Al-Mu'minun · Makki · ayah 28 of 118

Al-Mu'minun 23:28

فَإِذَا ٱسْتَوَيْتَ أَنتَ وَمَن مَّعَكَ عَلَى ٱلْفُلْكِ فَقُلِ ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ ٱلَّذِى نَجَّىٰنَا مِنَ ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ

“And when you have boarded the ship, you and those with you, then say, 'Praise to Allāh who has saved us from the wrongdoing people.'”

Saheeh International

Essence

The man who built the ark is told to say, the moment he is settled, that Allah is the One who saved them.

A reflection

The builder thanks the One who saved

A coach driver brings a full load of passengers down a mountain pass in freezing fog. The road is ice for twelve miles. He drives it in first gear, perfectly, for an hour. At the first lay-by he pulls in, switches off, turns round to the passengers and says: let us thank God.

Nuh had built the ark himself, plank by plank, over a long time, while his people mocked (11:38). If anyone had a claim to say "my work saved us", he did. Yet the words he is given for the moment of safety are these: praise be to Allah, who saved us from the wrongdoing people.

The verb is najjānā: He saved us, He brought us clear. The lexicons give the root a picture that fits the flood exactly. A najwa is ground high enough that a flood never reaches it. One lexicon says it earned the name by escaping the water. To be saved, in this word, is to be set on ground the water cannot climb. That image is established.

Notice who does the saving in the sentence. Not the ship, not the builder, not the long preparation. The ship was the means; Allah was the one who set them above the water.

This is where pride quietly loses its footing. Most of us are glad to thank Allah for rescues we had nothing to do with. It is harder when our own skill was involved: the exam we revised for, the business we built, the illness we managed carefully. Then the praise slides, without our noticing, towards ourselves.

Nuh's words keep the ego in its place without belittling the work. He did build. Allah did save. Both are true, and only one of them deserves the praise.

Think of a recent success where your effort was real. Say, out loud if you can: praise be to Allah, who brought me through it.

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.