Al-A'la · Makki · ayah 3 of 19

Al-A'la 87:3

وَٱلَّذِى قَدَّرَ فَهَدَىٰ

“And who destined and [then] guided”

Saheeh International

Essence

Everything was given its measure and then shown its way, so your best instincts were guidance long before they were talent.

A reflection

An instinct is something installed

A founder is asked on a podcast for the secret of her success. She thinks for a moment. 'Instinct,' she says. 'I just know when to walk away from a deal.' The host nods, impressed.

Listen to the word she chose. An instinct is something installed, not something earned.

Wa-lladhī qaddara fa-hadā: and who measured, then guided. Qaddara is to give a thing its measure: its size, its span, its limit. The Arabs admired a horse whose hind hooves landed exactly where its forefeet had stepped, as if each stride were measured. They called it aqdar. Hadā is to lead someone onto the road and set him right on it.

One classical commentator says the whole world, from its highest to its lowest, is the explanation of this ayah. Every size, span, colour and lifespan was measured. Then every creature was pointed towards what keeps it alive. The commentaries give examples, and admit they are only examples. The newborn finds the breast. The young animal knows its own mother and follows her. The bee finds its scattered pastures and comes home again. Grazing animals take what nourishes them and leave what harms them.

One commentator lists guidance of every kind: for food and medicine, for this world and the next. Then he stops. It is a wide door and a long road, he says, beyond any describer, so glory to my Lord, the Most High. His list ends in tasbīḥ, exactly as the surah began.

Another commentary quotes an old line of verse, spoken to the human being. Do you think you are a small body, when the greater world is folded up inside you? We are the most guided creature of all, and the most tempted to call it our own talent.

So the ego has a small correction to make. Your quickest judgement, your feel for people, your knack for timing: none of it began with you. Allah needs no acknowledgement for it. But you need to remember it, because the one who thinks he found his own way stops asking for directions.

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.