Tafsir at-Tabari: Jami' al-Bayan - Dar al-Tarbiyah wa al-Turath Edition

that God is the Lord of the worlds of the time of our Prophet Muḥammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him, to the exclusion of the worlds of all other times—the invalidity of the claim of one who asserted that its interpretation is: 'Lord of the world of this life to the exclusion of the world of the Hereafter,' and that "Master of the Day of Judgment" deserved to be connected to it so that it would be known that in the Hereafter He possesses ownership and Lordship over them just as He did in this life, is equally clear.

And the one who asserts that should be asked about the difference between himself and an arbitrary claimant like him—regarding the interpretation of His statement {Lord of the worlds}, who made an arbitrary assertion and said: He only meant by that that He is the Lord of the worlds of the time of Muḥammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him, to the exclusion of the worlds of other times before him and after him, just as the author of this statement claimed that He meant by it the worlds of this life to the exclusion of the worlds of the Hereafter—based on any principle or proof (1). He will not say anything regarding one of them without having the same required of him regarding the other.

As for the one who claims that the interpretation of His statement {Master of the Day of Judgment} is that He is the One who possesses the establishment of the Day of Judgment, what we bound the author of the previous statement with applies to him as well. For the establishment of the Resurrection is merely returning the creatures who perished to their forms that they were upon before destruction, in the Abode that God prepared for them therein what He prepared. And they are the worlds concerning whom He, May His Remembrance be Exalted, informed that He is their Lord in His statement {Lord of the worlds}.

As for the interpretation of that according to the recitation of the one who recites {Master of the Day of Judgment} in the accusative case (Mālika Yawmi 'd-Dīn), he intended: "O Master of the Day of Judgment," putting it in the accusative case with the intention of calling and supplication, just as God, May His Praise be Exalted, said: {Yūsuf, turn away from this} [Surah Yūsuf: 29], with the interpretation: "O Yūsuf, turn away from this," and as the poet from the tribe of Asad said—and it is poetry from the pre-Islamic period (Jāhiliyya), as is said:

If you have falsely accused me of it,
O Jaz'u, may you promptly meet the like of it! (2)

(1) The context of the sentence: "And the one who claims that is asked for the distinction... based on a Root/Principle or Signification", and what lies between them is a parenthetical clause.
(2) The poetry belongs to a Mukhaḍram Jahilī poet, Ḥaḍramī ibn ʿĀmir al-Asadī, who came as a delegation to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of God be upon him, among a group of Banū Asad, and they all embraced Islam. The reason for his reciting this poetry: he had nine brothers who sat around a well, which collapsed with them inside, so he inherited from them. His cousin Juz' ibn Mālik ibn Mujammiʿ envied him and said to him: "Who is like you? Your brothers died and you inherited them, becoming prosperous and joyful." No sooner had he said this than Juz' and nine of his brothers sat around a well, which collapsed with his brothers while he survived. When news of this reached Ḥaḍramī, he said: "To God we belong and to Him we shall return," a word that coincided with divine decree and left behind malice. He meant his statement to Juz': "So you quickly met the like of it." And azannatuhu bi-shayʾ: I accused him of it. See Amālī al-Qālī (1/67), al-Kāmil (1/41–42), and others.

Translation · EN

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