Ghafir · Makki · ayah 25 of 85

Ghafir 40:25

فَلَمَّا جَآءَهُم بِٱلْحَقِّ مِنْ عِندِنَا قَالُوا۟ ٱقْتُلُوٓا۟ أَبْنَآءَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مَعَهُۥ وَٱسْتَحْيُوا۟ نِسَآءَهُمْ ۚ وَمَا كَيْدُ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ إِلَّا فِى ضَلَـٰلٍ

“And when he brought them the truth from Us, they said, "Kill the sons of those who have believed with him and keep their women alive." But the plan of the disbelievers is not except in error.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Faced with the truth, Pharaoh's court reached again for its oldest cruelty, and before the threat is even finished, Allah declares the plot already lost.

A reflection

The verdict arrives before the threat ends

Look at where the last sentence of this ayah sits. Pharaoh's court has just issued its order: kill the sons of those who believe with him, and keep their women alive. The next ayah will continue with Pharaoh's threats (40:26). In between, before the story has even moved on, Allah inserts a single line. Wa-mā kaydu al-kāfirīna illā fī ḍalāl: the plot of the disbelievers is only lost.

One commentary notices the placement. It is an interjection, rushed into the middle of their boasting, to show at once that all their thunder and lightning comes to nothing.

The two key words have vivid roots. Kayd, a plot, was first said of a flint struck slowly and hard to force out a spark: strenuous effort. Ḍalāl, loss, pictures milk poured into water, swallowed up so that it can never be found again. Another commentary says it is like a stray animal, wandered off and gone.

So the plot is great effort, and it vanishes like milk in water.

Picture a small charity that receives a threatening letter from a large company's lawyers. It is long, aggressive, full of numbers. The volunteers read it in silence. That night, one of them reads this ayah. The letter has not changed. But she now sees it from the other side: a great deal of effort, already lost.

If you are facing a plan made against you, bring it to Allah. Tell Him what they are doing and ask Him to turn it aside. The ayah does not promise that a plot will not be made. It promises where it ends.

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.