ملك

Core meaning

To hold authority over a domain: the dominion that governs, the power to dispose of a thing, and the bond a pledge engages.

Uses

1. ٱلْمُلْك, مُلْك → "dominion" : the domain actually governed.

   • «وَلِلَّهِ مُلْكُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ» — "And to God belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth" (3:189)
   • «لِّمَنِ ٱلْمُلْكُ ٱلْيَوْمَ» — "To whom belongs the dominion today?" (40:16)
   • «وَٱللَّهُ يُؤْتِى مُلْكَهُۥ مَن يَشَآءُ» — "God gives His dominion to whom He wills" (2:247)

2. مَلَكُوت → "sovereign dominion" : dominion at its highest degree.

   • «نُرِىٓ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ مَلَكُوتَ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ» — "show Ibrahim the sovereign dominion of the heavens and the earth" (6:75)

3. مَٰلِك, ٱلْمَلِك (God) → "the Sovereign" : the divine epithet, with or without a complement.

   • «مَٰلِكِ يَوْمِ ٱلدِّينِ» — "Sovereign of the Day of the Due" (1:4)
   • «مَٰلِكَ ٱلْمُلْكِ» — "Sovereign of dominion" (3:26)

4. مَلِك, ٱلْمَلِك (a man) → "king" : the one who governs a people.

   • «إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ قَدْ بَعَثَ لَكُمْ طَالُوتَ مَلِكًۭا» — "God has indeed raised up for you Talut as king" (2:247)
   • «وَقَالَ ٱلْمَلِكُ» — "And the king said" (12:50)

5. يَمْلِكُ, أَمْلِكُ, يَمْلِكُونَ, تَمْلِكُونَ → "to possess" : to dispose of a power or a good; the same formula returns for what is invoked besides God.

   • «لَآ أَمْلِكُ إِلَّا نَفْسِى» — "I indeed possess power only over my own Self" (5:25)
   • «لَا يَمْلِكُونَ لَكُمْ رِزْقًۭا» — "indeed possess no provision for you" (29:17)
   • «وَلَا يَمْلِكُونَ لِأَنفُسِهِمْ ضَرًّۭا وَلَا نَفْعًۭا» — "that possess for themselves neither harm nor benefit" (25:3)

6. مَٰلِكُون → "to own" : the possession of a good.

   • «أَنْعَٰمًۭا فَهُمْ لَهَا مَٰلِكُونَ» — "cattle which they own" (36:71)

7. مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَٰنُكُمْ → "bound by oath" : the bond the right hand engages.

   • «أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَٰنُكُمْ» — "or those to whom you are bound by oath" (4:3)

8. مَٰلِك (proper name) → "Malik" : the guardian whom those in Jahannam call.

   • «يَٰمَٰلِكُ لِيَقْضِ عَلَيْنَا رَبُّكَ» — "O Malik, let your Guardian put an end to us" (43:77)

Evidence from the text

The dominion of the heavens and the earth belongs to God, a formula that returns from one end of the text to the other (3:189, 5:120, 57:2), and the question of 40:16, "To whom belongs the dominion today?", awaits only one answer. But God also gives it to men: Talut is raised up as king, and God "gives His dominion to whom He wills" (2:247). مَلَكُوت marks its highest degree, shown to Ibrahim (6:75).

The verb says what one possesses: Moussa has power only over his own Self (5:25), and what is obeyed besides God has no provision to give (29:17). The same sentence must be recognized from one passage to another: deities taken besides Him "possess for themselves neither harm nor benefit, and that possess neither death, nor life, nor Deployment" (25:3); those invoked "possess no power to remove harm from you" (17:56); "They will possess no intercession" (19:87); and the question returns: "Who then possesses any power on your behalf against God" (48:11), "you possess nothing for me against God" (46:8). The plural مَٰلِكُون says the simple ownership of cattle (36:71), and مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَٰنُكُمْ the bond a pledge engages (4:3).

The divine epithet is rendered "the Sovereign" (1:4, 3:26, 59:23), the word said of a man "king" (2:247, 12:50). In 43:77, مَٰلِك is the name, kept as it is, of the guardian whom those in Jahannam call.

Distinctions

• ربب — the Guardian who makes grow and takes care, whereas ملك says authority over a domain

See also

الك (the Agents, whose name also links them to this root)