Al-Isra · Makki · ayah 63 of 111

Al-Isra 17:63

قَالَ ٱذْهَبْ فَمَن تَبِعَكَ مِنْهُمْ فَإِنَّ جَهَنَّمَ جَزَآؤُكُمْ جَزَآءً مَّوْفُورًا

“[Allāh] said, "Go, for whoever of them follows you, indeed Hell will be the recompense of [all of] you - an ample recompense.”

Saheeh International

Essence

To the enemy's declaration of war, one unthreatened word, go, and a verdict that binds him and his followers into one full recompense.

A reflection

Go: the answer of One who is not threatened

Iblis has just declared war. He has questioned his Lord's wisdom, asked for time until the Day of Resurrection, and vowed to master Adam's children. Then comes the reply, and it begins with a single word: idh-hab. Go.

No argument. No counter-threat. No list of defences. The commentaries explain that this is not 'go' as the opposite of 'come'. It means: go your way, the way you have chosen. One calls it a command of contempt: strive as hard as you can, for you have your respite.

Picture a small child at the edge of the sea, shouting at the waves to go back. He stamps his feet and means it with all his heart. The sea does not answer him. It does not need to. The tide comes in at the hour it always comes.

Our egos are not built like the sea. A rival's sneer, a critic's post, a colleague's boast, and we feel we must reply. We draft answers at midnight. We need to win the exchange, because we fear that losing it would make us less. The ayah shows a Lord who loses nothing when His enemy rages. That is what true greatness looks like, and beside it our pride looks very small.

Someone may ask whether God is competing with Satan for followers. Does He need a majority? Sahih Muslim records a saying the Prophet ﷺ reported from his Lord. Suppose the first and last of you, humans and jinn, all had the heart of the most wicked man among you. It would not reduce My kingdom at all. Allah is not on a recruitment drive. The warning that follows is for our sake, not His.

So when someone vows to bring you down, remember who said 'go' to the greatest enemy of all. You do not have to answer every wave.

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.