Ash-Shuraa · Makki · ayah 34 of 53

Ash-Shuraa 42:34

أَوْ يُوبِقْهُنَّ بِمَا كَسَبُوا۟ وَيَعْفُ عَن كَثِيرٍ

“Or He could destroy them[1424] for what they earned; but He pardons much.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The wind that carries ships could wreck them for what their passengers earned, yet most voyages arrive, because He pardons much.

A reflection

We have taken the risk out of the sea

A marine software firm runs an advertising campaign. Its weather-routing system, the slogan says, has taken the risk out of the sea. The posters go up in every port. That winter a storm forms faster than any model predicted, and three ships on the system's routes are badly damaged.

The previous ayah showed one danger: the wind stilled, and the ships stuck. This ayah shows the other. Aw yūbiqhunna: or He wrecks them. The commentators explain that He may instead send the wind as a storm, and drown the ships.

Two commentators set out the full picture. If He wills, He tests sea travellers with one of two trials. Either He stills the wind and the ships stand motionless, or He sends it raging and they sink. The safe crossing is the third state, which the ayah before took for granted: the wind blowing just enough.

Human pride loves the word risk-free. It is how we tell ourselves that the world has been tamed by our skill. The ayah does not mock skill. It simply refuses the slogan. Every crossing still happens inside a wind we do not command.

A sceptic may object that this is a ruler threatening his subjects. But the ayah ends by saying He pardons much. A tyrant destroys at every opportunity. This ayah describes a power that could wreck any voyage, and lets most of them arrive.

The software firm quietly withdraws the slogan. Its product is still good, and its engineers still proud of it. But the posters now say something more modest, and more honest. The sea is safer with good planning. It is never ours.

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.