Ar-Ra'd · Madani · ayah 14 of 43

Ar-Ra'd 13:14

لَهُۥ دَعْوَةُ ٱلْحَقِّ ۖ وَٱلَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِهِۦ لَا يَسْتَجِيبُونَ لَهُم بِشَىْءٍ إِلَّا كَبَـٰسِطِ كَفَّيْهِ إِلَى ٱلْمَآءِ لِيَبْلُغَ فَاهُ وَمَا هُوَ بِبَـٰلِغِهِۦ ۚ وَمَا دُعَآءُ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ إِلَّا فِى ضَلَـٰلٍ

“To Him [alone] is the supplication of truth. And those they call upon besides Him do not respond to them with a thing, except as one who stretches his hands toward water [from afar, calling it] to reach his mouth, but it will not reach it [thus].[634] And the supplication of the disbelievers is not but in error [i.e., futility].”

Saheeh International

Essence

Only the call to Him is truly answered; calling anything else is a thirsty man's open hands stretched towards water that never reaches his mouth.

A reflection

Worth calling even if He gave nothing

A father notices that his student son only messages when he needs something: a lift, a transfer, a form signed. The messages are polite and efficient, and every one is about what the son wants. Then one evening a text arrives with no request in it. 'Thinking of you, Dad. Hope your back's better.' The father reads it four times.

The ayah opens with lahu, 'to Him', placed first. The commentators read the fronting as belonging: the true call is His, and no one else's. The earliest explanations name it plainly as the testimony that there is no god but Allah. Others add sincerity in supplication, or the cry made in danger when no one else is called on.

One spiritual master read deeper. Daʿwat al-ḥaqq, he said, means Allah deserves to be called on for who He is, even if He had attached no reward to it. He is worthy to be worshipped alone, asked alone, hoped in, feared, loved and leaned on, because of who He is. The servant who sees this calls on Him differently. He is not like a hired man who serves only for the wage and leaves the door once he is paid. He is like a servant of the house, who leaves the door only if he runs away.

This is hard on the ego. We are transactional by habit. We call when we need something and fall silent when the need passes. Our prayers can read like invoices. The ayah does not forbid asking; its next lines are all about asking. But it puts asking in its place. The call belongs to Him first because of who He is.

Someone may object that it is possessive for God to claim every call. Look at what the ayah sets beside the claim. Everything else that is called on answers nothing. The claim is not jealousy for His sake; He is free of all need (35:15). It is mercy for yours. When a fire marshal points you to the one exit that is not blocked, nobody calls him possessive.

Start your next prayer with a sentence that asks for nothing. Just say who He is. Then ask.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.