Taha · Makki · ayah 135 of 135

Taha 20:135

قُلْ كُلٌّ مُّتَرَبِّصٌ فَتَرَبَّصُوا۟ ۖ فَسَتَعْلَمُونَ مَنْ أَصْحَـٰبُ ٱلصِّرَٰطِ ٱلسَّوِىِّ وَمَنِ ٱهْتَدَىٰ

“Say, "Each [of us] is waiting;[870] so wait. For you will know who are the companions of the sound path and who is guided."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Everyone is waiting for something; wait well, for soon it will be clear who walked the level road, and who found it again.

A reflection

Those who never left, and those who came back

The surah's last words name two groups: aṣḥābu al-ṣirāṭi al-sawiyy, the people of the level road, and mani htadā, whoever is guided. Why two?

One commentary records a classical grammarian's suggestion that delights. The people of the level road, he said, are those who never went astray. And whoever is guided are those who went astray and then found the way. Most commentators read them more simply, both as the rightly guided. But the distinction is worth sitting with, because of where it falls.

This is the end of a surah that has just told the story of Adam. He was given a charge, forgot it, ate, strayed: wa-ʿaṣā ādamu rabbahu fa-ghawā. Then his Lord chose him, turned to him, and guided him: wa-hadā (20:122). Adam is exactly the second kind. He left the road and was brought back.

So the surah's final words leave room for both. The ones who stayed steady all their lives, and the ones who wandered and returned. Both end up named in the same breath, among those who will be shown to have been right.

Picture a mosque on a Friday. In the second row stand two men in their forties who were friends as boys. One has prayed in this mosque every week of his life. The other left faith at nineteen, spent twenty-five years away, and came back last spring after his father's death. They stand shoulder to shoulder, feet touching, saying the same words. The imam cannot tell which is which. Nor, the ayah suggests, does it matter in the end.

If you have never left the road, thank Allah for that steadiness; it is a gift. If you have wandered, take this last line of the surah as your welcome. Wa-mani htadā: and whoever is guided. That includes you, the moment you turn back.

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.