An-Nazi'at · Makki · ayah 22 of 46

An-Nazi'at 79:22

ثُمَّ أَدْبَرَ يَسْعَىٰ

“Then he turned his back, striving [i.e., plotting].[1843]”

Saheeh International

Essence

Pharaoh turned his back on the truth and hurried off, busy and energetic, in exactly the wrong direction.

A reflection

Two kinds of hurrying

Every year, millions of pilgrims walk briskly between two small hills in Makkah, Safa and Marwa, seven times. They are retracing the steps of a mother. Sahih al-Bukhari tells of Hajar, alone in a barren valley with her baby son, running between the two hills searching for water. The Prophet ﷺ said: that is the saʿy of the people between them.

The word in this ayah is the same. Yasʿā: he hurried, he strove. The lexicons describe saʿy as a brisk walk that is almost a run, and then any earnest effort, for good or for harm. The Arabs called peacemakers who paid blood-money to end feuds suʿāt, strivers. A family's noble deeds were its masāʿī. The image of purposeful, hurrying effort is established.

So the same word names Hajar's desperate search for water for her child, honoured forever in the pilgrimage. And it names Pharaoh hurrying away from the greatest sign he had ever seen, to organise its defeat. The sources say he turned from Musa and strove to plot against him, gathering sorcerers to oppose the miracle.

The Quran uses the word again for believers on Friday. 'When the call is made for prayer on Friday, hasten to the remembrance of Allah' (62:9). And it states a principle that runs through all of them: 'A human being has nothing except what he strives for' (53:39).

Effort itself is neutral. Hurrying can be the holiest thing a person does, or the most destructive. The question is never simply 'are you working hard?' It is 'towards what?'

There is a sobering thought here for busy people. Pharaoh was not lazy. He was energetic, organised and relentless. He simply pointed all of it the wrong way. Energy is a gift, and like every gift it can be spent against the Giver.

Tonight, look at where your hurrying went today. How much of it was Hajar's kind, and how much was Pharaoh's?

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.