Az-Zukhruf · Makki · ayah 36 of 89

Az-Zukhruf 43:36

وَمَن يَعْشُ عَن ذِكْرِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ نُقَيِّضْ لَهُۥ شَيْطَـٰنًا فَهُوَ لَهُۥ قَرِينٌ

“And whoever is blinded from remembrance of the Most Merciful - We appoint for him a devil, and he is to him a companion.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Turn your weak eyes away from the Merciful's reminder, and the empty seat beside you is filled by a companion who never leaves.

A reflection

Towards the fire, or away from it

Yaʿshu comes from a world of dusk and failing light. The lexicons describe ʿashā: weak, dim sight, the eyes of someone travelling as night comes on. ʿIshāʾ, the evening prayer, takes its name from the same first darkness.

The Arabs used the verb with two different little words. A traveller would ʿashā ilā a fire. He saw it far off at nightfall, and made for it, guided by its dim light. Or he would ʿashā ʿan it. He turned his back on it.

The commentaries quote an old line of Arabic verse about a generous man. Whenever you come to him, it says, squinting through the dark towards his fire, you find the best fire and the best man tending it. In the desert, a fire at night meant a host. Food, warmth, safety.

The ayah uses the second preposition. ʿAn: away from. And the fire it names is dhikr al-raḥmān, the reminder of the Most Merciful. One commentary says the Quran is linked to that name to show it came down as a mercy to the worlds.

Notice what the ayah does not demand. It does not require perfect eyesight. Everyone travels at dusk. Everyone squints. The question is only the direction of the feet.

A man driving home late on a country road gets lost after a diversion. He sees one lit window on a farmhouse far across the fields. He could keep driving in circles to save his pride. He turns down the track instead.

You do not have to see everything clearly to turn towards the light. You only have to stop walking away from it.

The full entry has 7 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.