Ash-Shu'ara · Makki · ayah 145 of 227

Ash-Shu'ara 26:145

وَمَآ أَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ ۖ إِنْ أَجْرِىَ إِلَّا عَلَىٰ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ

“And I do not ask you for it any payment. My payment is only from the Lord of the worlds.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Salih asks his people for nothing; whatever he is owed waits with the Lord of all the worlds, not with the valley they called home.

A reflection

The Lord of all worlds, and a people who saw only here

This sentence is said by five messengers in this surah. Its full treatment, including the picture inside ajr and what it means to refuse payment, lives at 26:109. Here it is enough to read it against the very next ayah.

Salih says his wage rests with the Lord of all the worlds. Then he asks his people: will you be left secure in what is here (26:146)? His eyes are on every world. Theirs are on one valley, its springs and its carved homes.

The contrast is the whole story in small. A man who looks to the Lord of everything can afford to want nothing from you. A people who see only what is here will cling to it, and fear anyone who reminds them it is lent.

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.