Ash-Shu'ara · Makki · ayah 140 of 227

Ash-Shu'ara 26:140

وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ

“And indeed, your Lord - He is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The refrain first heard at 26:9 answers ʿAd's boast: the One they thought they could outmatch is the Mighty, and still the Merciful.

A reflection

The answer to "who is stronger than us?"

This line was first met at 26:9, where its full treatment lives. After ʿAd, it reads like the reply to a question they once asked.

They were arrogant in the land, another surah says, and asked: who is stronger than us in power? The answer came at once. Did they not see that Allah, who created them, is stronger than them in power (41:15)?

One classical commentary notices the form the answer took. ʿAd were the most overbearing of peoples. So Allah turned on them something more overbearing than they were: a wind. Their destruction was of their own kind.

That is a lesson for the ego. Every strength we boast of was created, and its Creator holds more of it. The line is not said for applause. He needs no one's acknowledgement to remain the Mighty. It is said so that we stop asking ʿAd's question.

The full entry has 2 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.