is derived, and that al-mālik (owner) is taken from al-milk (ownership). Thus, the interpretation of the recitation of the one who recites: (maliki yawmi 'd-dīn) is that sovereignty on the Day of Judgment belongs purely to Allah to the exclusion of all His creation, who were previously kings and tyrants in the world contending with Him for sovereignty and resisting His exclusivity in grandeur, greatness, authority, and power (1). They became certain upon meeting Allah on the Day of Judgment that they are the humiliated and lowly ones (2), and that to Him—to the exclusion of them and everyone else—belongs sovereignty, grandeur, might, and splendor, just as He, majestic is His mention and sanctified are His names, said in His revelation: {The Day when they will come forth; nothing of them will be hidden from Allah. To whom belongs sovereignty this Day? To Allah, the One, the Subduer} [Surah Ghafir: 16]. Thus, He, exalted is His mention, informed that He is the Sole Possessor of sovereignty on that Day to the exclusion of the kings of the world, who on the Day of Judgment passed from their kingdom into humiliation and belittlement, and from their worldly life into loss in the Hereafter.

As for the interpretation of the recitation of the one who recites: (māliki yawmi 'd-dīn), it is what:

166 - Abū Kurayb narrated to us, he said: 'Uthmān ibn Sa'īd narrated to us, from Bishr ibn 'Umāra, from Abū Rawq, from al-Ḍaḥḥāk, from 'Abd Allāh ibn 'Abbās: (māliki yawmi 'd-dīn), he said: No one possesses any judgment alongside Him on that Day as was their ownership in the world. Then he said: {They will not speak except for one to whom the Most Merciful gives permission and who speaks what is correct} [Surah an-Naba': 38]; and He said: {And voices will be humbled before the Most Merciful} [Surah Ta-Ha: 108]; and He said: {And they cannot intercede except for one with whom He is pleased} (3) [Surah al-Anbiya': 28].

Abu Ja'far said: The most appropriate of the two interpretations for the verse, and the most correct of the two recitations in recitation according to me,