As-Saffat · Makki · ayah 94 of 182

As-Saffat 37:94

فَأَقْبَلُوٓا۟ إِلَيْهِ يَزِفُّونَ

“Then they [i.e., the people] came toward him, hastening.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The people come rushing back towards Ibrahim, hurrying like a startled flock, to defend gods that could not defend themselves.

A reflection

The ostrich's run and the bride's procession

Yaziffūn: they came hurrying. The first hearers had a sharp picture for this word. The lexicons say zafīf is the ostrich's first running, half stride and half flight, wings beating, short quick steps. One classical commentator calls it the beginning of the ostrich's sprint. This is an established image, and it is not dignified. A crowd of grown men, coming back from their festival, bustling towards one young man like startled birds.

The same root carried a second, happier picture. Zifāf is the escorting of a bride to her husband, with the quick, light steps of a joyful procession. One commentary even reports an early explanation of this ayah: the people walked with a swagger, as if in procession.

Picture a wedding convoy on a Saturday afternoon. Cars honk through the town, the bride's car garlanded at the front, everyone in a hurry and everyone glad. Now put the same speed and the same crowd behind a different feeling: fury, and the need to find someone to blame.

The word holds both, and that is its lesson. Haste is not good or bad in itself. What matters is what you are hurrying towards, and what is driving your feet. The people here are hurrying, and hurrying hard. Some commentators say they were trembling with anger. But they are hurrying to protect statues that could not even answer a question.

The Quran elsewhere tells believers to hurry too. Race to forgiveness from your Lord (3:133). Hasten to the remembrance of Allah (62:9). The legs are the same legs. The direction is everything.

So the next time you notice yourself rushing, in a temper, in a queue, or in a group chat, ask which procession you have joined. Is it a bride's, or an ostrich in a panic?

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.