Al-Qasas · Makki · ayah 22 of 88

Al-Qasas 28:22

وَلَمَّا تَوَجَّهَ تِلْقَآءَ مَدْيَنَ قَالَ عَسَىٰ رَبِّىٓ أَن يَهْدِيَنِى سَوَآءَ ٱلسَّبِيلِ

“And when he directed himself toward Madyan, he said, "Perhaps my Lord will guide me to the sound way."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Turning towards Madyan with nothing and no map, Musa voices a herdsman's hope: perhaps my Lord will guide me to the level road.

A reflection

'Perhaps', the way a herdsman feeds a dry camel

ʿAsā: perhaps. In English the word sounds weak, almost a shrug. In the language Musa spoke, it has a working animal behind it.

Two lexicons name the muʿsiya: a she-camel whose milk has dried up, kept in the herd because her owner hopes the milk will return. He goes on feeding her. He does not know the milk will come back. He acts as though it might. The same root is used for a stick gone stiff and a night grown dense: hope that lives among hard things.

So this 'perhaps' is not idle wishing. It is the herdsman's perhaps, the kind that keeps feeding.

Picture a beekeeper in late autumn. One of her hives is weak; the colony is small and the stores are thin. A neighbour tells her to give up on it. Instead she props a feeder of sugar syrup on top and checks it every week through the winter. She has no guarantee. In April, on the first warm morning, bees pour out of the entrance.

Musa's situation was the empty udder. No food, no mount, no shoes, no knowledge of the road, a death sentence behind him. Everything visible said: dry. And he said ʿasā. Not 'I am sure', which would have claimed knowledge he did not have. Not 'it is hopeless', which would have denied the One he was speaking to. Perhaps, with his eyes on his Lord.

The same pattern of words appears elsewhere. In Surah al-Kahf the Prophet ﷺ is taught a similar sentence. Perhaps my Lord will guide me to what is nearer to right than this (18:24). It is the believer's grammar for an open future.

When the honest answer is 'I don't know', you are allowed to say perhaps. Just say it towards Him, and keep feeding the hope.

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.