Surah Maryam: Verse 65 - رب السماوات والأرض وما بينهما... - English

Tafsir of Verse 65, Surah Maryam

رَّبُّ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا فَٱعْبُدْهُ وَٱصْطَبِرْ لِعِبَٰدَتِهِۦ ۚ هَلْ تَعْلَمُ لَهُۥ سَمِيًّا

English Translation

Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them - so worship Him and have patience for His worship. Do you know of any similarity to Him?"

English Transliteration

Rabbu alssamawati waalardi wama baynahuma faoAAbudhu waistabir liAAibadatihi hal taAAlamu lahu samiyyan

Tafsir of Verse 65

And thy Lord is never forgetful, Lord He of the heavens and earth and all that is between them. So serve Him, and be thou patient in His service; knowest thou any that can be named with His Name?

"Lord of the heavens and of the earth, and of all that is between them; so worship Him, and be constant and patient in His worship: knowest thou of any who is worthy of the same Name as He?"

Commentary

وَاصْطَبِرْ‌ لِعِبَادَتِهِ ("and-persevere in His worship." - 19:65) The word اِصطِبَار ' means perseverance in the face of acute distress and hardship. The point here is that anyone who wishes to be constant and steadfast in. his prayers must be prepared to undergo pain and suffering.

هَلْ تَعْلَمُ لَهُ سَمِيًّا ("Do you know any one worthy of His name?" - 19:65). In the generally accepted sense the word applies to persons bearing the same name. The polytheists and idolaters had included many humans, angels, stones and idols along with Allah Ta` ala in their worship and designated all of them as سَمِیُّ i.e. as objects of worship but it is a strange and extraordinary coincidence that none of their false gods was ever named as Allah. This matter was preordained, and no idol or deity bore the name Allah. Thus, the literal meaning of the word would adequately explain the meaning of this verse which is that there is no object in the world bearing Allah's name.

Many commentators, among them Mujahid, Ibn Zubair, Qatadah, and Ibn ` Abbas ؓ ، are of the view that in the present context the word means "a like" or "comparable" and the sense of the verse is that in the entire pantheon of false gods none is equal or comparable to Allah Ta` ala in so far as divine attributes are concerned.

Verse 65 - Surah Maryam: (رب السماوات والأرض وما بينهما فاعبده واصطبر لعبادته ۚ هل تعلم له سميا...) - English