Adh-Dhariyat · Makki · ayah 52 of 60

Adh-Dhariyat 51:52

كَذَٰلِكَ مَآ أَتَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِم مِّن رَّسُولٍ إِلَّا قَالُوا۟ سَاحِرٌ أَوْ مَجْنُونٌ

“Similarly, there came not to those before them any messenger except that they said, "A magician or a madman."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Every messenger was called a sorcerer or a madman: two labels that cancel each other out, and reveal more about the speakers than the one they describe.

A reflection

Too clever and out of his mind

Look closely at the two insults the ayah records. A sāḥir is a sorcerer: someone cunning, in control, skilfully manipulating others. A majnūn is the opposite: someone whose mind is covered, who has lost control of himself. One accusation says he knows exactly what he is doing. The other says he has no idea.

One later commentary notes that the little word 'or' here may divide the speakers. Some said 'sorcerer'. Some said 'madman'. Some said both. Either way, the critics could not agree on what was wrong with the messenger. They agreed only that something must be.

That pattern is easy to recognise. Picture a finance officer who reports irregularities in her company's accounts. At the next board meeting, one director calls her naive: she does not understand how business works. Another calls her scheming: she must be angling for promotion. Both descriptions are offered within the same hour, about the same woman. Neither director notices the contradiction. What they share is not a diagnosis. It is a wish not to hear her.

When criticism is consistent, it may be worth weighing. When it contradicts itself, it usually tells you about the critics. They have decided first that the message must go, and are searching for a reason afterwards.

This is a quiet gift to anyone who stands for something true. You will sometimes be called extreme and soft, rigid and hypocritical, in the same week by the same people. The contradiction is not your failure. It is their confusion.

The opposite lesson applies to us too. Before we label someone, it is worth asking whether our labels agree with one another. If I find myself calling a person both arrogant and spineless, perhaps the problem is not in them. Perhaps I simply do not want what they are saying to be true.

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.