Al-Furqan · Makki · ayah 65 of 77

Al-Furqan 25:65

وَٱلَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا ٱصْرِفْ عَنَّا عَذَابَ جَهَنَّمَ ۖ إِنَّ عَذَابَهَا كَانَ غَرَامًا

“And those who say, "Our Lord, avert from us the punishment of Hell. Indeed, its punishment is ever adhering;”

Saheeh International

Essence

The people who stand all night are the ones begging to be spared: devotion here does not feel safe, it feels close enough to ask.

A reflection

The most devoted are the most afraid

There is a common assumption about fear of Hell. It is for beginners, or for sinners. Mature believers, people of the night prayer, have moved past it to love and confidence. Fear is the stick for those who have not yet found the carrot.

The passage arranges things the other way round. The ayah before shows people prostrating and standing through the night. This one shows the same people pleading to be spared Hell. One early Companion said they say it in their very prostration and standing. The plea is not what they say instead of devotion. It is what devotion sounds like from inside.

The commentaries say so directly. Despite their effort, these servants are afraid, and they are not impressed by their own deeds. They compare it to another ayah: those who give what they give with hearts trembling (23:60).

Al-Tirmidhi records ʿAʾisha asking about that ayah, graded ṣaḥīḥ. Was it about people who drink and steal? No, the Prophet ﷺ said. It is about those who pray, fast and give charity, and fear it may not be accepted from them.

A woman has run her mosque's food bank for twelve years. Every night she asks herself whether any of it was for show, and whether any of it will count. Nobody watching her would think she needs to worry. That is exactly why she does.

The early commentators had a phrase for these people. By day they were humble; by night they wore themselves out, out of fear of Hell. The fear did not make them gloomy. It kept them honest about whose acceptance mattered.

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.