al-Malik

The King; sovereign whose rule needs nothing and no one

Begin the series ↓

Recited as it sounds in the Qur'an, 59:23.

Heard together with: al-Malik / Mālik al-Mulk / al-Quddūs (62:1)

Start with what we know

Then take away everything it needs. What is left is not a bigger version of us. It is the Name.

Episode 1

In us

Reverse ladder. Every human king needs: subjects, an army, taxes, an heir, health. Shakespeare's Richard II: 'within the hollow crown / That rounds the mortal temples of a king / Keeps Death his court' (Richard II III.ii)

But: Thrones are inherited, seized, lost; every monarch dies

Episode 2

In nature

Animal 'rulers' (a silverback, a queen bee) rule only by strength or chemistry, and are replaced

Episode 3

At our best

The Sun: 99.8% of the solar system's mass, holding the planets (NASA Sun facts). But it burns its own fuel and will end

But: The Sun 'rules' by gravity it cannot choose to withhold; it obeys laws it did not write

Episode 4

The Break

Take away subjects, armies, an heir, consent, a lifespan, a palace.

Not the greatest king, but sovereignty that needs nobody to obey it in order to be real.

Read: Q 59:23; 40:16; 67:1

From the tradition: al-Ghazālī: al-Malik is the One who needs nothing while everything needs Him. Christian: 1 Tim 6:15-16 'the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings… who alone has immortality'

On screen

Every crown in our stories is hollow: Death keeps court inside it. al-Malik's sovereignty has no inside for Death to sit in.

Where it shows up

In scripture: Q 3:26; 40:16; 59:23; 62:1. Deut 10:17; 1 Tim 6:15-16; Psalm 24:7-8 'the King of glory'
The same thread in Jewish and Christian scripture: Strong. 'Melekh ha-olam', King of the universe, in every Jewish blessing; Deut 10:17 'Sovereign supreme'; 1 Tim 6:15
In the universe: NASA: the Sun 'accounts for 99.8% of our solar system's mass' (science.nasa.gov/sun/facts)
In nature: The Planets (BBC, Brian Cox, 2019), iPlayer
In people: Abdication and the peaceful handover of power; kings who wrote that power is lent (Q 3:26)
In science: Gravity as rule without a ruler's will: orbits follow inverse-square law; the Sun cannot 'decide'