Adh-Dhariyat · Makki · ayah 45 of 60

Adh-Dhariyat 51:45

فَمَا ٱسْتَطَـٰعُوا۟ مِن قِيَامٍ وَمَا كَانُوا۟ مُنتَصِرِينَ

“And they were unable to arise, nor could they defend themselves.”

Saheeh International

Essence

They could not even stand, let alone flee, and nobody came to their aid: the ability to rise was never theirs to keep.

A reflection

Capacity is something that yields to you

The verb here is istaṭāʿū, and its root carries an established picture. Ṭawʿ is going along with another and yielding. A horse was ṭawʿ al-ʿinān, easy on the rein. Pasture 'yielded' when it was open for grazing. Ripe dates 'yielded' when they gave themselves to the picker's hand. Its opposite is karh, doing a thing against your will.

So istiṭāʿa, ability, is literally the state in which something yields to you. Your legs yield when you ask them to stand. Your hands yield when you ask them to grip.

One classical commentator saw a fine distinction in the choice of word. The ayah could have said 'they had no power to stand'. It says instead 'they were not able', using a form that carries the sense of seeking. Ability, he wrote, is a capacity sought and taken from Allah, not one owned outright. That is why the phrase is stronger than a plain 'they could not'.

Watch a toddler pull herself up on the edge of the sofa. For weeks her legs have refused. Then one afternoon they yield. She stands, wobbling, astonished, and looks round to make sure somebody saw. Every adult in the room claps. None of them remembers the day their own legs first agreed to hold them.

Thamud had forgotten that day too. They had cut houses out of mountains. Their bodies had obeyed them for so long that obedience seemed owed. Then the blast came, and their legs did not yield.

The same word appears in one of the gentlest commands in the Quran: 'Be mindful of Allah as much as you are able' (64:16). Allah measures what He asks by what He has made to yield to you. Here, the same measure runs out.

So the next time you rise from bed without effort, notice it. Something yielded to you this morning. It was given.

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.