Taha · Makki · ayah 123 of 135

Taha 20:123

قَالَ ٱهْبِطَا مِنْهَا جَمِيعًۢا ۖ بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ ۖ فَإِمَّا يَأْتِيَنَّكُم مِّنِّى هُدًى فَمَنِ ٱتَّبَعَ هُدَاىَ فَلَا يَضِلُّ وَلَا يَشْقَىٰ

“[Allāh] said, "Descend from it [i.e., Paradise] - all, [your descendants] being enemies to one another. And if there should come to you guidance from Me - then whoever follows My guidance will neither go astray [in the world] nor suffer [in the Hereafter].”

Saheeh International

Essence

Humanity was sent down into conflict, but not alone: guidance would follow, and whoever walks behind it neither loses the road nor ends in misery.

A reflection

Guidance follows you down

Ihbiṭā, go down. The lexicons give the verb a traveller's picture: coming down from a mountain pass into the valley where you will make camp. It is a descent followed by settling. One lexicon notes a distinction. Where the Quran honours something it 'sends it down', anzala. Hubūṭ marks a lowering.

So Adam goes down, to stay, in a lower place. That could have been the end of the story. But the very next words open a door. Fa-immā yaʾtiyannakum minnī hudā: and when guidance comes to you from Me. The commentaries explain it as a clear showing of His way, and a book and a law.

The order is everything. The descent is not followed by silence. It is followed by a promise that guidance will come down after them.

Picture a family arriving late at night in a city they have never seen. A new job, a high-rise flat, nobody they know. They carry the last boxes up in a lift that smells of someone else's cooking. The children are tired and fractious. On the mat inside the door is a folded note. 'Welcome. I'm in 4B. The mosque is two streets to the left, the good bakery is opposite. Ring this number if you need anything.' Nothing about their move has changed. But they are no longer alone in a strange place.

That is the shape of this ayah. Humanity has come down into a lower place, a world of toil and conflict. And Allah has sent after them a note: messengers, books, a way. One classical commentary explains the plural yaʾtiyannakum, 'to you all'. Adam and his wife stood for all their descendants, and so they were addressed as humanity.

The note was meant for you too. You were not dropped into this world to work it out alone. Pick up what was left on the mat.

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.