Destitutional Possibility, the Most Comprehensive Meaning in Verse 15 of Surah al-Fātir (35:15)

One way to prove existence of God and gain awareness of the levels of tawhīd (doctrine of Oneness) is by understanding the human and his various types of relationship with Allah. In his famous munājāt (colloquy with Allah) in the Great Mosque of Kufah, Imam Ali (A.S.) says, ‘My Lord, O My Lord, You are the Affluent and I am the poor, and does anyone but the affluent have mercy on the poor? ’ The same sense is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an in two verses, the more complete of which is verse 15 of surah al-Fatīr: ‘O mankind! You are the poor in your relation to Allah, and Allah is the Ever-Affluent, the Ever-Praised ’ (35:15). The present paper aims to study the role of philosophical attitudes adopted by philosophers in tafīr (exegesis of the Qur’an) of this verse, to explore the content of the verse, and to elaborate views of both Shi‘a and Sunni exegetists in respect to the verse. In addition to characterizing the true beings of the human and God, the intention in the verse is to describe an argument for the existence of God. This paper explores the seven views explained by exegetists, all of whom have suggested that the best and most comprehensive meaning of the verse is the one related to the Argument for Destitutional Possibility [of existence], and it then contrasts the argument with the Argument for Substantive Possibility [of existence], and outlines a number of conclusions.