Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: "The Doer of what He wills . . . ." to His saying: "And Allah is encompassing of them."

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets and the Imam of the Pious, and upon his family and his Companions, and those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows:
This is the first meeting of the month of Jumada al-Thani, in the year 1414, which takes place every week on Thursday.
We begin this meeting by discussing verses from the Book of Allah the Mighty and Majestic in Surat al-Buruj, from His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He: , because we have already spoken about what came before.
His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He: is a description of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, that He is the Doer of what He wills. So whatever He wills, He does it; nothing prevents Him from doing so, because He owns the heavens and the earth. And the Owner of the heavens and the earth is not prevented by anyone from doing what He wills in His dominion. This is like His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He: . So the creation, however they may be, cannot do what they will. Rather, they may desire something with a firm desire and with all their hearts, and wish to do it, but it does not happen for them; the divine decree of Allah the Mighty and Majestic stands between them and it.
As for the Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He, He is the Doer of what He wills.
And in the noble verse is the affirmation of the will of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He. And so it is, for He, Exalted is He, has the complete and perfect will over His creation, even regarding the actions of the creation. No action of the people occurs except by the will of Allah, as Allah the Exalted said: . He attached their will to His will, Glorified and Exalted is He.
And He said, Exalted and Majestic is He: . So He, Glorified and Exalted is He, His will encompasses what occurs of His action and what occurs of the actions of the servants. For example, if I speak with this speech of mine, or with something else, or with what preceded it, all my speech occurs by the will of Allah. If Allah had willed, I would not have spoken. And if Allah willed that I speak, I spoke. So a will for speech emanates from my heart and I speak. For this reason He said: .
Then He said, Mighty and Majestic is He: . The address is to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), or to everyone to whom it is valid to direct the address.
The interrogative is for emphasis, because when a thing comes in an interrogative form, a person pays more attention to it. So Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: . Al-jund (the soldiers) is the plural of jund (troops), and here it is ambiguous, but He explained it by His saying: , meaning: Has the news of them reached you?
And the answer is: Yes, their news has reached us. Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, related to us from the news of Pharaoh, and related to us from the news of Thamud what contains a lesson for whoever has a living heart, or who listens while being a witness.
Allah the Exalted mentioned the story of Pharaoh in many verses in the noble Qur'an and in various surahs. This is because the story of Pharaoh is presented before the message of Musa (peace be upon him). And Musa, as is well known, was sent to the Jews, to the Children of Israel. So Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, related from the news of Musa what He did not relate from the news of others, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) would migrate to Madinah, and in Madinah there were three tribes of Jews residing there. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) knew a great deal from their news in order to be prepared to debate and argue with them with the truth, so that nothing of their matter would be hidden from him. Pharaoh was the king of Egypt. Is he a proper name or a descriptive title?
Meaning: Is Pharaoh the name of the tyrant who was stubborn and to whom Musa was sent, or is it a description for everyone who ruled Egypt while being a disbeliever?
Meaning: Is it a descriptive title or a proper name?
Some of the scholars say that it is a proper name, meaning: it is the one to whom Musa was sent, a tyrant who was stubborn, called Pharaoh.
And some of them said that it is a descriptive title for everyone who ruled Egypt as a disbeliever, just as "Kisra" is said for everyone who ruled the land of the Persians, and "Caesar" for everyone who ruled the land of the Romans, and "Al-Najashi" for everyone who ruled Abyssinia, and the like of that. And the disagreement on this is not very important, but what is important is that the story of Pharaoh is well known.
He was a tyrant, stubborn, and arrogant. He claimed to be the Lord, and he mocked Musa and the signs he brought, and he challenged him, saying to him openly and face to face: . And he boasted and said to his people: . And what was the result?
The result was that the people closest to his plot, namely the magicians, disbelieved in him. For when the magicians gathered all the magic they had and came to meet Musa (peace and blessings be upon him)—since Musa brought a sign that resembled magic but was not magic, rather it was a sign from the signs of Allah, which was that he placed the staff in his hand—a staff made of wood—and when he placed it on the ground, it became a living thing that moved. So the people said: This is magic. So all the magicians were gathered, the greatest of the magicians and the most skilled in magic, at a time that Musa specified. Whereupon Pharaoh said to him: , meaning: a level, open place so that the people can see what they see of magic and the works of the magicians. So he said to them: . And the Day of Adornment is their festival. And the Day of the Festival, as you know, is when the gathering of people increases, and they congratulate one another on their festivals. So they gathered as Musa had promised them on the Day of Adornment, and the people were assembled. And when were they assembled?
They were not assembled at night, or at the end of the day, or at the beginning of the day, but they were assembled at midday, in the fourth hour of the day.
And when they were assembled, the magicians threw whatever plot and magic they had , because he saw something great. So Allah inspired him to throw the staff, so he threw the staff, and behold, it swallowed up what they fabricated. At that time, the magicians knew that Musa was truthful and that he was not a magician, because if he had been a magician, he would not have overcome them with his magic. So they believed in Allah and disbelieved in Pharaoh, , and they challenged Pharaoh. And in the end—the end of Pharaoh—Allah the Mighty and Majestic drowned him with the water in which he had boasted yesterday. He used to say: . And the rivers are water, so Allah destroyed him with the very thing in which he had boasted.
As for Thamud, Allah the Exalted gave them ability and strength, and He enriched them, until they were carving houses in the mountains with luxury, and making palaces in the plains. And they had strength and severity. So they were destroyed when they denied their prophet Salih (peace be upon him). They were destroyed by a shaking and a shout. A shout was directed at them, and the earth shook with them, so they perished to the last of them, , refuge is sought in Allah.
So Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: . And what was of their news? And in this emphasis, there are two benefits:
The first benefit is the consolation of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) and the strengthening of his resolve, and that the One who supported the messengers before him will support him. And there is no doubt that this strengthens the resolve and necessitates that a person proceed in what he is tasked with, which is conveying the message.
And the second is the warning of the Quraysh who denied the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and that they are not stronger than Pharaoh and Thamud, and yet Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, destroyed them. So in mentioning this, there are two benefits:
The first benefit is the consolation of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family).
And the second benefit is the warning of the Quraysh who denied the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
Then He said, Exalted is He: . This is a transition from one topic to another. And "those who disbelieved" means: in Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). In denying, "in": indicates the state of being immersed, as if these people are immersed in denial, and denial surrounds them from every side. And this is more eloquent than His saying: in this place, and in another place is more eloquent, because the noble Qur'an may use two different words in two places, and each one is more eloquent in its place than the other, since the Qur'an contains the utmost eloquence.
:
meaning: the majority of them and encompassing of them. And however they flee, Allah the Exalted will surely catch up with them. So He is encompassing of them in knowledge, power, and authority. And they will not escape from Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, if He wills evil for them, as He said, Exalted is He: .
Then He said, Exalted is He: . And we will speak about it, if Allah wills, in the next meeting, because it is important. And we will mention the connection between the conclusion of this surah with these two verses and its beginning with the sky having the constellations, and what is mentioned in it of lessons and stories.
We ask Allah the Exalted to make us and you among those who recite the Book of Allah with true recitation. Indeed, He is capable of all things.
And now, to the questions.