As-Saffat · Makki · ayah 168 of 182

As-Saffat 37:168

لَوْ أَنَّ عِندَنَا ذِكْرًا مِّنَ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ

“"If we had a message from [those of] the former peoples,”

Saheeh International

Essence

'If only we had a reminder like the earlier peoples', the Makkans said; the reminder came, and their 'if only' was answered in full.

A reflection

The door that 'if only' opens

The ayah begins with law, 'if only'. It is one of the smallest words in Arabic and one of the most dangerous.

Sahih Muslim reports a long piece of advice from the Prophet ﷺ. 'The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak believer, and in each there is good. Be keen on what benefits you, seek Allah's help and do not give up. If something befalls you, do not say: if only I had done such-and-such, it would have been so. Say instead: Allah decreed, and He did what He willed. For law, if only, opens the door to the work of Satan.'

The hadith is about looking back on a misfortune. The Makkans' law looks forward, as a wish and an excuse. But the two share a structure. Both live in a world that is not the real one. Both replace action with imagination.

Picture a woman on her morning commute. The train is crowded, the window steamed. And she is doing what she does most mornings: replaying the job offer she turned down six years ago. If only I had taken it. I would be living by the sea. I would not be on this train. The replay is detailed and bitter. By the time she reaches her stop she is tired, and the working day has not begun.

That is the door the Prophet ﷺ warned about. It opens onto a corridor of rooms that do not exist, and the heart wanders there while the real day waits.

The Makkans lived in one such room. If only we had a scripture. Then the scripture came, and the room was demolished. They could either walk into the real world, where the reminder stood in front of them, or invent a new room.

The prophetic alternative is practical. Name what is real. Seek Allah's help with it. Do the next useful thing. Close the door and stand in the day you have.

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.