Al-Balad · Makki · ayah 17 of 20

Al-Balad 90:17

ثُمَّ كَانَ مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلْمَرْحَمَةِ

“And then being among those who believed and advised one another to patience and advised one another to compassion.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Above the freeing and the feeding sits faith, circled by people who keep urging one another to hold firm and to be kind.

A reflection

The two halves of worship

A retired nurse has volunteered at a hospice for eight years. The evening before a new volunteer's first night shift, she sends a text. 'You'll be fine. If you don't know what to say, just hold their hand. Ring me after, whatever the time.' It is two sentences of patience and one of mercy.

The ayah describes the people who climb the steep road. They believe. They urge one another to patience. And they urge one another to mercy.

One commentator sums up the two pairs in a way that is hard to improve. Urging patience, he says, points to reverence for Allah's command. Urging mercy points to tenderness towards Allah's creation. And the whole of obedience turns on these two principles. He quotes an earlier saying: the heart of the spiritual path is two things. Truthfulness with the Real, and good character with the creation.

That is worship in its full shape. Not only ritual, though it includes ritual. Reverence upwards, and compassion outwards, held together.

It is important to be clear about who benefits. Allah needs neither our patience nor our mercy. He is free of all need (35:15), and 'whoever strives, strives only for himself' (29:6). The Prophet ﷺ put the benefit plainly. 'The merciful are shown mercy by the Most Merciful. Show mercy to those on earth, and the One in heaven will show mercy to you' (al-Tirmidhi, who calls it ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ).

Many people today feel their lives are split. Faith in one compartment, kindness in another, work in a third. This ayah joins them. The patience that keeps you praying is the same muscle that keeps you kind to a difficult parent. The mercy that softens you towards a stranger is the same mercy you ask from Allah.

The new volunteer rang the nurse at three in the morning. She had held a hand. The nurse said, 'Well done. Now get some sleep, and come back Thursday.'

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.