23وَإِنّا لَنَحنُ نُحيي وَنُميتُ وَنَحنُ الوارِثونَMuhammad Asadfor, behold, it is We - We alone - who grant life and deal death, and it is We alone who shall remain after all else will have passed away!1Lit., "We are [or "shall be"] the inheritors (al-warithun)": an idiomatic metaphor based, according to the consensus of all classical commentators, on the use of the term "inheritor" or "heir" in the sense of "one who remains after his predecessor has passed away" - in this case, after all creation has perished. (Cf. the expression "the heritage of the heavens and of the earth" used, with reference to God, in 3:180 and 57:10.)