Sad · Makki · ayah 37 of 88

Sad 38:37

وَٱلشَّيَـٰطِينَ كُلَّ بَنَّآءٍ وَغَوَّاصٍ

“And [also] the devils [of jinn] - every builder and diver”

Saheeh International

Essence

The rebels of the jinn, the far ones, were set to build and dive for Allah's prophet: nothing in creation stands outside His command.

A reflection

He does not need us to build His houses

Wa al-shayāṭīn: and the devils. The ayah continues the sentence begun before it. We subjected to him the wind, and the devils. The commentators say it plainly. Allah gave Sulayman power over them, and he set them to whatever work he wished.

Pause on who these workers were. Shayāṭīn comes from a root of distance: the far ones, far from the truth and from Allah's mercy. They were of the very kind that refused to bow. And another ayah lists what some of them built: places of worship, statues, basins like reservoirs, and cooking pots fixed in place (34:13).

So rebels built places of prayer. Beings who would have stopped worship if they could were made to raise its walls.

That is a majesty which leaves no room for the ego. We sometimes behave as if Allah's work on earth leans on us. A man has sat on his mosque's building committee for eleven years. When the others vote for a different roofer, he resigns, sure the new roof will never happen without him. It is finished by spring, by a crew he never met. At the opening he stands at the back, and something in him goes quiet.

Allah does not need us to build His houses. Had He wished, those who hate Him could have built them. When He lets us carry a brick, it is an honour to us, not a help to Him. He is the Rich, free of all need (35:15).

Someone may object that this is a powerful deity displaying His trophies. But a boast needs an audience whose opinion matters to the boaster. Nothing we think adds anything to Him. The display is for us. It shows that even what opposes Him ends up serving His plan.

So when opposition looks unstoppable, remember the far ones carrying stone for a prophet's place of prayer. And when you are tempted to think the work depends on you, remember them too.

The full entry has 4 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.