Al-An'am · Makki · ayah 120 of 165

Al-An'am 6:120

وَذَرُوا۟ ظَـٰهِرَ ٱلْإِثْمِ وَبَاطِنَهُۥٓ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَكْسِبُونَ ٱلْإِثْمَ سَيُجْزَوْنَ بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَقْتَرِفُونَ

“And leave [i.e., desist from] what is apparent of sin and what is concealed thereof. Indeed, those who earn [blame for] sin will be recompensed for that which they used to commit.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Leave sin on both its sides, the part people see and the part only the heart holds, because whatever you gather you will carry home.

A reflection

The rider who looked strongest at the start

A cycling club sets off on a long Saturday ride. One rider surges ahead in the first hour, all new kit and fast legs. By midday the road climbs for eight miles in the heat. He drops off the back. By the summit the group is a speck ahead of him.

The Arabs had a word for such a rider's camel. The lexicons say a she-camel that lagged behind on the road was called āthima. One poet praised his own camel, striding on under two riders. Meanwhile the āthimāt, the laggards, broke down in the noon heat. They had looked fit for the journey, then failed it.

From that picture comes ithm, the word for sin in this ayah. It is not first a stain, or a broken regulation. It is whatever slows you down and holds you back from good. It makes a traveller fall behind the caravan.

That image corrects a common picture. Many people think of sin as a mark on a record, a fine to be paid later. The Arabic suggests something more immediate. Sin costs you now. It weakens your legs on the road you are already travelling.

This is why the ayah says leave it, outward and inward. Both kinds slow the traveller. The outward sin is the heavy bag strapped to the bike. The inward one is the slow puncture nobody else can see.

The road ahead is long, and the heat of the day is coming. A rider who sheds what holds him back can keep up with those he loves. A rider who keeps it will look strong for an hour, then fade.

So the question this word asks is practical. What in my life is quietly making me lag?

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.