Al-An'am · Makki · ayah 112 of 165

Al-An'am 6:112

وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَا لِكُلِّ نَبِىٍّ عَدُوًّا شَيَـٰطِينَ ٱلْإِنسِ وَٱلْجِنِّ يُوحِى بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَىٰ بَعْضٍ زُخْرُفَ ٱلْقَوْلِ غُرُورًا ۚ وَلَوْ شَآءَ رَبُّكَ مَا فَعَلُوهُ ۖ فَذَرْهُمْ وَمَا يَفْتَرُونَ

“And thus We have made for every prophet an enemy - devils from mankind and jinn, inspiring to one another decorative speech in delusion. But if your Lord had willed, they would not have done it, so leave them and that which they invent.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Every prophet faced enemies trading gilded words; Allah could have stopped them and chose not to, so leave them to their lies.

A reflection

Even the opposition works inside His permission

An engineer designs a cheap water filter for villages without clean water. Within a year, a rival firm is quietly paying for articles that call it dangerous. She stays up at night refreshing search results. It feels as if her whole project is at the mercy of people with bigger budgets.

This ayah speaks to that feeling from above it. 'Thus We have made for every prophet an enemy'. And then: 'Had your Lord willed, they would not have done it'.

The opposition is not outside Allah's dominion. It works only by His permission, for a span He has measured. The enemies imagine themselves free agents, steering events. They are actors in a test they did not write.

That humbles two kinds of ego at once. It shrinks the enemy, whose power was only ever lent. It also shrinks the reformer, who may secretly think his cause too important for Allah to allow anyone to oppose it. Every prophet was opposed. Who are we to expect otherwise?

Why would Allah permit it? Is He indifferent, or does He need the drama? He needs nothing. One commentator says the enmity is allowed for the trial it brings. It reveals steadfastness and patience, and multiplies reward. Two modern summaries call it a test.

Notice the title chosen: rabbuka, your Lord. One commentator says this title of lordship, joined to 'your', carries complete tenderness in consoling the Prophet ﷺ. The One who permits the enemy is the One who cares for you. Nothing reaches you that has not passed His permission first.

The engineer can keep improving her filter. The campaign against it is not the last word. It never was.

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.