Ya-Sin · Makki · ayah 58 of 83

Ya-Sin 36:58

سَلَـٰمٌ قَوْلًا مِّن رَّبٍّ رَّحِيمٍ

“[And] "Peace," a word from a Merciful Lord.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The greeting goes the wrong way round: the Owner of everything speaks the first word of peace to the ones He owns.

A reflection

Look, his master is greeting him

In every human order, greetings travel upwards. The junior speaks first. The guest bows to the host, the soldier salutes the officer, the subject approaches the throne. Who greets whom is how status is read.

The Companions carried that instinct into prayer. Sahih al-Bukhari records that they used to say, at the sitting, peace be upon Allah from His servants. The Prophet ﷺ stopped them. Do not say peace be upon Allah, he told them, for Allah is Himself al-Salām, Peace. You cannot wish safety on the source of safety. Then he taught them the words of the tashahhud instead.

Now read this ayah. Peace, a word from a Merciful Lord. The greeting comes down, not up. The commentaries read it plainly: their Lord says to them, peace be upon you. One of them calls it the greeting above which there is no greeting.

Another commentator explains why the word Lord is chosen. The rabb of a thing is its owner. Given the height of an owner's rank, no one expects him to turn to what he owns and honour it. So when he does greet it, people are astonished. Look, they say, he is his master, and he greets him.

Hold that whisper of astonishment, because it is the image of this ayah. It is also the cure for a particular kind of pride. Most of us keep a quiet ledger of who ought to greet whom. We notice when a junior fails to say good morning. We wait for the other person to text first after a quarrel. The One who owes no one anything greets first, with peace. Any arrogance that survives reading that has not understood it.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.