Maryam · Makki · ayah 12 of 98

Maryam 19:12

يَـٰيَحْيَىٰ خُذِ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ بِقُوَّةٍ ۖ وَءَاتَيْنَـٰهُ ٱلْحُكْمَ صَبِيًّا

“[Allāh said], "O John, take the Scripture [i.e., adhere to it] with determination." And We gave him judgement [while yet] a boy”

Saheeh International

Essence

The promised child is addressed directly, told to take hold of the Book with strength, and given sound judgement while still a boy.

A reflection

Strength is not a clenched fist

Take the Book with strength. For many readers the phrase conjures something hard. A tight grip. Rigidity. Holding the faith the way a man holds a weapon, ready to use it on someone else.

The commentaries describe something quite different.

One explains the strength as earnestness and effort, with three parts. Memorise its words. Understand its meanings. Act upon it. Another says the strength is to do what Allah has commanded and to keep away from what He has forbidden. A classical commentator points out that it cannot mean physical strength, since anyone can pick up a book. It must mean seriousness and steadiness in carrying out the trust. In the end, he says, it is a settled disposition that makes obedience come easily, and holding back from wrong come easily too.

The lexicons give the root a plain image. A rope, twisted strand upon strand until it holds. Not one thick bar of iron, but many fibres wound together, so that the load is shared and nothing snaps.

That is the kind of strength the ayah asks for. Not harshness. The very next ayah describes the same boy as given tenderness from his Lord, and purity. One commentator notes the pairing deliberately: tenderness that does not slide into neglecting what is due. Strength and gentleness are wound into the same rope.

So the worn picture of a hard, clenched religiosity has the ayah backwards. Taking the Book with strength means taking it seriously enough to learn it, understand it and live it. Strand by strand, until it holds you up.

A tight fist holds nothing for long. A well-made rope holds for years.

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.