Ghafir · Makki · ayah 45 of 85

Ghafir 40:45

فَوَقَىٰهُ ٱللَّهُ سَيِّـَٔاتِ مَا مَكَرُوا۟ ۖ وَحَاقَ بِـَٔالِ فِرْعَوْنَ سُوٓءُ ٱلْعَذَابِ

“So Allāh protected him from the evils they plotted, and the people of Pharaoh were enveloped by the worst of punishment -”

Saheeh International

Essence

The man who handed his affair to Allah was shielded from every plot, while the trap Pharaoh's people had set closed round them instead.

A reflection

So Allah shielded him

The ayah begins with a small letter that carries a great deal: fa. So. Fa-waqāhu Allāh: so Allah shielded him.

It follows directly from the last thing the believer said. I hand over my affair to Allah (40:44). So Allah shielded him. The handing over came first. The shielding followed.

One commentary makes the link explicit. They searched for him and could not find him, it says, because he had entrusted his affair to Allah. An early commentary adds that Allah repelled harm from him because of his faith and his belief in Musa. It was the harm Pharaoh used to inflict on anyone who opposed him.

The root of waqā, w-q-y, has a clear picture. A shield raised between you and the blow. Not the absence of danger, but something set between you and it.

That is exactly what happened. The danger was real. They plotted; one explanation says they meant to kill him. The blow was coming. Allah placed something between him and it.

A small boy runs into the road after a ball. His father, a step behind, throws out an arm and pulls him back as a van goes past. The boy did not even see the van. He only felt the arm.

Most of the shielding in our lives is like that. We never see the blow that did not land. The believer at least knew he had been shielded. Most of us will only learn on the Day how many times an arm went out in front of us.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.