As-Saffat · Makki · ayah 9 of 182

As-Saffat 37:9

دُحُورًا ۖ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ وَاصِبٌ

“Repelled; and for them is a constant punishment,”

Saheeh International

Essence

The devils who climb to eavesdrop are driven off in disgrace, and a lasting punishment waits for them beyond it.

A reflection

Pride ends at the door

Duḥūr is not a polite dismissal. The lexicons say the root has one meaning: driving away and putting far off. It is a push, rough and humiliating, out of the door and away. One early grammarian called it the utmost of smallness and disgrace.

The word has a history in the Quran. Iblīs refused to bow to Ādam, saying he was better. He was told: 'Get out of it, disgraced and driven off', madʾūman madḥūrā (7:18). The devils in this ayah carry their father's sentence. They try to climb where they were not invited, and they are pushed back down the same way.

Think of a guest at a family wedding who finds his place card at a table near the back. He is an uncle, after all. He makes a scene, refuses to sit, and walks out before the food is served. At ten that night he is eating a sandwich alone at a motorway service station. Nobody threw him out. His pride did.

That is the pattern the Quran keeps showing. Arrogance wants the higher seat, and ends outside the room altogether. The one who refused to bow was the one driven off. The devils who would not keep their place are pelted from every side.

The opposite is also true, as the opening ayat showed. The angels who stand in their rows, content with their known station, are the ones brought near. Humility is not a smaller seat. It is the only seat inside.

Next time you feel the pull to insist on your due, remember where insisting led. Sit down where you are placed. Being inside the room matters more than which table.

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.