Surah Al Imran ayat 26 Tafsir Quran 3:26

﴿قُلِ اللَّهُمَّ مَالِكَ الْمُلْكِ تُؤْتِي الْمُلْكَ مَن تَشَاءُ وَتَنزِعُ الْمُلْكَ مِمَّن تَشَاءُ وَتُعِزُّ مَن تَشَاءُ وَتُذِلُّ مَن تَشَاءُ ۖ بِيَدِكَ الْخَيْرُ ۖ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ﴾
[ آل عمران: 26]

3:26 Say, "O Allah, Owner of Sovereignty, You give sovereignty to whom You will and You take sovereignty away from whom You will. You honor whom You will and You humble whom You will. In Your hand is [all] good. Indeed, You are over all things competent.

When the Prophet s promised his community sovereignty over the lands of Persia and Byzantium the hypocrites said ‘How preposterous!’ and so the following was revealed Say ‘O God Master of the Kingdom you give the Kingdom to whom You will from among your creatures and seize the Kingdom from whom You will; You exalt whom You will by giving it the kingdom to him and You abase whom You will by seizing it from him; in Your hand in Your power is good that is as well as evil. You are Able to do all things.

Advance the glory of Allah and extol and magnify Him with praise. O Prophet exclaim: Allah Who has the absolute Sovereign Authority over the universe with all its realms, You confer sovereignty on whom You will and You divest it from whom You will. You ennoble whom You will and You humiliate whom You will. On the helm of Your hand rests goodness. You are Qadirun (Omnipotent) wholly capable of doing all things

Encouraging Gratitude Allah said, قُلْ ( Say ) O Muhammad , while praising your Lord, thanking Him, relying in all matters upon Him and trusting in Him. اللَّهُمَّ مَـلِكَ الْمُلْكِ ( O Allah! Possessor of the power ) meaning, all sovereignty is Yours, تُؤْتِى الْمُلْكَ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتَنزِعُ الْمُلْكَ مِمَّن تَشَآءُ وَتُعِزُّ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتُذِلُّ مَن تَشَآءُ ( You give power to whom You will, and You take power from whom You will, and You endue with honor whom You will, and You humiliate whom You will. ) meaning, You are the Giver, You are the Taker, it is Your will that occurs and whatever You do not will, does not occur.
This Ayah encourages thanking Allah for the favors He granted His Messenger and his Ummah.
Allah transferred the prophethood from the Children of Israel to the Arab, Qurashi, Makkan, unlettered Prophet, the Final and Last of all Prophets and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to all mankind and Jinn.
Allah endowed the Prophet with the best of qualities from the prophets before him.
Allah also granted him extra qualities that no other Prophet or Messenger before him was endowed with, such as granting him ( more ) knowledge of Allah and His Law, knowledge of more of the matters of the past and the future, such as what will occur in the Hereafter.
Allah allowed Muhammad's ﷺ Ummah to reach the eastern and western parts of the world and gave dominance to his religion and Law over all other religions and laws.
May Allah's peace and blessings be on the Prophet until the Day of Judgment, and as long as the day and night succeed each other.
This is why Allah said, قُلِ اللَّهُمَّ مَـلِكَ الْمُلْكِ ( Say: "O Allah! Possessor of the power," ) meaning, You decide what You will concerning Your creation and You do what you will.
Allah refutes those who thought that they could decide for Allah, وَقَالُواْ لَوْلاَ نُزِّلَ هَـذَا الْقُرْءَانُ عَلَى رَجُلٍ مِّنَ الْقَرْيَتَيْنِ عَظِيمٍ ( And they say: "Why is not this Qur'an sent down to some great man of the two towns (Makkah and Ta'if )") 43:31. Allah refuted them by saying, أَهُمْ يَقْسِمُونَ رَحْمَةَ رَبِّكَ ( Is it they who would portion out the Mercy of your Lord ) 43:32, meaning, "We decide for Our creation what We will, without resistance or hindrance by anyone.
We have the perfect wisdom and the unequivocal proof in all of this, and We give the prophethood to whom We will." Similarly, Allah said, اللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ حَيْثُ يَجْعَلُ رِسَالَتَهُ ( Allah knows best with whom to place His Message ) and, انظُرْ كَيْفَ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ ( See how We prefer one above another (in this world )) 17: 21 Allah said, تُولِجُ الَّيْلَ فِى الْنَّهَارِ وَتُولِجُ النَّهَارَ فِى الَّيْلِ ( You make the night enter into the day, and You make the day enter into the night ) meaning, You take from the length of one of them and add it to the shortness of the other, so that they become equal, and take from the length of one of them and add it to the other so that they are not equal.
This occurs throughout the seasons of the year: spring, summer, fall and winter.
Allah's statement, وَتُخْرِجُ الْحَىَّ مِنَ الْمَيِّتِ وَتُخْرِجُ الَمَيِّتَ مِنَ الْحَىِّ ( You bring the living out of the dead, and You bring the dead out of the living. ) means, You bring out the seed from the plant and the plant from the seed; the date from its seed and the date's seed from the date; the faithful from the disbeliever and the disbeliever from the faithful; the chicken from the egg and the egg from the chicken, etc. وَتَرْزُقُ مَن تَشَآءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ ( And You give wealth and sustenance to whom You will, without limit. ) meaning, You give whomever You will innumerable amounts of wealth while depriving others from it, out of wisdom, and justice.

Encouraging Gratitude Allah said, قُلْ ( Say ) O Muhammad , while praising your Lord, thanking Him, relying in all matters upon Him and trusting in Him. اللَّهُمَّ مَـلِكَ الْمُلْكِ ( O Allah! Possessor of the power ) meaning, all sovereignty is Yours, تُؤْتِى الْمُلْكَ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتَنزِعُ الْمُلْكَ مِمَّن تَشَآءُ وَتُعِزُّ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتُذِلُّ مَن تَشَآءُ ( You give power to whom You will, and You take power from whom You will, and You endue with honor whom You will, and You humiliate whom You will. ) meaning, You are the Giver, You are the Taker, it is Your will that occurs and whatever You do not will, does not occur.
This Ayah encourages thanking Allah for the favors He granted His Messenger and his Ummah.
Allah transferred the prophethood from the Children of Israel to the Arab, Qurashi, Makkan, unlettered Prophet, the Final and Last of all Prophets and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to all mankind and Jinn.
Allah endowed the Prophet with the best of qualities from the prophets before him.
Allah also granted him extra qualities that no other Prophet or Messenger before him was endowed with, such as granting him ( more ) knowledge of Allah and His Law, knowledge of more of the matters of the past and the future, such as what will occur in the Hereafter.
Allah allowed Muhammad's ﷺ Ummah to reach the eastern and western parts of the world and gave dominance to his religion and Law over all other religions and laws.
May Allah's peace and blessings be on the Prophet until the Day of Judgment, and as long as the day and night succeed each other.
This is why Allah said, قُلِ اللَّهُمَّ مَـلِكَ الْمُلْكِ ( Say: "O Allah! Possessor of the power," ) meaning, You decide what You will concerning Your creation and You do what you will.
Allah refutes those who thought that they could decide for Allah, وَقَالُواْ لَوْلاَ نُزِّلَ هَـذَا الْقُرْءَانُ عَلَى رَجُلٍ مِّنَ الْقَرْيَتَيْنِ عَظِيمٍ ( And they say: "Why is not this Qur'an sent down to some great man of the two towns (Makkah and Ta'if )") 43:31. Allah refuted them by saying, أَهُمْ يَقْسِمُونَ رَحْمَةَ رَبِّكَ ( Is it they who would portion out the Mercy of your Lord ) 43:32, meaning, "We decide for Our creation what We will, without resistance or hindrance by anyone.
We have the perfect wisdom and the unequivocal proof in all of this, and We give the prophethood to whom We will." Similarly, Allah said, اللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ حَيْثُ يَجْعَلُ رِسَالَتَهُ ( Allah knows best with whom to place His Message ) and, انظُرْ كَيْفَ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ ( See how We prefer one above another (in this world )) 17: 21 Allah said, تُولِجُ الَّيْلَ فِى الْنَّهَارِ وَتُولِجُ النَّهَارَ فِى الَّيْلِ ( You make the night enter into the day, and You make the day enter into the night ) meaning, You take from the length of one of them and add it to the shortness of the other, so that they become equal, and take from the length of one of them and add it to the other so that they are not equal.
This occurs throughout the seasons of the year: spring, summer, fall and winter.
Allah's statement, وَتُخْرِجُ الْحَىَّ مِنَ الْمَيِّتِ وَتُخْرِجُ الَمَيِّتَ مِنَ الْحَىِّ ( You bring the living out of the dead, and You bring the dead out of the living. ) means, You bring out the seed from the plant and the plant from the seed; the date from its seed and the date's seed from the date; the faithful from the disbeliever and the disbeliever from the faithful; the chicken from the egg and the egg from the chicken, etc. وَتَرْزُقُ مَن تَشَآءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ ( And You give wealth and sustenance to whom You will, without limit. ) meaning, You give whomever You will innumerable amounts of wealth while depriving others from it, out of wisdom, and justice.

( Say: O Allah! ) say O Allah! Lead us to goodness ( Owner of Sovereignty! ) O Master of kings and Owner of sovereignty ( Thou givest sovereignty unto whom Thou wilt ) i.e. unto Muhammad and his followers, ( and Thou withdrawest sovereignty from whom Thou wilt ) i.e. from the people of Persia and Byzantium. ( Thou exaltest whom Thou wilt ) i.e. Muhammad ( and Thou abasest whom Thou wilt ) i.e. ’Abdullah Ibn Ubayy Ibn Salul, the people of Persia and the people of Byzantium. ( In Thy hand is the good ) exaltation, abasement, sovereignty, spoils, triumph and power. ( Lo! Thou art Able to do all things ) whether it is exaltation, abasement, sovereignty, spoils, triumph or power. This verse was revealed about ’Abdullah Ibn Ubayy Ibn Salul, the hypocrite, who said after the Conquest of Mecca: How on earth can they have sovereignty over Persia and Byzantium? It is also said that it was revealed about the Quraysh who said: the king of Persia sleeps on couches made of silk brocade, if you are truly a prophet, show us your dominion?

Say (O Muhammad SAW): "O Allah! Possessor of the kingdom, You give the kingdom to whom You will, and You take the kingdom from whom You will, and You endue with honour whom You will, and You humiliate whom You will. In Your Hand is the good. Verily, You are Able to do all things.

Page 53 English transliteration