Verse 117

20:115; 22:63; 24:26.

Commentary:

This verse expressly supplies the answer to the vital question as to what is the aim and object of man’s creation. It is this that man should develop in himself and demonstrate in his behaviour Divine attributes, particularly the four basic ones mentioned in the present verse, viz. the King (الملک), the True Lord (الحق), the One God, beside Whom there is no other God (لا اله الا ھو); the Lord of the Glorious Throne (رب العرش الکریم). These four attributes demanded for their manifestation the creation of man and the universe. They correspond to, and, in fact, are the four attributes mentioned in an inverse order in the opening chapter of the Quran, viz.

رب العالمین (the Lord of all the worlds), الرحمان (the Gracious), الرحیم (the Merciful) and مالک یوم الدین (Master of the Day of Judgement); the attribute 'Lord of the Glorious Throne' (رب العرش الکریم) corresponding to the attribute 'Lord of the Worlds' (رب العالمین) and the attribute 'There is no God but He' (لا اله الا ھو) to the attribute 'the Gracious' (الرحمان). Similarly, the attribute 'the True' (الحق) corresponds to the attribute 'the Merciful' (الرحیم) and the attribute the King (الملک) corresponds to the attribute 'Master of the Day of Judgement' (مالک یوم الدین). Thus there exists a very striking resemblance and a deep connection between these two sets of Divine attributes.