Ad-Dukhan · Makki · ayah 20 of 59

Ad-Dukhan 44:20

وَإِنِّى عُذْتُ بِرَبِّى وَرَبِّكُمْ أَن تَرْجُمُونِ

“And indeed, I have sought refuge in my Lord and your Lord, lest you stone me.[1462]”

Saheeh International

Essence

Facing threats of stones and slander, Musa says he has already taken shelter with the Lord who is his Lord and theirs too.

A reflection

My Lord, and yours

Musa stands in the court of a man who has proclaimed himself lord of Egypt. And in two words he quietly dismantles the claim: rabbī wa-rabbikum, my Lord and your Lord.

He does not shout that Pharaoh is a fraud. He simply names, as plain fact, who the Lord of everyone in the room is. One commentator renders it: I seek refuge with Allah, who created me and created you.

Picture a newly hired engineer in a small manufacturing company. The founder is a domineering man who treats every rule as his to bend. One day he orders a safety check skipped to meet a deadline. The engineer says calmly: 'We both answer to the same safety regulator. I can't sign this, and neither should you.' The founder is not used to being placed under anyone. The sentence does it without an insult.

That is the shape of Musa's words. Pharaoh is not attacked. He is located. He, too, has a Lord. He, too, is a servant.

This is humbling for anyone with authority, not only for kings. Pride grows when a person forgets that they are also under someone. Every manager, parent, official and teacher has a Lord over them who is equally the Lord of those beneath them. The one who remembers 'my Lord and yours' cannot easily treat others as possessions.

Some might hear 'my Lord and your Lord' as a claim to superiority, as if Musa were saying he had God on his side. But the phrase does the opposite. It puts Musa and Pharaoh under the same Lord, on the same level of servanthood. The only difference is that one of them admits it.

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.