Al-Ahqaf · Makki · ayah 31 of 35

Al-Ahqaf 46:31

يَـٰقَوْمَنَآ أَجِيبُوا۟ دَاعِىَ ٱللَّهِ وَءَامِنُوا۟ بِهِۦ يَغْفِرْ لَكُم مِّن ذُنُوبِكُمْ وَيُجِرْكُم مِّنْ عَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ

“O our people, respond to the Caller [i.e., Messenger] of Allāh[1488] and believe in him; He [i.e., Allāh] will forgive for you your sins and protect you from a painful punishment.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The jinn urge their people to answer Allah's caller and believe, so that He covers their sins and shelters them from painful punishment.

A reflection

An answer that crosses the distance

The jinn's command is ajībū: answer, respond. The lexicons give its root the picture of cutting through. A desert guide who cut across the wastes was a jawwāb. News that travelled from land to land was a jāʾiba. Clouds injābat when they parted and the sky showed through. So a reply is speech that cuts across the space between the caller and the one called. The image is established.

The one they are to answer is dāʿī Allāh, the caller of Allah. That root is drawing something towards you with your voice. When milking, the Arabs left a little in the udder, called the dāʿiya, to draw the next milk down. An empty house was one with no dāʿī, no one to call out. This image is established too.

Put the two words together. Someone is calling, with a voice that reaches out to draw you near. The only thing asked of you is to cut across the gap and reply.

The lexicons preserve a line from an old poet mourning his brother. A voice cried out for someone to answer, and no one did. Call again and raise your voice, the poet said; perhaps he is near you.

Picture a woman on a hillside path in thick autumn fog. She has lost her walking group. She hears her name called, faint, somewhere below her. She could stay still and hope. Instead she shouts back, once, twice, and moves towards the voice. Within ten minutes she sees their head-torches.

The call of Allah has been sounding for a long time. Answering is not an achievement of yours; it is simply crossing the space towards a voice that was already calling you.

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.