Ash-Shu'ara · Makki · ayah 84 of 227

Ash-Shu'ara 26:84

وَٱجْعَل لِّى لِسَانَ صِدْقٍ فِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرِينَ

“And grant me a mention [i.e., reputation] of honor among later generations.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Ibrahim asks for a true tongue among those who come after: deeds worth copying, and an account of him that is good and true.

A reflection

He left wealth off the list

Look at what Ibrahim asks for, and at what he leaves out. Judgement. A place among the righteous. A true name among later people. The Garden. Not once does he ask for wealth.

A classical theologian sorts the requests carefully. Some goods are inside a person: outward form and inner character. Ibrahim passed over outward form and asked for character, to be joined with the righteous. Other goods lie outside a person: wealth and standing. Of these, wealth is the more bodily and a good name the more lasting. Ibrahim left wealth aside and asked for the name that stays.

It is a striking choice from a man later remembered for setting a roasted calf before unexpected guests (51:26). He was not against money. He simply did not put it on the list of things worth asking his Lord for by name.

Picture a wake after the funeral of a man who ran an office supplies firm for forty years. His will is generous; the family will be comfortable. But nobody at the wake mentions the money. The talk keeps returning to something else. He learned the cleaners' names. He drove one of them to hospital at midnight. He never once raised his voice at the young ones on the phones.

What people carry out of a life is rarely the balance sheet. It is the way a person dealt with them. Sahih Muslim records the Prophet ﷺ teaching that when a person dies, his deeds stop except for three. Charity that keeps running, knowledge that keeps benefiting, and a righteous child who prays for him. None of the three is a bank balance as such. Each is money or effort already turned into good.

Ask yourself which of your assets will still be speaking for you when the accounts are closed. The ayah suggests that the wise put their prayers there.

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.