Al-Qasas · Makki · ayah 21 of 88

Al-Qasas 28:21

فَخَرَجَ مِنْهَا خَآئِفًا يَتَرَقَّبُ ۖ قَالَ رَبِّ نَجِّنِى مِنَ ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ

“So he left it, fearful and anticipating [apprehension]. He said, "My Lord, save me from the wrongdoing people."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Musa walks out of the city afraid, looking over his shoulder, and turns his fear into a prayer: my Lord, save me from the wrongdoers.

A reflection

Asked on the road, answered at a stranger's table

Hold this ayah in one hand and 28:25 in the other.

Here, Musa leaves the city khāʾifan, afraid. He prays: rabbi najjinī mina al-qawmi al-ẓālimīn, my Lord, save me from the wrongdoing people.

Four ayat later he sits in an old man's house in Madyan and tells him the whole story. The old man answers: lā takhaf, najawta mina al-qawmi al-ẓālimīn. Do not fear; you have been saved from the wrongdoing people.

Read them side by side. 'Afraid' is answered by 'do not fear'. 'Save me' is answered by 'you have been saved'. And 'from the wrongdoing people' comes back word for word. The prayer said on the road is returned almost letter for letter, in the mouth of a stranger, at the end of the journey.

Notice what lay between the asking and the answer. A road he did not know. Days of walking. A well crowded with shepherds, two women held back from the water, a drink drawn for their flock, a patch of shade. Nothing on that list looked like an answered prayer while he was living it. It looked like exhaustion and chance.

This is one of the quiet ways the Quran teaches du'a. You ask in your own words, in your own fear, and then you keep walking. The answer may come in the very vocabulary you used, so that you cannot miss whose answer it is. But it comes at a place you could not see from where you prayed.

If you have a du'a you have been carrying for a long time, keep the words. Keep walking. One day someone may say them back to you, and you will recognise them.

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.