Ash-Shu'ara · Makki · ayah 200 of 227

Ash-Shu'ara 26:200

كَذَٰلِكَ سَلَكْنَـٰهُ فِى قُلُوبِ ٱلْمُجْرِمِينَ

“Thus have We inserted it [i.e., disbelief] into the hearts of the criminals.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Like a thread drawn through a needle, denial passes into the hearts of those who have earned it, and settles there.

A reflection

Threaded through, and held

This ayah has a near-twin in Al-Hijr: 'Thus We thread it into the hearts of the criminals' (15:12). The fuller entry for these words belongs there. Here it closes a thought experiment: even a non-Arab reciting the Quran perfectly would not have moved them (26:198-199).

The verb is salaka. The lexicons say the root means one thing passing into and through another. It is threading a needle, slipping a hand into a sleeve, driving a spear straight in. Thread itself is silk.

One commentary explains the 'thus': like this threading, We threaded it into their hearts and fixed it there. Others say 'it' is denial, or hardness. The meanings are close.

Picture the thread pulled through, then knotted. It does not fall out with shaking. Denial worked into a heart like that is not a passing mood. Every new sign meets a heart already stitched shut against it.

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.