An-Naml · Makki · ayah 59 of 93

An-Naml 27:59

قُلِ ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَسَلَـٰمٌ عَلَىٰ عِبَادِهِ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱصْطَفَىٰٓ ۗ ءَآللَّهُ خَيْرٌ أَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ

“Say, [O Muḥammad], "Praise be to Allāh, and peace upon His servants whom He has chosen. Is Allāh better or what they associate with Him?"”

Saheeh International

Essence

After the last ruined town falls silent, the Prophet is handed words of praise and peace, and one question that leaves nothing standing beside Allah.

A reflection

He asks for a verdict He does not need

At a primary school chess club, a visiting grandmaster sits opposite a seven-year-old. Midway through the game he pauses and asks her, quite seriously, which move she would play. She points at a knight. He considers it, nods, and asks why.

Nobody in the room thinks the game now depends on her answer. He asked so that she would look at the board. The question was for her.

'Is Allah better, or what they associate with Him?' On the surface it sets two things side by side, as if weighing them. The commentaries say plainly that there was no trace of good in the idols, nothing that could be placed on the scale opposite Him. One linguistic commentary calls the question a rebuke wrapped in gentle mockery. It was asked to make the hearers say the answer out loud.

So the Lord of the heavens lowers the conversation to the level of His listeners. He asks for their verdict. Their verdict adds nothing to Him and removes nothing from Him. It only reveals them.

That is where the ego has to sit down. We are used to being consulted, rating things, ranking options, voting with our attention. Faced with this question, we are not the judges. We are the ones being shown the board.

Notice also how the ayah begins: al-ḥamdu lillāh. Praise already belongs to Allah before anyone answers. The question at the end does not open a contest. It invites the listener to agree with what was settled in the first two words. The humble answer is not a clever one. It is simply the true one: Allah is better, and nothing stands beside Him.

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.