As-Saffat · Makki · ayah 178 of 182

As-Saffat 37:178

وَتَوَلَّ عَنْهُمْ حَتَّىٰ حِينٍ

“And leave them for a time.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The command comes a second time, word for word, because a burdened heart sometimes needs to hear 'turn from them for a while' twice.

A reflection

Comfort said twice

Four ayat earlier, the Prophet ﷺ was told exactly this: turn away from them for a while (37:174). Now it comes again. Why repeat it?

One commentator answers: to be consolation upon consolation, and to confirm the promise upon confirmation. Another says the same: a comfort for the Messenger of Allah after a comfort. A third simply calls it repetition for emphasis.

Picture a man lying on a hospital trolley before an operation. He is frightened and trying not to show it. The nurse checks his wristband and says: 'I'll be here when you wake up.' He nods. A minute later, as the porter arrives, she squeezes his hand and says it again. 'I'll be right here.' He knew it the first time. But the second time is what lets him close his eyes.

Repetition is not always for information. Sometimes it is for the heart. A burdened person often needs to hear the same reassurance more than once before it reaches all the way down.

Allah, who knows the heart of His Messenger better than any nurse knows her patient, repeats the reassurance. That repetition is itself a kind of tenderness.

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.