Saba · Makki · ayah 33 of 54

Saba 34:33

وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱسْتُضْعِفُوا۟ لِلَّذِينَ ٱسْتَكْبَرُوا۟ بَلْ مَكْرُ ٱلَّيْلِ وَٱلنَّهَارِ إِذْ تَأْمُرُونَنَآ أَن نَّكْفُرَ بِٱللَّهِ وَنَجْعَلَ لَهُۥٓ أَندَادًا ۚ وَأَسَرُّوا۟ ٱلنَّدَامَةَ لَمَّا رَأَوُا۟ ٱلْعَذَابَ وَجَعَلْنَا ٱلْأَغْلَـٰلَ فِىٓ أَعْنَاقِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ ۚ هَلْ يُجْزَوْنَ إِلَّا مَا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ

“Those who were oppressed will say to those who were arrogant, "Rather, [it was your] conspiracy of night and day when you were ordering us to disbelieve in Allāh and attribute to Him equals." But they will [all] confide regret when they see the punishment; and We will put shackles on the necks of those who disbelieved. Will they be recompensed except for what they used to do?”

Saheeh International

Essence

The followers blame their leaders' relentless scheming; both sides swallow their regret on seeing the punishment, and each is repaid only for what it did.

A reflection

A channel that never goes off air

At three in the morning a shopping channel is still selling. The presenter's smile has not dropped since midnight. A countdown clock runs in the corner. Only twelve left. Somewhere a man who cannot sleep picks up his phone. He did not want a steam mop at ten o'clock. By ten past three, he does.

The followers' reply to their leaders uses an unusual phrase. Bal makru al-layli wa-l-nahār: no, it was the scheming of night and day. The commentators explain the idiom. Arabic sometimes gives a deed to the time in which it happens. 'Your day is fasting and your night is praying', people say, meaning the person. So the night and the day are pictured as scheming, because the scheming filled them both.

One commentator records another reading that sharpens the point. In it the word suggests a scheme repeated over and over: you kept up the luring and never tired of it. One concise modern commentary renders it: your plotting of evil against us, night and day.

The followers are describing persuasion without a pause. Not one argument, but a climate. It came in the evening gatherings and in the morning markets. It never gave them a quiet hour to think.

Our age has built that climate into the devices in our pockets. Feeds refresh while we sleep. Offers wait for us at dawn. Opinions arrive before we have formed our own. The scheme does not need to be clever if it is constant.

The Quran's answer is not panic. It is a counter-rhythm. Believers are described as remembering Allah standing, sitting and lying on their sides (3:191). Morning and evening, the remembrance of Allah is a voice that also never goes off air.

Before you sleep tonight, and before you check anything tomorrow, give the first and last minute of your day to Allah's words.

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.