An-Naml · Makki · ayah 47 of 93

An-Naml 27:47

قَالُوا۟ ٱطَّيَّرْنَا بِكَ وَبِمَن مَّعَكَ ۚ قَالَ طَـٰٓئِرُكُمْ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ۖ بَلْ أَنتُمْ قَوْمٌ تُفْتَنُونَ

“They said, "We consider you a bad omen, you and those with you." He said, "Your omen [i.e., fate] is with Allāh. Rather, you are a people being tested."[1079]”

Saheeh International

Essence

Thamud blamed Salih for their hardship; he replied that their lot is with Allah, and that they were the ones being tested.

A reflection

The traffic lights are not about you

A man drives to an important meeting. The first light turns red as he reaches it. So does the second, and the third. By the fourth he is muttering that everything is against him today. Fourteen other drivers sit at the same lights. None of them is in his story.

There is a hidden vanity in reading omens. It assumes the world is arranged around me. The bird crossed the road for my journey. The broken mirror spoke about my year. The newcomer arrived to bring trouble on my house. Superstition looks humble, even fearful. Underneath, it is a kind of ego: the universe keeps sending me personal messages.

Salih answers with four words that shrink that self back to its size. Ṭāʾirukum ʿinda Allāh: your lot is with Allah. It is not written in the flight of birds. It is not carried in on the face of a prophet. It is not even in your hands to read. It is held with Him.

The same small word, ʿinda, with, appears elsewhere for what only Allah holds. With Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them but He (6:59). And later in this very surah: none in the heavens and the earth knows the unseen except Allah (27:65). The omen-reader is quietly claiming a corner of that knowledge. Salih hands it back to its Owner.

A fair question follows. Why must Allah insist that everything rests with Him? Is that not a need to be acknowledged? But look at what the claim does for the listener. He gains nothing from it; He is the Self-Sufficient. The person who believes it gains a great deal. If my lot is with the All-Merciful, it is not at the mercy of crows, numbers or a neighbour's bad look.

The driver at the fourth red light is not being punished. He is simply one of fifteen people waiting. That humbling is also a relief. The world is not watching me. Allah is, and He is kinder than the world.

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.