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ʾa-wa-lam yaraw ʾannā naʾtī l-ʾarḍa nanquṣuhā min ʾaṭrāfihā wa-llāhu yaḥkumu lā muʿaqqiba li-ḥukmihī wa-huwa sarīʿu l-ḥisābi
Have they not seen how We visit the land diminishing it at its edges? Allah judges, and there is none who may repeal His judgement, and He is swift at reckoning.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Ar-Ra‘d – Verse 41
41. “Do they not see that We come unto the earth and reduce it from its sides? And (were) Allah commands, there is no reverser for His command, and He is swift in reckoning.”
We read in various Islamic quotations that the objective of reducing the sides of the earth means the loss of lives of the great scholars. 25 One must take lessons from the history and the ultimate end of the life of the predecessors, and thus not to be skeptic about the promises and the testaments of Allah. The termination of governments and personalities depend on the Divine Will, and the theocracy and the commands of Allah are not vulnerable.
The verse says:
“Do they not see that We come unto the earth and reduce it from its sides? And (were) Allah commands, there is no reverser for His command…”
Incidentally, it is clear that the meaning of ‘the earth’ in here is the inhabitants of the earth. That is: ‘Do they not notice the reality that the tribes, civilizations, and governments are constantly falling and are being annihilated?’ And this provides a warning to all people, including the good and the evil, even in cases of the scholars and the learned men of human communities in which once a member of them dies, the entire world may sometimes suffer from shortcomings, which case is self-explanatory and shaking.
Then the holy verse implies that the administration and the issuing of decrees are His Own monopolies and no one else is in a position to reject those commands or obstruct His decrees, and He is fast in setting accounts. The verse says:
“…and He is swift in reckoning.”
Footnotes