Ar-Rahman · Madani · ayah 29 of 78

Ar-Rahman 55:29

يَسْـَٔلُهُۥ مَن فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ هُوَ فِى شَأْنٍ

“Whoever is within the heavens and earth asks Him; every day He is in [i.e., bringing about] a matter.[1598]”

Saheeh International

Essence

Everything in the heavens and the earth is asking Him for something, and every day He is at work in it: forgiving, relieving, raising, lowering.

A reflection

Nobody is not asking

Picture a self-employed roofer who is proud of one thing above all. In thirty years he has never borrowed a penny, never asked for a lift, never let anyone help him move house. Then he falls from a ladder and breaks his wrist and his collarbone. On the second morning he has to ask his sixteen-year-old son to hold the cup of tea to his mouth.

This ayah describes the state that roofer was always in, without knowing it. Everyone in the heavens and the earth asks Him.

Not "some people pray". Everyone asks. The angels, the jinn, humankind, every creature. One concise commentary adds two words that remove all exceptions: they ask by speech or by state. The one who never raises his hands is still asking, with his lungs, his pulse, his need for the next meal.

Another commentary goes further. If the link between any creature and divine care were cut for one moment, it would not catch even the scent of existence. So they are asking in every instant.

A classical commentary separates two kinds of asking. One is asking to be given, which shows that every creature is unable to secure what it needs. The other is asking to know, which shows that every creature is ignorant of what is with Him. Even the stubborn one who refuses to ask with his tongue asks with his condition.

That is a hard thing for the ego to hear. Pride is built on the story of the self-sufficient self: I earned it, I built it, I needed no one. The ayah does not argue with that story. It simply describes the whole of creation with its hand out, and includes you.

The humbling is not that you must start asking. You have been asking all along. The only question is whether you know whom.

And He is asked by all of them, and asks nothing of any of them. The asking flows one way. A robe can move from one set of shoulders to another in a single afternoon. The One who moves it is never the one in need.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.