In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Beneficent
Nay, but We hurl the truth against falsehood, and it crushes the latter, and behold, it withers away. But woe to you for all the falsehoods you ascribe (to Us).
To Him belong all those who are in the Heavens and on Earth. Those that are with Him are never too proud to worship Him and never grow weary of that. They extol His limitless glory by night and day, tirelessly.
Or have they taken for worship some earthly deities who can restore the dead to life?
Had there been in Heaven or on Earth any deities other than God, both would surely have fallen into ruin! But limitless in His glory is God, Lord of the Throne, and exalted is He above all that they attribute to Him!
(The Prophets: 21: 18-22)
The verses before the present passage state that it is inconceivable that God should need a pastime. Had He wanted one, He would have found that near at hand. Then the Surah paints this very vivid picture of the battle between truth and falsehood, with the truth shown as a missile hurled by God on falsehood so as to crush its head and cause it to disappear.
Such is the normal state of affairs: the truth is fundamental to the nature of the universe, going deeply into its structure. Falsehood, on the other hand, is alien to it, having no roots or power. God brands it as false and hurls the truth on it to crush it. When anything receives such a strike by God, it is bound to wither away and disappear.
People may sometimes feel that practical life goes in a different direction to that stated by God, who knows all. This is particularly so in those periods when falsehood appears to be strong and overpowering, while the truth appears to be reduced to a small stature, shrinking into a corner, defeated. But this lasts only for a time, which God may extend as He pleases to expose people to a trial. Ultimately the law God has set in operation, to allow the Heavens and the Earth to remain and His message to flourish, is bound to run its course.
Those who believe in God entertain no doubt that His promise will come true, or that the truth has the prime position in the structure of the universe and its system. They are also certain that victory will eventually belong to the truth. Hence, if God tests them by allowing falsehood a temporary triumph, they realize that this is merely a test God puts them through to eradicate their weakness or to give them what they lack. He wants them to be fit to receive the victorious truth, and to make them the tool by which He accomplishes His purpose. Thus, He lets them go through the test, to equip them properly for their role. If they hasten to remedy their weakness and redress their drawbacks, God will shorten their period of test and accomplish through them whatever He wishes. The ultimate result is a foregone conclusion: “We hurl the truth against falsehood, and it crushes the latter, and behold, it withers away.” God accomplishes what He wills.
Thus the Qur’an puts this fundamental fact before the unbelievers who are quick to throw their false accusations against the Qur’an and the Prophet (peace be upon him). They described the Qur’an as a sorcery, poetry or mere fabrication, when it is the truth that smashes their falsehood and causes it to wither away. This is followed by a warning against the eventual outcome of their accusations: “But woe to you for all the falsehoods you ascribe (to Us).”
The Surah goes on to show them a model of obedience to God and worshiping Him, contrasted with their rejection and turning away. The model shows creatures that are closer to God than them, yet they continue to worship Him, obeying His every order without fail: “To Him belong all those who are in the Heavens and on Earth. Those that are with Him are never too proud to worship Him and never grow weary of that. They extol His limitless glory by night and day, tirelessly.”
“Those who are in the Heavens and on Earth” are known only to God who knows everything concerning them. Human knowledge is certain only of human existence, while believers are certain also of the existence of the angels and the jinn because both are mentioned in the Qur’an. But we know about them only what God, their Creator, has told us. There may be further intelligent creatures on other planets, with forms and natures that are suited to those planets. But the knowledge of all that rests only with God.
Therefore when we read in the Qur’an, “To Him belong all those who are in the Heavens and on Earth,” we know of these whomever we know, and we acknowledge that the Creator of the heavens and earth knows everyone else.
The phrase, “those that are with Him”, appears initially to refer to the angels, but we do not wish to attach a particular meaning to this phrase, which is very general in its import, referring to the angels and other creatures. The expression here appears to mean those who are closer to God. When it applies to God, the phrase, “with Him”, does not signify a place or a description. The Surah makes it clear that “those that are with Him are never too proud to worship Him,” as those unbelievers demonstrate their arrogance by refusing to do that. Nor do they “grow weary of” offering worship to Him. Indeed all their life is a continuous act of worship, as they continue to glorify God all the time without fail.
Human beings are able to make their whole life a continuous act of worship, without dedicating every minute of their life to worship rituals and the glorifying of God’s name, as the angels do. Islam considers every move and every breath an act of worship if it is dedicated for God’s sake, even when it involves partaking of the pleasures of this world.