Al-Kahf · Makki · ayah 28 of 110

Al-Kahf 18:28

وَٱصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ ٱلَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُم بِٱلْغَدَوٰةِ وَٱلْعَشِىِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُۥ ۖ وَلَا تَعْدُ عَيْنَاكَ عَنْهُمْ تُرِيدُ زِينَةَ ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا ۖ وَلَا تُطِعْ مَنْ أَغْفَلْنَا قَلْبَهُۥ عَن ذِكْرِنَا وَٱتَّبَعَ هَوَىٰهُ وَكَانَ أَمْرُهُۥ فُرُطًا

“And keep yourself patient [by being] with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His face [i.e., acceptance]. And let not your eyes pass beyond them, desiring adornments of the worldly life, and do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his desire and whose affair is ever [in] neglect.[787]”

Saheeh International

Essence

The leading men of a tribe were called its faces, and the poor men in the circle wanted a different Face.

A reflection

Drive these away, they are not to presume on us

Sahih Muslim preserves the scene, told by one of the men who was in it.

We were six with the Prophet, he said. And the polytheists said to the Prophet: drive these away, they are not to presume upon us. He names some of the six. Himself. Bilal. A man from Hudhayl. And two whose names he does not give. Then the sentence that has to be read twice. Something occurred in the heart of the Messenger of Allah that Allah willed to occur, and he spoke to himself about it. And Allah sent down: do not drive away those who call upon their Lord morning and evening, desiring His face (6:52).

One commentary records the fuller version. The nobles of Quraysh asked him to sit with them alone. They did not want the weak among his Companions seated with them, and named several. Those men could have a gathering of their own.

So there was a proposal, and there was a moment. And the moment is reported honestly, in the words of one of the six being talked about.

And then this ayah, which does not say be kind to them or do not drive them away. It says: hold your soul fast with them.

A room with six men in it who are in no position to insist on anything. A delegation at the door. And a sentence about where the Prophet is to keep himself.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.