Tell My Servant 🤍

Assalamualaikum my dear, 

This week I came across a beautiful set of verses that I just had to share with you. It's from Surah Hijr, verse 49 and 50.

When I read these verses, I couldn’t help smiling. And as I sat with the verses for a bit longer, I fell in love even more. Because of just how amazingly Allah set out these verses for us.

These were the 2 points of reflections that made me love the verse more and more. I really wanted to share them with you -

‘Tell My servant'

There are so many places in the Quran where Allah reminds us of His two beautiful names - Ar Rahman (The Most Merciful) and Al Ghafoor (The Most Forgiving). We've heard this type of verse many times -

ۖ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ غَفُورًۭا رَّحِيمًۭا - Indeed, Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

But this verse feels different. It feels more personal.

It feels like Our Lord, the One who knows our inner thoughts, heard mine and yours. He heard the heaviness of our souls as they push through one day to the next. It’s crushing guilt of tripping into mistake after mistake. It’s despair of not ever being forgiven by the One they cared about most.

He could have begun this verse with 'Tell the believers' , or maybe with 'Tell the people'.

But instead, Our Lord chose to begin it with 'Tell My servant'.

'My servant'.

The Prophet (pbuh) told us that 'the dearest names to Allah is Abdallah (Servant of Allah) and Abdurrahman (Servant of Ar Rahman)'. So when Allah decides to call us His Abd (Servant), we know there is no better nickname He can call us by.

Suddenly your heart calms, it comes to a place of peace.

'My servant'. 

Suddenly, you find this warm sense of love and belonging enveloping you. My Lord does not think bad of me, my Lord still sees me as His.

Yes, My Lord. Ya Rabbi.

—

‘I am’ to ‘It is’

The Quran is filled with symmetrical images. Whenever Allah takes about Hell, it will be followed by the description of Paradise. When He talks about night, it will be followed by day. It is of the poetic nature of the Quran.

But interestingly, in this verse, that symmetry was not followed.

In the first verse, Allah describes Himself as 'the Most Forgiving and the Most Merciful'. But when you look at the next verse, you notice that the pattern changes.

To keep the symmetry of the two verses, Allah could have said 'Indeed I am the most severe in punishment'. This would have been a direct symmetry to the verse before - 'Indeed I am the Most Forgiving and the Most Merciful' .

But He didn’t. Instead Allah tells us that His 'punishment' is severe - not Himself.

I find this lack of symmetry beautiful and an indication of Allahs profound mercy for us. 

By describing Himself as forgiving and merciful but then describing His punishment as severe instead of Himself directly, Allah shows His servant in this beautiful subtle way that His Mercy outweighs all else. No doubt, His punishment is severe, but this is a message of hope given to His servant, that Oh My dear servant,  do not despair. Why?

 — 

Honestly, I know, its tough.

It’s tough to keep hoping when you keep making the same mistakes with your Lord.  You’re surrounded by the whispers of guilt, of sometimes even self- loathing. You wonder, why would anyone want to forgive you when you keep making the same mistake again and again and again. I’m sure my Lord is tired of me saying 'I’ll do better tomorrow', 'I’ll stop tripping from today', 'I’ll change myself completely soon'.

 But this verse reminds us to hope. To carry on trying and failing, and trying again. But never stop hoping.

Because Our Lord is not like any other.

I want you to remember that we are humans (An Naas). ‘An-Naas’ is an Arabic word that comes from the same root as 'to forget'. It is in our very nature to forget, trip and make mistakes.

But remember what the Prophet (pbuh) told us - ‘the best of sinners are those who repent’.

I want you to hold tight to it, dust yourself and move forward.

 —

Until next week, salamun alaykum my dear 🤍

From your sis,

Thasneema 🌻