An-Nazi'at · Makki · ayah 23 of 46

An-Nazi'at 79:23

فَحَشَرَ فَنَادَىٰ

“And he gathered [his people] and called out”

Saheeh International

Essence

Humiliated by the sign, Pharaoh gathered a crowd and answered the Lord's call with a call of his own.

A reflection

Two calls in one story

A seventeen-year-old sits on his bed on a Friday evening. His phone lights up with the group chat: everyone is going out, come now. Downstairs, his mother calls up the stairs that dinner is ready and his grandfather is here. Two calls at once, pulling in opposite directions. Whichever he answers will shape the evening, and perhaps more.

This short story in the surah contains two calls, and it uses the same verb for both. A few ayat ago: 'when his Lord called him (nādāhu) in the sacred valley' (79:16). Now: fa-ḥashara fa-nādā, and he gathered and called out. The first call came from the Lord of the worlds to a traveller, inviting him to a mission of guidance. The second comes from a man who has just been shown the truth, summoning a crowd to hear him deny it.

The sources explain what Pharaoh's call was. He gathered the sorcerers from his cities, and his people. Then he called out himself, or had a herald cry it, or stood up as an orator. His message, in the next ayah, was the most outrageous claim a human being can make. 'I am your lord, most high.'

The parallel is not accidental. The Quran often lays two voices side by side and lets the reader hear the difference. One call leads to purification and awe. The other leads to a man's ego and, in the end, to the sea.

Every one of us lives between competing calls. The adhan and the notification. The quiet prompting of conscience and the loud invitation of the crowd. Our desires and our Lord. Many of these calls use the same words: freedom, happiness, fulfilment. What distinguishes them is where they lead.

The teenager on the bed does go down to dinner in the end. His grandfather tells a story he has never heard, and he stays till eleven.

When two calls reach you at once, ask a simple question. Who is calling, and where does this call lead?

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.