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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Al-mizan an Exegesis of the Qur'an (volume Four) Volume 4: Surah Baqarah, Verse 255 ALLAH is He besides Whom there is no god, the Ever-living, the Self-subsisting by Whom all subsist; slumber does not overtake Him nor sleep; whatever is the heavens and whatever is in the earth is His; who is he that can intercede with Him but by His Permission?
He knows what is before them and what is behind them, and they cannot comprehend anything of His Knowledge except what He pleases; His Chair (Knowledge) extends over the heavens and the earth; and the preservation of them both tires Him not; and He is the Most High, the Great (255).
**COMMENTARY ** QUR’AN: Allah is He besides Whom there is no god, the Everliving, the Self-subsisting by Whom all subsist: In the chapter of the Opening, some explanation was given of the name, “Allah”, and it was mentioned that it ultimately means “The Being Who concentrates in Himself all the attributes of perfection"; it makes no difference whether it is derived from alaha 'r-rajul (the man was bewildered; yearned for) or from alaha (= worshipped).
"He besides Whom there is no god": It has been explained under verse 2:163. Its literal translation is, "there is no god except He". It shows that other deities worshipped besides Allah, in fact have no existence at all. "Ever-living": "al-hayy" is on a paradigm which denotes perpetuity; the word, therefore, means not only living but Ever-living.
Man, in the very beginning, found out that there were two kinds of things around him: first, those things whose condition do not change as long as they exist, like stones and other such materials; second, those which go on changing, like trees, animals and man himself. He also found that after sometimes such things start to deteriorate, and even lose consciousness; still they exist: until at a certain point when their existence come to an end.
Thus he realized that there was something else, besides the senses, which keeps one alive and which is the source of all the senses and their perceptions. He called it "life", and its absence was named "death". It is life which is the source of knowledge (perception) and power.