An-Naml · Makki · ayah 10 of 93

An-Naml 27:10

وَأَلْقِ عَصَاكَ ۚ فَلَمَّا رَءَاهَا تَهْتَزُّ كَأَنَّهَا جَآنٌّ وَلَّىٰ مُدْبِرًا وَلَمْ يُعَقِّبْ ۚ يَـٰمُوسَىٰ لَا تَخَفْ إِنِّى لَا يَخَافُ لَدَىَّ ٱلْمُرْسَلُونَ

“And [he was told], "Throw down your staff." But when he saw it writhing as if it were a snake, he turned in flight and did not return.[1072] [Allāh said], "O Moses, fear not. Indeed, in My presence the messengers do not fear.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Musa fled from his staff turned serpent without looking back, until Allah told him: in My presence the messengers do not fear.

A reflection

Two fears, and only one survives His presence

An apprentice electrician kneels at an open distribution board in an old school. The cables in front of him once carried enough current to kill. His hands are steady. Behind him stands the master electrician who isolated the circuit an hour ago. The padlock on the main switch is his, and the only key is in his pocket.

The apprentice is not brave by nature. He is calm because of who is standing behind him.

Allah gives Musa the reason not to fear in one phrase: innī lā yakhāfu ladayya al-mursalūn, in My presence the messengers do not fear. The word ladayya means with Me, near Me, before Me. One commentator explains it as the nearness of the moment of revelation. The fear of a snake finds no room there, because the messenger is wholly taken up with receiving the command.

Yet the same commentator adds a careful note. At every other time, the messengers are the most fearful of Allah among people. The Prophet ﷺ said so of himself, in a hadith recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim. By Allah, I am the most mindful of Allah among you, and the one who fears Him most.

So two fears meet in this ayah, and only one survives. The fear of creatures, a snake, a king, a crowd, shrinks in His presence. The fear of Allah grows there, and it is a different kind of fear. It does not freeze a person. It steadies him, like the apprentice glancing back at the one who holds the key.

Most of us carry these two the other way round. We fear people's verdicts, our bank balance, the next phone call. Meanwhile we keep Allah at a comfortable distance. The ayah reverses the order. Draw near to Him, and the other fears lose their grip.

Ask yourself which fear is largest in you today. Then ask whether it would still be that size if you stood, in your heart, in His presence.

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.