Al-Qiyamah · Makki · ayah 18 of 40

Al-Qiyamah 75:18

فَإِذَا قَرَأْنَـٰهُ فَٱتَّبِعْ قُرْءَانَهُۥ

“So when We have recited it [through Gabriel], then follow its recitation.”

Saheeh International

Essence

When the Quran is recited, following begins with silence, then reciting it as you heard it, then living by it.

A reflection

Following is not what we now call following

'Follow' has changed its meaning in our lifetime. We follow accounts, follow stories, follow a match on our phones. Following now means watching from a distance, with nothing required of us.

A man has followed a fitness coach online for six years. He has watched hundreds of her workouts and liked most of them. He has done none.

This ayah's verb is ittabiʿ. The root's first picture, the lexicons say, is walking behind someone on their track. A calf at its mother's heels is a tabīʿ. So is a shadow, always at a person's feet. To follow is to put someone ahead of you, and walk where they walk.

The commentators read 'follow its recitation' at two levels. The Companion who narrated the occasion explained it as: listen to it, and be silent. Then recite it after the angel, as he recited it. One classical commentary preferred this reading here. Do not recite alongside the angel, it says, but wait until he has finished, then begin.

A major early commentator preferred a second level. When it is recited to you, act on it: do what it commands, avoid what it forbids. Other early voices said the same.

The two readings are not rivals. They are stages. First the silence that lets the words in. Then the recitation that carries them exactly. Then the life that walks behind them, like a calf behind its mother.

That is the difference between the man and his fitness coach. He watches. A follower, in this ayah's sense, walks the track.

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.