Al-Qasas · Makki · ayah 55 of 88

Al-Qasas 28:55

وَإِذَا سَمِعُوا۟ ٱللَّغْوَ أَعْرَضُوا۟ عَنْهُ وَقَالُوا۟ لَنَآ أَعْمَـٰلُنَا وَلَكُمْ أَعْمَـٰلُكُمْ سَلَـٰمٌ عَلَيْكُمْ لَا نَبْتَغِى ٱلْجَـٰهِلِينَ

“And when they hear ill speech, they turn away from it and say, "For us are our deeds, and for you are your deeds. Peace will be upon you;[1112] we seek not the ignorant."”

Saheeh International

Essence

When empty or hurtful talk reaches them, they turn aside, part with a word of peace, and refuse to go looking for the ignorant.

A reflection

The calves that did not count towards the hundred

The key word here is al-laghw. Its root picture comes from the old law of compensation. When blood money was paid in camels, the young calves did not count towards the hundred. They were laghw, left out of the reckoning. The lexicons also use the word for birds chattering before dawn. Both images are established.

So laghw is not only filthy speech. It is speech that weighs nothing. It may be loud, clever or cruel. On the scales that matter, it simply does not count.

The commentaries name what this laghw was for these believers. One early view says it was abuse and insults from the idolaters. Another says it was falsehood in general. A third says it was what had been written into their old scripture that was not from Allah. Each is a different kind of talk that does not count.

A journalist publishes a long piece and makes the mistake of reading all four hundred comments. By midnight she has absorbed every insult, every misreading, every joke about her photograph. Three comments raised a real point. She can no longer remember which three.

That is what happens when laghw is let into the count. It does not merely waste time. It crowds out the few words that mattered, and sets the mood for the rest of the night.

The believers in this ayah did something simple. They heard it, and they did not count it. Aʿraḍū ʿanhu: they turned aside from it.

Before you open the comments, the replies or the forwarded voice note, ask a herder's question. Will this count towards the hundred? If not, it is a calf. Let it wander past.

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.