Maryam · Makki · ayah 64 of 98

Maryam 19:64

وَمَا نَتَنَزَّلُ إِلَّا بِأَمْرِ رَبِّكَ ۖ لَهُۥ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِينَا وَمَا خَلْفَنَا وَمَا بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ ۚ وَمَا كَانَ رَبُّكَ نَسِيًّا

“[Gabriel said],[821] "And we [angels] descend not except by the order of your Lord. To Him belongs that before us and that behind us and what is in between. And never is your Lord forgetful -”

Saheeh International

Essence

The Prophet asked Jibril why he did not visit more, and the reply reaches every waiting heart: your Lord forgets nothing.

A reflection

Even Jibril waits to be sent

This ayah is spoken in an unusual voice. It is not Allah saying We, as in the ayat before. It is the angels, through Jibril: wa-mā natanazzalu illā bi-amri rabbik. We do not descend except by your Lord's command.

Think who is speaking. The greatest of the angels, the one who brought revelation to every prophet in this surah. And the first thing he says about himself is that he cannot move on his own. One commentary draws it out. We cannot pass from one direction to another, one place to another, except by the command of the King and His will.

Then he widens it. Lahu mā bayna aydīnā wa-mā khalfanā wa-mā bayna dhālik: to Him belongs what is before us, what is behind us, and what is between. Whatever reading one takes, time or space or a whole lifetime, nothing is left outside. There is no moment and no place that belongs to anyone else.

The ego finds this hard to hear. We expect things on our timetable. A prayer made should be answered soon; help asked for should arrive by a date we set. When it does not, part of us concludes that the system has failed. The ayah shows the most powerful created being in existence content to wait for orders.

Is it some display of power, making a longing Prophet wait? The ayah answers that itself in its last words: wa-mā kāna rabbuka nasiyyan. Your Lord is never forgetful. The delay was not neglect. One commentary says the holding back was never a leaving, but rested on what was wise and good. The One who owns all time does not lose track of anyone in it.

If Jibril can wait to be sent, we can wait to be answered.

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.