Taha · Makki · ayah 42 of 135

Taha 20:42

ٱذْهَبْ أَنتَ وَأَخُوكَ بِـَٔايَـٰتِى وَلَا تَنِيَا فِى ذِكْرِى

“Go, you and your brother, with My signs and do not slacken in My remembrance.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Sent with signs into the hardest room on earth, the two brothers are given one instruction for the road: do not flag in remembering Me.

A reflection

Fuel for the road

A father is raising two children alone and working two jobs. He leaves the warehouse at two, collects the children at three, starts the evening shift at six. He has no time for long prayers beyond the five. But between shifts, in the car, at the till, he keeps a few words on his lips: ḥasbiya Allāh, Allah is enough for me. Asked once how he keeps going, he shrugs. That is how.

Allah sent Musa and Harun on the most dangerous errand in the world. He gave them one instruction for the road: wa-lā taniyā fī dhikrī, do not flag in remembering Me.

Why remembrance, of all things, at a moment like that? One of the great commentators answers directly. Your remembering Me strengthens your resolve and makes your feet firm. Because when you remember Me, you remember My favours on you, too many to count. Another says they were to remember Allah while facing Pharaoh. Remembrance would be their help and their strength, and a power that would break him.

Allah needs none of it. I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me; I want no provision from them (51:56-57). The remembering was for Musa. It was the fuel that would carry him through the court, the magicians and the sea.

And the Quran makes a promise about it that is almost too tender to read quickly. Remember Me, and I will remember you (2:152).

Many people today are running on empty. They are told to practise self-care, to recharge, to find their centre. The hunger is real. But a centre made of the self runs dry. This ayah offers a different supply: the remembrance of the One who does not run out. Keep a few words on your lips today, like the father between his shifts. That may be how you keep going too.

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.