Mālik al-Mulk

Owner of all sovereignty

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Recited as it sounds in the Qur'an, 3:26.

Heard together with: al-Malik / Mālik al-Mulk

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

Kings, empires, corporations.

But: All end.

Episode 2

In nature

Dominant animals lose rank with age.

Episode 3

At our best

Shelley's 'Ozymandias' (1818): 'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'; 'nothing beside remains'.

But: Every human kingdom is lent.

Episode 4

The Break

Take away succession, conquest, borders, time.

'King of kings', says the broken statue in the sand. (3:26).

Read: 3:26; 40:16.

From the tradition: Bukhari 4812: 'I am the King; where are the kings of the earth?'. Daniel 4:14 'the Most High is sovereign over human dominion, and gives it out at will'. Luke 1:52.

On screen

The statue said 'king of kings'. The sand answered.

Where it shows up

In scripture: Q 3:26; 40:16; Dan 4:14; Luke 1:52.
The same thread in Jewish and Christian scripture: Dan 4:14; Luke 1:52. Strong.
In the universe: —
In nature: Ice ages and moving continents: no landscape keeps its shape.
In people: Rise and fall of empires; the Ozymandias statue is often linked to Ramesses II.
In science: Plate tectonics.

Living it

Humility in any authority.

Its kind

Beyond: majesty: what He is not, and how far beyond.

In the Qur'an: 3:26

Sources for this page

poetryfoundation.org/poems/46565/ozymandias; hadith-api