Al-Mu'minun · Makki · ayah 57 of 118

Al-Mu'minun 23:57

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ هُم مِّنْ خَشْيَةِ رَبِّهِم مُّشْفِقُونَ

“Indeed, they who are apprehensive from fear of their Lord”

Saheeh International

Essence

The first mark of those who truly race to good is a tender, watchful fear of their Lord, thin as the afterglow of sunset.

A reflection

A heart made thin like the afterglow

A toddler has a fever. Long after she falls asleep, her father stands at the bedroom door, listening to her breathe. He is not panicking. He is simply unable to stop caring.

The ayah calls the believers mushfiqūn. The lexicons give the root an established image of thinness. The shafaq is the red afterglow in the west after sunset, named for its colour and its thinness. A thinly woven cloth was called shafaq too. And ishfāq is a heart made thin: care mixed with fear, as a mother frets over her child.

One commentator draws the distinction carefully. Ishfāq contains khashya, reverent fear, with an added tenderness and fragility. It is not the hard fear of a criminal awaiting sentence. It is the delicate fear of someone who loves and does not want to lose.

That changes how the whole ayah sounds. Min khashyati rabbihim mushfiqūn: from reverent fear of their Lord, they are tender-hearted and apprehensive. The fear is directed at their Lord, the One who raised them, provides for them and sets their affairs right. You do not fear such a Lord as you fear a stranger with a weapon.

The afterglow is a fitting picture. It is real light, but thin. It does not last on its own. A believer's ishfāq needs keeping alive in the same way, by remembering, by noticing, by not letting the sky go dark through neglect.

Several commentaries gloss mushfiqūn as fearful and wary of what Allah has warned them of. But the father at the door shows the inner shape of it. His fear is a form of love. It keeps him awake because the child matters.

So when the ayah praises fear, it is not praising misery. It is praising a heart that has not gone hard, that still feels the weight of the One it stands before, and stays awake.

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.