As-Saffat · Makki · ayah 12 of 182

As-Saffat 37:12

بَلْ عَجِبْتَ وَيَسْخَرُونَ

“But you wonder, while they mock,”

Saheeh International

Essence

Faced with the same signs, one heart marvels and others mock: three Arabic words hold both responses side by side.

A reflection

Marvelling while they laugh

Bal ʿajibta wa-yaskharūn: no, you marvel, while they mock. In the more common reading, the words are addressed to the Prophet ﷺ. An early commentator explained: Muhammad marvelled at this Quran when it was given to him, and the misguided mocked. Another commentator adds a detail that is easy to pass over. The Prophet ﷺ used to think that everyone who heard the Quran would believe in it. When the idolaters heard it and laughed, he was astonished.

That is a tender picture. He was not naive about people. But he had been given something so clearly true and beautiful that he could not imagine anyone hearing it and turning away. His wonder was the wonder of a man holding a treasure, puzzled that others call it rubbish.

Picture a young man who hears a recitation late one night that moves him to tears. He sends the clip to his friends' group chat with a short message: 'Listen to this'. The replies come back within a minute. Laughing faces. A joke about him going religious. He sits with his phone, more bewildered than hurt. How could they hear that and laugh?

The Quran acknowledges that bewilderment elsewhere. 'If you wonder, then truly wondrous is their saying' (13:5). It does not tell the Prophet ﷺ his wonder was foolish. It tells him the mockery is the strange thing, not his marvelling.

If you have ever been surprised that others do not feel what moves you, you are in good company. Do not let their laughter teach you to stop marvelling. Keep your wonder. It is the healthier of the two responses.

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.