Al-'Ankabut · Makki · ayah 40 of 69

Al-'Ankabut 29:40

فَكُلًّا أَخَذْنَا بِذَنۢبِهِۦ ۖ فَمِنْهُم مَّنْ أَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِ حَاصِبًا وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ أَخَذَتْهُ ٱلصَّيْحَةُ وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ خَسَفْنَا بِهِ ٱلْأَرْضَ وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ أَغْرَقْنَا ۚ وَمَا كَانَ ٱللَّهُ لِيَظْلِمَهُمْ وَلَـٰكِن كَانُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ

“So each We seized for his sin; and among them were those upon whom We sent a storm of stones, and among them were those who were seized by the blast [from the sky], and among them were those whom We caused the earth to swallow, and among them were those whom We drowned. And Allāh would not have wronged them, but it was they who were wronging themselves.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Four endings, one verdict: Allah wronged none of them, because each had long been wronging himself.

A reflection

Stones, a shout, the ground, the sea

Listen to the verbs. We sent a storm of stones. We caused the earth to swallow. We drowned. Each ending is claimed in the first person. Nothing here is weather, accident or bad luck.

One verb breaks the pattern. The Shout seized him. One classical commentator explains why. The ayah does not say 'We seized him with the Shout', so that no one imagines Allah Himself as the one shouting. Even in a list of judgements, the wording guards His majesty.

And the sentence opens with kullan: each one, placed first for weight. Not most of them. Each.

Think who these were. One early commentary names the people of ʿĀd here, who said who is mightier than us in strength? (41:15). A wind came, carrying the gravel of the ground. Qārūn walked in pride across the earth, and the earth closed over him. Pharaoh boasted of the rivers flowing beneath him (43:51), and drowned.

Picture a glossy brochure for a new seafront tower. Every page promises it will stand any storm the century can send. It may well be good engineering. But notice the tone of the promise. It is the tone of ʿĀd.

This ayah is written to puncture that tone wherever it lives, including in us. Our ego quietly assumes the ground will hold, the water will stay where it is, the air will carry only sound. Each of those is a servant, not a given. The One who holds them back is the One who could release them.

He does not need to prove His power to anyone. He is free of all need (35:15). The list is not a boast. It is a mercy to the living, who can still learn from the dead.

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.