Quran Surah 70:40

َفَلَا أُقْسِمُ بِرَبِّ الْمَشَارِقِ وَالْمَغَارِبِ إِنَّا لَقَادِرُون

So I swear by the Lord of [all] risings and settings that indeed We are able

I am reading ridiculous answers by non-Muslims who know nothing of the Quran and have obviously never read it. What is this ridiculousness about “pagan origins”. Islam from its inception was and continues to be a monotheistic religion. Don’t believe me? Let God speak for himself:

قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ (1) اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ (2) لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ (3) وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ (4)

Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him. (Quran Surat Al Ikhlas)

اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ ۚ لَا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوْمٌ ۚ لَّهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ ۗ مَن ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِندَهُ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ ۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِّنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلَّا بِمَا شَاءَ ۚ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ ۖ وَلَا يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ

Allah! there is no god but He the living the Self-subsisting Eternal. No slumber can seize him nor sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He permitteth? He knoweth what (appeareth to his creatures as) before or after or behind them. Nor shall they compass aught of his knowledge except as He willeth. His throne doth extend over the heavens and the earth and He feeleth no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. For He is the Most High the Supreme (in glory). (Quran 2:255)

Is it clear to you yet? There is only one God in Islam. Now back to the verse the questioner is asking about. It is not referring to two lords, but only one Lord. The Lord of the East and West is Allah. Allah is swearing upon himself. Have you ever heard Queen Elizabeth speak? How she consistently refers to herself as “we” and in the third person? That is exactly how Allah speaks in the Quran. He didn’t say in the verse “Lord of the East and Lord of the West”, No! He said “Lord of all risings and settings” or “Lord of all easts and all wests”. One Lord. One God.

People should not be answering that in which they have no knowledge. As for the questioner, you had a good question as you had no knowledge and went out to seek it, however I advise you next time if you have a question about the Quran to seek it from the scholars or look up the tafsir or explanation online.

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(70:40) I swear by the Lord of the easts and the wests that We have the power

“Here, Allah has sworn an oath by Himself. The words Easts and Wests have been used because the sun rises and sets at a new angle every day during the year, and goes on rising and setting successively at different times around the globe. Thus considered the Easts and the Wests are not one but many. From another point of view as against the north and the south there is a direction of east and a direction of west. On this basis in( Surah Ash-Shuara, Ayat 28) and( Surah Al-Muzzammi1, Ayat 19 )the words Rabb-ulrnashriqi wal-maghrib have been used. From still another view-point the earth has two easts and two wests, for when the sun sets on one hemisphere, it rises on the other. On this basis the words Rabb-ul-mashriqayn wa Rabb-ulmaghribayn (Lord of two easts and two wests) have been used in (Surah Ar-Rahman, Ayat 17). (For further explanation, see (E.N. 17 of Surah Ar-Rahman).”

Footnotes

[1] Surah Al-Ma'arij 70:1-44 - Towards Understanding the Quran - Quran Translation Commentary - Tafheem ul Quran

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This is a tafsir by ibn kathir where he interprets the meaning as

But no!

I swear by the Lord of the easts and the wests.

meaning, the One Who created the heavens and the earth and made the east and the west. He is the One Who subjected the stars causing them to appear in the eastern parts of the sky and vanish in the western parts of it.

The point of this statement is that the matter is not as the disbelievers claim:that there is no final return, no reckoning, no resurrection and no gathering. Rather all of this will occur and come to pass. There is no way of avoiding it. This is the reason that Allah has stated a negation at the beginning of this oath. This shows that He is swearing by a denial of their claim. This is a refutation of their false claim of rejecting the Day of Judgement. They already witnessed the greatness of Allah's power in what is more convincing than the Day of Judgement, that is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the subjection of the creatures in them, the animals, the inanimate objects and the other types of creatures that exist.

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‘Amir-Al-Momineen asws preached to us upon the Pulpit of Al-Kufa. So he asws Praised Allah azwj and Extolled Him azwj, then said: ‘O you people! Ask me asws, for between my asws ribs is the (Divine) Knowledge’. So Ibn Al-Kawa stood up and said, ‘O Amir-Al-Momineenasws, I have found in the Book of Allahazwj (Verses) which invalidate each other’.

Hea sws said: ‘May your mother be bereft of you, O Ibn Al-Kawa! The Book of Allah azwj, (Verses) ratify each other, and do not invalidate each other, so ask whatever comes to you’.

He said, ‘O Amir-Al-Momineen asws! I heard Him azwj Saying: I swear by the Lord of the Easts and the Wests [70:40]. And in another Verse: Lord of the two Easts and Lord of the two Wests [55:17]. And in another Verse: ‘Lord of the east and the west [26:28]’

He asws said: ‘May your mother be bereft of you, O Ibn Al- Kawa! This is the east and this is the west. And as for His azwj Words: Lord of the two Easts and Lord of the two Wests [55:17], so it is the east of the winter upon a limit, and east of the summer upon a limit. But do you not recognise that from the nearness of the sun and its remoteness?

And as for His azwj Words: I swear by the Lord of the Easts and the Wests [70:40], so it has for it three hundred and sixty constellations, (the sun is) emerging from each constellation and setting in another. So it does not return to it except from the following year in that particular day’.

For Further Reseach Click here Tafseer Hub-e-Ali (asws) | HubeAli asws

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Sura 70:40, as quoted by you “But nay. I call to witness the Lord of the East and West. We are certainly powerful”?

The better translation goes as : I swear by the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, that We are Able.

1. you have wrongly used the words “East” and “West” (actually it is “Easts” and “Wests”)- which actually means all the directions.

2. Allah is swearing upon himself. While taking swear He identifies as “I” and while talking about His power he says Himself as “We” (a language giving respect to One Self while telling about His power or ability) and declares that He is the Lord of all the directions.

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The correct translation is “But no, I swear by the Lord of the Easts and the Wests; We are indeed able”

The next verse, 70:42, says “to replace them with better than them; We can never be outdone.”

In this verse God is swearing on Himself, the Lord of all the Easts and Wests there are (or the Lord of all sunrises and sunsets), that he is able to replace the disbelievers with those better than them, and that God can never be outdone in doing so (which, of course, is because God is the only one that can make people).

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And to Allah belongs the east and the west. So wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah . Indeed, Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing. (Quran 2:115)

In 70:40 God swore by himself. Since God is supreme in the universe, by swearing by himself, it makes the matter a very serious matter.