As-Saffat · Makki · ayah 126 of 182

As-Saffat 37:126

ٱللَّهَ رَبَّكُمْ وَرَبَّ ءَابَآئِكُمُ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ

“Allāh, your Lord and the Lord of your first forefathers?"”

Saheeh International

Essence

The Best of Creators is named: Allah, your Lord, and the Lord of the very forefathers you appeal to.

A reflection

Lord of the ancestors you boast of

Ilyas does not stop at your Lord. He adds: and the Lord of your forefathers of old. A linguistic commentary explains why. Mentioning His lordship over their ancestors strengthens the rebuke for leaving Him. It also signals that the ancestors' own views, where they strayed, were false too.

Peoples are proud of their forefathers. Lineage is one of the oldest sources of ego: we come from them, this is how our fathers did it. The ayah does not deny the ancestors. It places them under a Lord. Every great-grandfather a people boasts of was himself created, provided for and owned by Allah. A narration-based commentary puts it plainly: your Lord who created you, and the Lord of your forefathers before you, not an idol that creates nothing.

That shrinks a particular kind of pride. Pride in family, tribe or nation stands on ancestors. But they stood on Him.

Allah does not need to remind anyone of this for His own sake. He needs no recognition from their fathers or from them. He says it because ancestor-pride was the very thing keeping them from Him.

The full entry has 2 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.