Ghafir · Makki · ayah 15 of 85

Ghafir 40:15

رَفِيعُ ٱلدَّرَجَـٰتِ ذُو ٱلْعَرْشِ يُلْقِى ٱلرُّوحَ مِنْ أَمْرِهِۦ عَلَىٰ مَن يَشَآءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِۦ لِيُنذِرَ يَوْمَ ٱلتَّلَاقِ

“[He is] the Exalted above [all] degrees, Owner of the Throne; He places the inspiration of His command [i.e., revelation] upon whom He wills of His servants to warn of the Day of Meeting.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The One above every rank casts a living spirit of revelation onto chosen servants, so that people are warned of the Day everyone meets.

A reflection

Every step you stand on was raised by Him

Rafīʿ al-darajāt. The commentaries read it two ways, and both are true.

One reading: He is exalted in ranks, high above every created thing. One commentary explains it as the One whose standing nothing surpasses. The other reading: He is the Raiser of ranks. He raises the ranks of His prophets and friends in Paradise. One commentary widens it. He gives every angel its station, every scholar a degree (58:11), and sets people above one another in rank in this life (6:165).

The same commentary joins the two readings in one sentence. Every rank, virtue or mercy that anything other than Him possesses came into being by His making and His favour.

The word daraja is a step on a staircase. One lexicon calls it a rank reached by ascent. A child daraja when he took his first steps.

Now look at your own staircase. The degree on the wall, the title on the door, the respect in the room when you walk in. Each feels earned, step by step. And the effort was real. But the staircase was not yours. Every step was raised by someone else.

A woman is promoted. She moves into the corner office with the view. Within a year she speaks of 'my team' and 'my results' and has quite forgotten the director who took a chance on her. When the director retires, she does not attend the leaving drinks.

The ayah keeps us from that forgetting at the highest level. The One who raises ranks can lower them. Pride on a borrowed step is pride on nothing. The only fitting response to being raised is to bow lower.

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.