Al-'Ankabut · Makki · ayah 17 of 69

Al-'Ankabut 29:17

إِنَّمَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ أَوْثَـٰنًا وَتَخْلُقُونَ إِفْكًا ۚ إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ لَا يَمْلِكُونَ لَكُمْ رِزْقًا فَٱبْتَغُوا۟ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرِّزْقَ وَٱعْبُدُوهُ وَٱشْكُرُوا۟ لَهُۥٓ ۖ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ

“You only worship, besides Allāh, idols, and you produce a falsehood. Indeed, those you worship besides Allāh do not possess for you [the power of] provision. So seek from Allāh provision and worship Him and be grateful to Him. To Him you will be returned."”

Saheeh International

Essence

What people worship beside Allah is their own handiwork and owns nothing; all provision is with Him, so seek, serve and thank Him.

A reflection

Not a crumb with them, the whole table with Him

Look closely at one word that appears twice. The first time it is bare: rizqan, some provision, any provision at all. The second time it carries the article: al-rizq, the provision.

One classical linguist explains the switch. The bare word, under a negation, empties the idols completely: they own not a crumb for you. The definite word, in the command, gathers everything: seek all of it with Allah. The grammar does what a hand does when it sweeps one table clear and points to another, fully laid.

The word order adds weight. With Allah comes before the provision. One commentator compares it to You alone we worship (1:5). Fronting the phrase narrows the door to one.

Now bring it close. Picture a sales manager who has just closed the biggest contract of his career. In the car park he rings his wife and says, 'I've made our year.' He means it lovingly. Yet the sentence carries a quiet pride. Who gave him the mind that saw the deal? Who kept the client's company solvent, and his own heart beating through the meeting?

This ayah does not belittle his work. Seeking is commanded: ibtaghū, go looking. It strips away only the ego's claim of ownership. The idol-makers of Ibrahim's city thought their stone gods kept the harvest coming. A modern person may think the same of a salary, a client, an algorithm. Both have mistaken a channel for a source.

There is relief in being small here. If provision were truly in his hands, every lost contract would be a catastrophe he had caused. Because it is with Allah, he can work hard and sleep at night. The vanity of 'I made our year' was always a heavy thing to carry.

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.