Al-An'am · Makki · ayah 88 of 165

Al-An'am 6:88

ذَٰلِكَ هُدَى ٱللَّهِ يَهْدِى بِهِۦ مَن يَشَآءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِۦ ۚ وَلَوْ أَشْرَكُوا۟ لَحَبِطَ عَنْهُم مَّا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ

“That is the guidance of Allāh by which He guides whomever He wills of His servants. But if they had associated others with Allāh, then worthless for them would be whatever they were doing.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Even the prophets' guidance was Allah's gift, and had they set partners beside Him, a lifetime of their work would have swollen and collapsed.

A reflection

Even their guidance was a gift

Eighteen prophets have been named, with their fathers, children and brothers. A reader might expect the passage to end in praise of their effort. Instead it ends: dhālika hudā llāh, that is the guidance of Allah.

The word 'that' points into the distance, a form the commentaries often read as marking height. And one commentary says the guidance is joined to Allah's name to honour it. Another explains it as His enabling and gentle care. It brought them to obey Him, to make their work sincere and to reject idols.

In other words, the very thing that made them great was given to them. Ibrahim's argument, Yusuf's patience, Yunus's cry from the dark. Every one of them was guidance from Allah before it was a deed of theirs.

A twelve-year-old wins a national chess title. The cameras surround him as he lifts the trophy. At the back of the hall, his coach sits alone with a paper cup of tea. For six years he has spent his Saturdays on this boy's openings. No one photographs him, and he does not mind.

The prophets knew whose hall it was. That is why this ayah humbles the self-made believer. If the best of humankind owed their guidance to Him, no one's piety is homemade. Our prayers, our good habits, our moments of clarity were handed to us first.

Does Allah need us to admit this? No. His guidance loses nothing if we take the credit. The ego is what loses, because it builds on a lie. Knowing the gift is the giver's frees us from carrying our own greatness.

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.