Al-Furqan · Makki · ayah 72 of 77

Al-Furqan 25:72

وَٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَشْهَدُونَ ٱلزُّورَ وَإِذَا مَرُّوا۟ بِٱللَّغْوِ مَرُّوا۟ كِرَامًا

“And [they are] those who do not testify to falsehood, and when they pass near ill speech, they pass by with dignity.”

Saheeh International

Essence

They do not lend falsehood their presence, and they pass idle noise the way a noble animal turns its head aside.

A reflection

Not only the courtroom: the room you stay in

Most people hear this ayah as a version of an old commandment: do not bear false witness. It sounds like a courtroom rule. Few people have ever perjured themselves, so it is filed under 'already done'.

That reading is in the commentaries, and it is a serious one. But it is not the only one, and several commentators think it is not the main one. The verb shahida means to be present and see, as well as to testify. One commentary points out the grammar. The ayah does not say they do not testify to falsehood. It says they do not witness falsehood, do not attend it. If they are praised for not even being present, it adds, how much more for not speaking or doing it.

Another commentary says the context favours this reading. The second half of the ayah is about passing by idle talk. So the first half is about not sitting down in the presence of falsehood at all.

A man has never told a lie under oath in his life and never will. At a colleague's retirement lunch, the speeches drift into mocking an absent co-worker's divorce. He does not join in. He also does not leave, and he laughs once, at the cleverest line. By the courtroom reading he has done nothing. By this reading he has witnessed it.

The early readers named many kinds of zūr: idolatry, lying, the idolaters' festivals, gatherings of vice, idle song, false testimony. One major commentator refused to narrow it. Allah made the description general, he said, so it covers every falsehood. The question is not only what you say. It is where you sit.

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.