Al-An'am · Makki · ayah 85 of 165

Al-An'am 6:85

وَزَكَرِيَّا وَيَحْيَىٰ وَعِيسَىٰ وَإِلْيَاسَ ۖ كُلٌّ مِّنَ ٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ

“And Zechariah and John and Jesus and Elias - and all were of the righteous.”

Saheeh International

Essence

An old man at prayer, his son, a son with no father and a prophet we barely know share one verdict: each was sound.

A reflection

The title the prophets themselves prayed for

After a list of prophets, the ayah gives them a title that sounds almost ordinary. Kullun mina l-ṣāliḥīn: each was one of the righteous. Prophethood is a summit, so why close with a word we use for good neighbours?

The root answers. The lexicons give ṣ-l-ḥ a single meaning: the opposite of spoiling. Leather that will make a good sandal is ṣāliḥ for it. To aṣlaḥa something is to set it right after it was damaged. A ṣāliḥ thing is sound, fit for what it was made for. A ṣāliḥ person is a human being working as a human being was meant to work.

A shoe repairer in a station kiosk hands back a pair of brogues. He has stitched the welt and replaced the heel. He does not say they are beautiful. He presses the sole with his thumb and says, 'They're sound now.' That is the highest thing he can say about a shoe.

Now read how the Quran uses the word. Ibrahim (as) asks, 'join me with the righteous' (26:83). Yusuf (as), at the height of his power, asks the same (12:101). Sulayman (as), hearing an ant, asks to be entered among Your righteous servants (27:19). And of Ibrahim it says that in the Hereafter he is among the righteous (29:27).

One classical commentary explains that soundness has degrees. It means doing what ought to be done and guarding against what ought not. At its height, it describes the highest rank of the prophets themselves.

So the word is not a step down after 'prophet'. It is what the prophets asked for. A life can hold great gifts and still be cracked inside. To be ṣāliḥ is to be whole, with nothing in you working against what you were made for.

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.