Ad-Duhaa · Makki · ayah 9 of 11

Ad-Duhaa 93:9

فَأَمَّا ٱلْيَتِيمَ فَلَا تَقْهَرْ

“So as for the orphan, do not oppress [him].”

Saheeh International

Essence

You were the orphan once; now no orphan should ever feel your power pressing down on him.

A reflection

Where the rhyme turns

Many of us hear fa-ammā l-yatīma fa-lā taqhar as a general social command, the Quran's line for orphan charities. Something to honour with a donation in Ramadan.

Listen first to the sound. Every ayah of this surah so far has ended on the same open vowel: ḍuḥā, sajā, qalā, ūlā, tarḍā, āwā, hadā, aghnā. Eight ayat of receiving. Then the rhyme breaks: taqhar, and then tanhar. A hard, closed sound. The surah has turned from what was given to you to what you will now give.

The structure turns with it. Three gifts were named: sheltered when orphaned, guided when astray, enriched when in want. Now three commands answer them: the orphan, the one who asks, the blessing. The commentaries trace the match. You know the orphan's life; do not crush him.

The first hearers would also have felt the edge of the command. One commentary records that the Arabs of the time took orphans' property and wronged them, because no one stood behind them. The opening fa-ammā adds weight: whatever else happens, as for the orphan. Of all the weak, he is named first.

Picture a family who sponsor an orphan abroad by direct debit, proud of the yearly letter and photo. Meanwhile the fatherless nephew who lives with them is snapped at for leaving his shoes in the hall. The ayah begins where the shoes are.

The surah that comforted an orphan ends by handing him a duty. That is its whole architecture: what came in, goes out.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.