Al-An'am · Makki · ayah 35 of 165

Al-An'am 6:35

وَإِن كَانَ كَبُرَ عَلَيْكَ إِعْرَاضُهُمْ فَإِنِ ٱسْتَطَعْتَ أَن تَبْتَغِىَ نَفَقًا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ أَوْ سُلَّمًا فِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ فَتَأْتِيَهُم بِـَٔايَةٍ ۚ وَلَوْ شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ لَجَمَعَهُمْ عَلَى ٱلْهُدَىٰ ۚ فَلَا تَكُونَنَّ مِنَ ٱلْجَـٰهِلِينَ

“And if their evasion is difficult for you, then if you are able to seek a tunnel into the earth or a stairway into the sky to bring them a sign, [then do so]. But if Allāh had willed, He would have united them upon guidance. So never be of the ignorant.”

Saheeh International

Essence

No tunnel through the earth or ladder to the sky could make hearts believe: guidance is Allah's, so do not lose your calm.

A reflection

The man who meant to convert his whole street

A newly practising young man moves into a terraced street. He has a plan. He will knock on every door, hand out leaflets, explain Islam so clearly that no one can refuse. He practises his answers in the mirror. By the end of the year, he thinks, half the street will be praying.

No one does. A few are polite. One shuts the door mid-sentence. He is crushed, and slowly something else surfaces. He had believed, without saying it, that guidance would come from his eloquence.

This ayah speaks to the noblest version of that hope. The Prophet ﷺ longed for his people's faith more than anyone ever has. Allah answers with a picture. If you could dig a tunnel into the earth, or set a ladder into the sky, and bring them a sign, then do it. The sentence stops there. The answer, 'then do it', is left unsaid, because everyone knows he cannot.

Then comes the line that shrinks every ego: wa-law shāʾa Allāhu la-jamaʿahum ʿalā al-hudā. Had Allah willed, He would have gathered them all upon guidance. Not the messenger, not the argument, not the miracle. Him.

This is not cold. It is the most freeing sentence a caller can hear. Your words are a means; the opening of a heart is Allah's. When someone believes, you will not be tempted to take the credit. When someone refuses, you will not be crushed under a weight that was never yours. One commentary reads the closing words as the reason: do not be among those who do not know this.

The young man still knocks on doors. But now he prays before he knocks.

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.