 of al Dahr says: "Verily, we have shown him (man) the (right) way; (whether) he be grateful or disbelieving (ungrateful)!"

Taghut (the devil) means the inordinate, the rebel, the wrongdoer, the strayer, like Shaytan. The word taghut, in this verse, implies all the devilish tendencies and activities which mislead the people. The first step towards genuine belief in Allah is the rejection of the devil.

In other words hatred of the wicked (tabarra) takes precedence over the love of Allah and His chosen friends (tawalla). It is essential to clean the heart and the mind from the disturbing influence of falsehood and then expose them to the reflection of truth, otherwise conflicting impressions will create confusion and distort the beauty of the beloved. See verse 6 of al Ma-idah.

Urwatil wuthqa means a strong rope - the firmest handhold. According to Imam Muhammad bin Ali al Baqir, a true faithful, in order to remain attached with Allah and enjoy genuine godliness, must seek attachment with the thoroughly purified Ahlul Bayt (Allah's chosen friends) and love them (as ordained in verse 23 of al Shura). Imam Jafar bin Muhammad al Sadiq has said that the firmest handhold means having complete faith (trust) in Allah. The Holy Prophet has declared that every faithful must hold fast the rope of Allah, Ali, because he, who remains attached with Ali, will never go astray. Ali is the ideal of the true faith in Allah. The true mode and manner of the faith is perfectly integrated in the divinely commissioned successors to the Holy Prophet - Ali and the holy Imams of the Ahlul Bayt, therefore, tawalla (love of Allah and Muhammad and Ali Muhammad) has been prescribed as one of the articles of the furu ud din.

Aqa Mahdi Puya says:

It is clearly indicated that faith consists of two fundamental factors:

(1) The negation of what is against the legislative will of Allah - tabarra.

(2) Belief in Allah and whatever He wills and commands - tawalla.

Be averse to the wicked and be good to the virtuous. Be with the flowers as a flower and be far away from the thorns.

 

[Shakir 2:257] Allah is the guardian of those who believe. He brings them out of the darkness into the light; and (as to) those who disbelieve, their guardians are Shaitans who take them out of the light into the darkness; they are the inmates of the fire, in it they shall abide. 

[Pickthal 2:257] Allah is the Protecting Guardian of those who believe. He bringeth them out of darkness into light. As for those who disbelieve, their patrons are false deities. They bring them out of light into darkness. Such are rightful owners of the Fire. They will abide therein. 

[Yusufali 2:257] Allah is the Protector of those who have faith: from the depths of darkness He will lead them forth into light. Of those who reject faith the patrons are the evil ones: from light they will lead them forth into the depths of darkness. They will be companions of the fire, to dwell therein (For ever). 

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 2:257]

Aqa Mahdi Puya says:

Wali literally means "be close to or stand immediately by" - a nearness or contact between two objects without any intermediary. It is used to refer to such closeness as exists between brothers, friends, neighbours and helpers. A master is also called wali because of his hold over his slaves - the hold brings the slave close to the master. Any one who exercises authority becomes a wali of those over whom the authority is exercised; therefore, a guardian, an administrator or a ruler is also called wali. Here, it means that Allah is the nearest authority over the faithful; and the false gods the authorities over those who disbelieve, and who push them into hell for ever.

Nur means the light of the faith or the true awareness about Allah and firm conviction in His authority.

Zulumat means the darkness of the disbelief in Allah or the ignorance and uncertainty about Allah.

See verses 35 and 36 of Ibrahim.