An-Najm · Makki · ayah 33 of 62

An-Najm 53:33

أَفَرَءَيْتَ ٱلَّذِى تَوَلَّىٰ

“Have you seen the one who turned away”

Saheeh International

Essence

The saddest turning away is the one that happens after someone has come close: look at him, the Quran says, and guard your own heart.

A reflection

The man who almost came

The commentaries preserve a report about the man behind this ayah. Several early authorities name him as al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, a leading figure of Makkah. He had sat with the Prophet ﷺ and listened to his recitation and his admonition. One commentary says the wisdom affected him strongly. He drew close to Islam, and the Prophet ﷺ had hopes for him.

Then a man from the idol-worshippers found him and taunted him. 'Will you abandon the religion of your forefathers? Go back to it and hold firm.' When he answered that he feared the punishment of God, the man made an offer. Pay me such-and-such, and I will carry for you everything you fear in the next life.

Al-Walid agreed. He turned back. He handed over part of the money, and then, the report says, he held back the rest.

This is a report the commentaries hand down from early authorities, and nothing in what follows rests on the name. But the shape of the story is what matters, and it is painfully human. A man who was near. A voice of social pressure. A price. A promise that someone else would carry his account. And a turning of the back.

One modern commentary summarises the ayah in exactly that key: 'Have you seen how ugly the state of the one who turned away from Islam after coming close to it?'

The story also explains the ayat that follow. 'Does he have knowledge of the unseen, so he can see?' 'Has he not been told what is in the scrolls of Musa and Ibrahim: that no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another?' The whole passage answers one terrible bargain. No one can take your account off your hands.

The man almost came. The ayah asks us to look at him long enough to make sure we do not become him.

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.