Al-Hajj · Madani · ayah 15 of 78

Al-Hajj 22:15

مَن كَانَ يَظُنُّ أَن لَّن يَنصُرَهُ ٱللَّهُ فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا وَٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ فَلْيَمْدُدْ بِسَبَبٍ إِلَى ٱلسَّمَآءِ ثُمَّ لْيَقْطَعْ فَلْيَنظُرْ هَلْ يُذْهِبَنَّ كَيْدُهُۥ مَا يَغِيظُ

“Whoever should think that Allāh will not support him [i.e., Prophet Muḥammad (ﷺ)] in this world and the Hereafter - let him extend a rope to the ceiling, then cut off [his breath],[918] and let him see: will his effort remove that which enrages [him]?”

Saheeh International

Essence

Rage against the help Allah sends can never reach it; let the enraged man look at what his scheming has really choked.

A reflection

Climb to where the help comes from, and cut it

A sabab was first a rope, the kind a man used to climb a tall palm. From there it came to mean any means by which you reach something. So the ayah offers its listener a rope, and points upwards.

One early reading takes 'the sky' here literally. The help that reaches the Prophet ﷺ comes from heaven. So whoever is enraged by it should find a rope long enough to reach the sky. Then let him climb, and cut that help off at its source, if he can. One commentator argued this reading is stronger precisely because it is impossible. The further the image is from anything a person could do, the louder it says: you cannot touch this.

Another ayah makes the same move. The Prophet ﷺ is told to find a tunnel into the earth or a ladder into the sky, if he can (6:35). No such ladder exists for anyone.

This is where the ego shrinks. Envy always carries a secret belief: that if I push hard enough, I can stop what is being given to someone else. The ayah exposes that belief as a man looking for a rope to the clouds.

Picture a senior partner in a small firm who feels threatened by a gifted junior. He keeps her name off client emails. He takes the credit in meetings. Within a year, clients are asking for her by name anyway. He controlled every email. He never controlled where the good was coming from.

The taunt is not for Allah's sake. He needs no one to lose an argument. One commentator says its purpose is to turn the enraged person away from his rage and towards obedience. Even the mockery is an exit door.

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.