Al-An'am · Makki · ayah 39 of 165

Al-An'am 6:39

وَٱلَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا۟ بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَا صُمٌّ وَبُكْمٌ فِى ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ ۗ مَن يَشَإِ ٱللَّهُ يُضْلِلْهُ وَمَن يَشَأْ يَجْعَلْهُ عَلَىٰ صِرَٰطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ

“But those who deny Our verses are deaf and dumb within darknesses. Whomever Allāh wills - He sends astray; and whomever He wills - He puts him on a straight path.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Denying the signs stops the ears and the tongue; guidance stays in Allah's hand, to leave astray or to set on the straight road.

A reflection

I did not find it. I was brought.

A podcast host interviews a man who became Muslim at thirty-four. The host keeps praising him. 'You read so widely. You were so brave. You worked it all out.' Each time the guest gently corrects him. 'I read a lot. Plenty of people read more. I did not find it. I was brought.'

The ayah ends with that truth. 'Whomever Allah wills, He sends astray. Whomever He wills, He sets on a straight path.' Guidance is not a trophy won by being clever. It is His to give.

One classical commentator puts it simply. No one is guided except by His favour, all good is in His hand, and His are the creation and the command.

That shrinks a particular kind of pride. It is the pride of the practising Muslim who looks at a relative who has drifted and thinks: I was wiser. Or the pride of someone who found faith and now tells the story as a heroic quest, with himself at the centre. The ayah removes the hero. You were set on the road. You did not lay it.

The Prophet ﷺ himself prayed often: O Turner of hearts, make my heart firm upon Your religion. Asked whether he feared for his followers, he said yes. Hearts are between two of the fingers of Allah, and He turns them as He wills (Jami' al-Tirmidhi, graded ḥasan by al-Tirmidhi). If the most guided of people asked to be kept, no one can treat guidance as a possession.

Does God need us to credit Him with our guidance? He does not. Our gratitude adds nothing to Him. But the person who credits himself becomes fragile: proud on good days, panicked on bad ones. The person who credits Allah stays humble, and keeps asking.

That is the safest place to stand on any road. Grateful for the ground under your feet, and aware of whose ground it is.

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.