Luqman · Makki · ayah 22 of 34

Luqman 31:22

۞ وَمَن يُسْلِمْ وَجْهَهُۥٓ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَهُوَ مُحْسِنٌ فَقَدِ ٱسْتَمْسَكَ بِٱلْعُرْوَةِ ٱلْوُثْقَىٰ ۗ وَإِلَى ٱللَّهِ عَـٰقِبَةُ ٱلْأُمُورِ

“And whoever submits his face [i.e., self] to Allāh while he is a doer of good - then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold. And to Allāh will be the outcome of [all] matters.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Hand your whole self to Allah, work beautifully, and you grip the one rope that cannot snap, held by the One all outcomes reach.

A reflection

Every outcome walks at His heel

A hot-air balloon pilot has flown for twenty years. At the pub he talks about his landings: the barley field, the cricket pitch, the near miss with the pylons. A child at the next table asks how he steers. He laughs. He doesn't. He can only go up or down. The wind decides where he comes to earth.

The ayah ends with a sentence every pilot of anything should hear. Wa ilā Allāhi ʿāqibatu al-umūr: and to Allah is the outcome of all matters. ʿĀqiba comes from ʿaqib, the heel. It is whatever walks at the heel of something else: the night behind the day, the end behind the deed. Every matter you start has an outcome following it, and that outcome is walking towards Him.

One commentary points to the word order. Ilā Allāh comes first, which in Arabic narrows it: to Allah, and to no one else. Nobody else has any say in how matters end. It was said against those who imagined their idols had charge of some affairs. It still answers anyone who imagines he has charge of his own.

That is humbling for the ego, which loves to own results. When things go well, we tell the story of our planning. When they go badly, we look for whose fault it was. The ayah is quieter. You own your effort. The landing is His.

Someone may ask: why must every outcome belong to Him? Is that not a need for control? Look at where the sentence sits. It comes straight after the promise of a handhold that never breaks. It is said to comfort the one who has just let go of the controls. Tell a frightened passenger the pilot is drunk, and every promise means nothing. Tell him the One at the end is wise and just, and he can sit back. He holds the outcomes so that nothing entrusted to Him is lost. Elsewhere He says: I will not let the work of any worker among you be lost (3:195).

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.