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rabbu s-samāwāti wa-l-ʾarḍi wa-mā baynahumā fa-ʿbudhu wa-ṣṭabir li-ʿibādatihī hal taʿlamu lahū samiyyan
—the Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them. So worship Him and be steadfast in His worship. Do you know anyone who could be His namesake?’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Maryam – Verse 65
65. “The Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them; so worship Him (alone), and be steadfast in His worship! Do you know any one equal to Him?”
This Qur’anic phrase which says whether you know any one equal to Him, means whether you know any god, except Allah, who can be the Lord, the creator, the sustainer, the life giver, the one who causes to die, and is able to give retribution and reward, so that you worship him. If you do not know any one except Him, then worship Him, and do not abandon His adoration. This interrogation is in the sense of negation, i.e., you do not know any one who can be called Allah.
The verse says:
Amir-ul-Mu’mineen Ali (as), in a tradition Upon the meaning of this phrase, said:
“None has been named by the appellation of Allah”. 33
However, there have been recorded several meanings for the Arabic term /samiyy/, including: ‘partner’, ‘similar’, ‘namesake’, and ‘offspring’. The existence of the term /rabbika/ (your Lord) in the previous verse, and the term /rabb-us-samawat-i-wal-’ard/ (the Lord of the heavens and the earth) in this verse is an indication to the Unity of administrationship in running the life of man with the whole universal being.
Footnotes