Ash-Shu'ara · Makki · ayah 217 of 227

Ash-Shu'ara 26:217

وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى ٱلْعَزِيزِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

“And rely upon the Exalted in Might, the Merciful,”

Saheeh International

Essence

Stepping clear of his clan's worship, he is told whom to lean on: One who cannot be overpowered and will not abandon His own.

A reflection

Able and willing: the two things leaning needs

Every act of leaning asks two questions. Can this one hold me? And will they?

A student is stranded abroad when her visa renewal stalls. The consulate could fix it with one signature, but to them she is a reference number. Her mother would do anything for her, but her mother is a seamstress four thousand miles away with no signature to give. One can and will not. The other will and cannot. The student sits between them, phone in hand, with nowhere to put her full weight.

That is the shape of all human help. Power and care rarely sit in the same person, and never completely.

The ayah names the One in whom they meet. Al-ʿAzīz: the Mighty, whom nothing overpowers or blocks. Al-Raḥīm: the Merciful, who does not abandon those who are His. A linguistic commentary puts the pairing precisely. Might is what makes reliance sound. Mercy is what invites it. He is able to carry the matter, and His mercy reaches it.

This is where the ego has to shrink. Much of our anxiety is pride in disguise. We lean on ourselves because we like to think we are the strong one. We keep everything in our own hands because handing it over feels humbling. But we are neither mighty nor fully merciful, even to ourselves. The ayah strips away the pretence: there is exactly one in whom both names are complete.

The order matters too. The Mighty comes first, one commentary suggests, because that suits a man under pressure from his people. Before you hear that He is gentle, you hear that He cannot be beaten. Then the gentleness can be trusted.

So reliance is not a mood. It is a conclusion. Find the One who is both able and caring, and put your weight there.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.