Taha · Makki · ayah 21 of 135

Taha 20:21

قَالَ خُذْهَا وَلَا تَخَفْ ۖ سَنُعِيدُهَا سِيرَتَهَا ٱلْأُولَىٰ

“[Allāh] said, "Seize it and fear not; We will return it to its former condition.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Take hold of the very thing that frightens you, and do not fear: the One who changed it will return it to what it was.

A reflection

A bare hand towards the jaws

A woman was bitten by a dog when she was six. For thirty years she has crossed the road to avoid them. Now she volunteers at an animal rescue centre, determined to face it. On her first day, a keeper stands beside her as a large, nervous dog approaches. Hold out your hand, he says. Flat. Don't pull it back. She does, shaking, and the dog licks her palm.

Musa had fled from the serpent. Now he is told: take it, and do not fear. Not 'wait until it is a staff again'. Take it now, while it is still a snake.

The commentaries preserve a report of what happened next. It is a report, not a graded saying. Musa was wearing a woollen garment. When told to take the snake, he drew the end of his sleeve over his hand. An angel asked him: if Allah allowed what you fear, would your sleeve protect you? He answered: no, but I am weak, and from weakness I was created. Then he uncovered his hand and put it to the serpent's mouth. And it was his staff again, his hand resting in the fork where he always held it.

That answer is worth keeping. Not bravado. Not denial. An honest admission of weakness, followed by the bare hand anyway.

Most of us wrap our hands in sleeves before facing what frightens us. Excuses, delays, half-measures, plans B and C. They feel like protection. They rarely protect anything.

Is there something Allah has made clear you must take hold of: a conversation, a responsibility, a return to prayer? Admit your weakness to Him plainly. Then reach out with your bare hand.

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.