Al-Mu'minun · Makki · ayah 117 of 118

Al-Mu'minun 23:117

وَمَن يَدْعُ مَعَ ٱللَّهِ إِلَـٰهًا ءَاخَرَ لَا بُرْهَـٰنَ لَهُۥ بِهِۦ فَإِنَّمَا حِسَابُهُۥ عِندَ رَبِّهِۦٓ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ لَا يُفْلِحُ ٱلْكَـٰفِرُونَ

“And whoever invokes besides Allāh another deity for which he has no proof - then his account is only with his Lord. Indeed, the disbelievers will not succeed.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Every rival god comes without proof, every reckoning rests with Allah, and a surah that opened on the believers' success closes on the deniers' failure.

A reflection

A surah that ends where it began, reversed

Three classical commentators, writing centuries apart, stop at the same point in this ayah and say almost the same thing. The surah opened with qad aflaḥa al-muʾminūn: the believers have succeeded (23:1). It ends with innahu lā yufliḥu al-kāfirūn: the deniers will not succeed. How far apart, one says, are the opening and the close.

The symmetry is exact. Same root, f-l-ḥ. Same verb form. One in the past tense, as though already accomplished. One in the present, as a standing rule. Between them lies the whole surah. The believers' traits, the creation of the human from clay, the prophets and their peoples' denials, and the scenes of the Day.

One of these commentators adds something tender. These closing sentences, he says, carry consolation for the Prophet ﷺ. He had spent the surah hearing how every messenger was rejected. Now he is told, in effect: the outcome is already settled. The ones who deny you will not succeed. Then, in the next breath, he is given a prayer to say (23:118).

There is a lesson in that order. The surah does not end on the defeat of the deniers. It ends on a prayer for forgiveness and mercy. Knowing that falsehood will not succeed is meant to free the believer from anxiety, not to make him gloat. The result is in Allah's hands. Your part is to turn to Him.

For a reader, the bookends also act as a test. Read the opening ten ayat of the surah. Humble prayer, avoiding idle talk, giving, chastity, keeping trusts, guarding prayers. Then read this closing line. The surah has drawn two roads and named where each ends.

So which description is closer to your life this week? The surah does not ask for a final answer. It asks you to see the two bookends, and to keep walking towards the first one.

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.