As-Saffat · Makki · ayah 10 of 182

As-Saffat 37:10

إِلَّا مَنْ خَطِفَ ٱلْخَطْفَةَ فَأَتْبَعَهُۥ شِهَابٌ ثَاقِبٌ

“Except one who snatches [some words] by theft, but they are pursued by a burning flame, piercing [in brightness].”

Saheeh International

Essence

Only a devil who snatches a single word gets anything, and a piercing flame chases him down.

A reflection

Not for anyone's birth or death

A grandmother sits on a porch on a summer night with her grandson. A streak of light crosses the sky. 'Someone important has just died,' she says quietly. He asks how she knows. 'That's what a shooting star means. My mother told me.'

The Arabs before Islam said almost the same. A Companion of the Ansar reported a night spent sitting with the Prophet ﷺ. A star was thrown and lit up the sky. He asked what they used to say about this in the days of ignorance. They said: we used to say a great man was born tonight, or a great man died. He replied that it is not thrown for anyone's death or for anyone's life (Sahih Muslim). He then described the angels passing news of Allah's decree from heaven to heaven. The jinn snatch a hearing, and are pelted for it.

That correction matters. A whole folk belief tied the sky to the fortunes of the famous. The Prophet ﷺ cut that tie with one sentence. The stars do not announce the births of kings. The fiery streak in this ayah is a guard, not a herald.

So the first image many people have of this ayah is backwards. They think religion is the source of sky superstition. Here, revelation removed one. The meteor became, not an omen to read, but a reminder that Allah's word is protected.

Next time you see one, you need not make a wish or think of someone's death. You might think instead of the message that reached you whole, through a sky that was guarded so it could.

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.