Al-Furqan · Makki · ayah 39 of 77

Al-Furqan 25:39

وَكُلًّا ضَرَبْنَا لَهُ ٱلْأَمْثَـٰلَ ۖ وَكُلًّا تَبَّرْنَا تَتْبِيرًا

“And for each We presented examples [as warnings], and each We destroyed with [total] destruction.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Every people was given clear examples first, and every people that refused them was broken beyond repair.

A reflection

The King who explained Himself to those who defied Him

"He is not asked about what He does, but they will be asked" (21:23). The One who owns everything owes no one an explanation. Yet this ayah says that for every people, without exception, He set out examples first.

The commentaries are unanimous on the order. He did not destroy any people until after warning them. One early commentator put it in a sentence: each was given every excuse removed, and only then came the retribution. Arguments were shown, proofs made plain, excuses taken away.

Think how differently we behave with far less power. A manager sends a one-line email changing a whole team's plans, with no reasons. An employee reads it at his desk and fumes. He is not angry at the change. He is angry because nobody thought he was worth an explanation.

We all feel that. Being given reasons is a mark of respect. Now turn it round. The King of all kings gave reasons to peoples who mocked Him, denied His messengers and worshipped stones. He explained Himself to the defiant.

The ego, faced with that, should grow very quiet. We demand explanations from everyone around us and give few ourselves. We expect to be consulted. He, who needs no one's agreement, chose to argue patiently with those who would never agree.

Does He need us to accept His reasons? No. The examples were for their sake, not His, so that no one could say they had not been told. As another ayah says, messengers were sent "so that people would have no argument against Allah afterwards" (4:165). His explaining is generosity, not need. Our proper response is humility: listening to the reasons we have been given while there is still time.

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.