Al-'Alaq · Makki · ayah 19 of 19

Al-'Alaq 96:19

كَلَّا لَا تُطِعْهُ وَٱسْجُدْ وَٱقْتَرِب ۩

“No! Do not obey him. But prostrate and draw near [to Allāh].”

Saheeh International

Essence

The first surah began with Read and ends with Prostrate: refuse the voice that forbids, put your face on the ground, and come close.

A reflection

The lowest place is the nearest one

A father's sixteen-year-old daughter has not spoken to him properly in three months. He has tried lectures, then silence, then gifts. One night he cannot sleep. He lays a prayer mat in the dark living room and prays two units. In the last prostration, with his forehead on the floor, he finally says her name, and then he weeps.

Sahih Muslim records the Prophet ﷺ saying: the nearest a servant comes to his Lord is while he is prostrating, so make much supplication then.

Think about what the body does in prostration. It takes its highest point, the forehead, and puts it at the level of the feet. A classical commentator explains why this is the nearest place. Prostration is the furthest limit of servanthood and lowliness, he says, and to Allah belongs the furthest limit of might. The lower the servant goes, the commentator reasons, the nearer he comes. He quotes a line of poetry: when necks are lowered to You in humility, their glory lies in that lowliness.

Allah gains nothing from your forehead on the floor. 'I want no provision from them, nor do I want them to feed Me' (51:57). What prostration gives is all for the one who prostrates. Many of us spend our days standing tall for others: performing, defending, managing how we are seen. There is almost nowhere left to put the whole weight down.

Prostration is that place. The face that is usually arranged for people is turned to the ground, where no one is looking but Him. And there, the Prophet ﷺ said, ask much.

The father in the dark living room had said everything to his daughter except the one thing that mattered. He had said nothing at all to his Lord. Prostration is where words like that finally come out. 'Truly, in the remembrance of Allah hearts find rest' (13:28).

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.