Al-An'am · Makki · ayah 106 of 165

Al-An'am 6:106

ٱتَّبِعْ مَآ أُوحِىَ إِلَيْكَ مِن رَّبِّكَ ۖ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ وَأَعْرِضْ عَنِ ٱلْمُشْرِكِينَ

“Follow, [O Muḥammad], what has been revealed to you from your Lord - there is no deity except Him - and turn away from those who associate others with Allāh.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Follow what your Lord reveals to you, for there is no god but Him, and turn your side to those who set up partners.

A reflection

The iron in the ship

Every steel ship carries a problem in its own hull. The iron of the vessel pulls on its compass. The needle drifts a few degrees, always towards the ship itself. So navigators used to 'swing the compass': turning the ship through every heading and correcting for its own pull. Otherwise they would steer confidently and land on the rocks.

The ego is the iron in our hull. It bends every needle a little towards itself. I follow what suits me, what flatters me, what my circle approves. I call it conviction. Often it is only my own pull.

This ayah places one sentence in the middle of two commands. 'Follow what is revealed to you from your Lord.' Then, before the second command: lā ilāha illā huwa, there is no god but Him. Two classical commentators describe that sentence as an interjection. It sits between the commands to make the duty of following firmer. Another reading takes it as describing the Lord: from your Lord, alone in His divinity.

Either way, it gives the reason. You follow the revelation not because the messenger is persuasive, nor because it suits you. You follow it because there is no other god. One commentary spells out who He is. The One who splits the seed and the date stone, splits the dawn, and makes the night for rest (6:95-96). The same One who sent the words is the One who made the hands that hold them.

That is where pride shrinks. My judgement is not true north. My preferences are not true north. My culture, my party and my mood are iron in the hull. There is exactly one true north, and the humble navigator corrects towards it every day. Lā ilāha illā huwa is the sentence that swings the compass.

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.