أَلَيسَ اللَّهُ بِكافٍ عَبدَهُ ۖ وَيُخَوِّفونَكَ بِالَّذينَ مِن دونِهِ ۚ وَمَن يُضلِلِ اللَّهُ فَما لَهُ مِن هادٍ
Does not Allah suffice [to defend] His servant? They would frighten you of others than Him. Yet whomever Allah leads astray, has no guide.
EXEGESIS
Kafā means to suffice someone or fulfil some need. The rhetorical question in the verse implies that God shall certainly suffice His servant (Prophet Muhammad (s)), and the threats of other than Him are not credible. Allah shall suffice you against them, and He is the all-hearing, the all-knowing (2:137).
Another possibility is that kāfin means mukāfin (from mukāfāh, with the root kafaʾa), in which case the verse would mean: Does not Allah retaliate His servant? This meaning complies with the context of the previous verses about the judgement and retributions in the hereafter, as well as the discussion of God’s guidance and misguidance in these verses. Along the same lines, it could mean: Does not Allah requite His servant by rewarding the righteous and punishing the wrongdoer? However, the immediate sentence after this says, They would frighten you of others than Him, which shows that the first meaning is more plausible.
ʿAbd: servant, slave. The description of the Prophet as His servant is a deep and meaningful reference. It attributes the Prophet to God Himself (by a possessive pronoun), and also honours him by the lofty station of servitude: he has reached a level where he is a servant of God, which is the goal of mankind’s creation (51:56). There are many other verses in the Quran where the Prophet is given this medal of honour (2:23, 8:41, 17:1, 18:1, 25:1, 53:10, 57:1, 72:19).
However, the verse has a more general meaning; ʿabd is intended in its most general sense, which includes all human beings because they are all the slaves and servants of God (who is their Lord). The specific meaning of servant as one who has reached the lofty station of servitude to God is not intended here. Otherwise, the term servant would be a condition and the verse would mean that God only suffices those people who have reached that high station of total servitude. The reason why the first general meaning is meant here is that the verse then discredits the threat of others than Him, which equally applies to all human beings.
EXPOSITION
There is so much compassion and beauty in this verse that it humbles one’s heart and makes one weep out of love for such a gracious Lord and say: ‘Of course Thou art sufficient, O God! Of course Thou art enough, and more than enough.’ This is one of the rare Quranic addresses that burn every love, attachment, and consideration in one’s heart, and purge the soul from anything other than God. This verse alone is a miracle, and is sufficient to make one fall in love with this book and dedicate his life to his Lord. No purely discursive argument can achieve what a verse like this achieves. This is the most effective language for a book that sets about awakening, guiding, and building the human soul.
We will discuss the verse on two levels.
- The primary and specific meaning. The previous verses talked about the contention and disagreement between the Prophet and his people, and said that the final judgement is due for the Day of Resurrection (verse 31). This verse adds that God shall suffice His servant, the Prophet, and no one can harm him. Whoever thinks that Allah will not help him in this world and the hereafter, let him extend a rope to the ceiling and hang himself, and see if his artifice would remove his rage (22:15; see also 54:44). Therefore, the primary meaning of the verse is God’s assurance and support for His beloved Prophet.
According to some accounts, the verse was revealed as a response to the polytheists who used to warn the Prophet of the wrath of their idols and the grave consequences of abandoning and opposing their worship. This is very similar to a threat posed to Prophet Abraham (a) and the answer that he gave in return: His people argued with him. He said: ‘Do you argue with me concerning Allah, while He has guided me for certain? I do not fear what you ascribe to Him as [His] partners, excepting anything that my Lord may wish. My Lord embraces all things in [His] knowledge. Will you not then take admonition? How could I fear what you ascribe [to Him] as [His] partners, when you do not fear ascribing to Allah partners for which He has not sent down any authority to you? So [tell me,] which of the two sides has a greater right to safety, if you know? (6:80-81).
- The secondary and generalised meaning. The verse is not limited to the specific context mentioned in the previous point. In fact, a common alternative recitation of the verse is: Does not Allah suffice His servants (with ʿibād (servants) in plural form). There are three attributes of God that show why He certainly suffices His servants: 1. Omniscience: He is aware of the needs of His servants. 2. Omnipotence: He is powerful over everything and can fulfil any need. 3. Generosity: He is not stingy, and giving does not reduce from His treasures. Hence, nothing stops Him from sufficing the needs of His servants. (Needless to say that God’s infinite wisdom takes precedence to all of His acts, and that this world is a realm of test and trial; we are not yet in paradise.)
Thus, the verse is a call by God to all of His servants: am I not enough for you? Do I not fulfil all of your needs? Am I not sufficient of all that you seek? So where are you going? (81:26). Where do you stray? (6:95, 10:34, 35:3, 40:62). What keeps you in wilderness? Why do you wander around? In a sacred tradition (ḥadīth al-qudsī) God revealed to Prophet David (a): ‘O David, convey to the inhabitants of My earth: indeed, I love one who loves Me, I sit with one who sits with Me, I give composure to one who finds composure in My remembrance, I accompany one who accompanies Me, I choose one who chooses Me, I obey one who obeys Me. No one loves Me sincerely – and I know that from his heart – except that I accept him for Myself, and I will love him with such love that none of My creatures has taken precedence to. Whoever truly seeks Me will find Me, but whoever seeks other than Me shall not find Me. So, O people of the earth, forsake the deceptions of the world in which you are engrossed and rush toward My munificence, company, sitting, and intimacy. You become intimate with Me and I will become intimate with you and will take the lead in loving you.’ So flee toward Allah (51:50).
What more do we want when the Beloved is with us?
The bliss of His presence is sufficient for us.
Don’t send me to Paradise, from Your door, O Lord!
For the dust of Your threshold is sufficient for us.
It is deduced from this verse that God wants His servants to be entirely dedicated to Him alone. That is why He suffices them of any other fear or need, so that they can be freed from all consideration and preoccupation, and hence focus on their sole objective: Allah.
God has given us His word and advice:
‘Is He not enough? Does He not suffice?’
He said that so we don’t run around on our own
Seeking every source and pursuing our device.
They would frighten you of others than Him. There are many verses in the Quran where God orders us to only fear Him and no one else (2:40-41, 2:150, 3:175, 5:3, 5:44, 9:13, 9:18, 33:37). This is because all might and power belongs to God (2:165, 4:139, 10:65, 35:10), and any other force is servile before His majesty and subject to His command (13:15, 16:48-50, 19:93). And Allah has said: ‘Do not worship two gods. Indeed He is the one God, so be in awe of Me [alone].’ To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth, and to Him belongs the enduring religion. Will you, then, be wary of other than Allah? (16:51-52). Verse 38 is also a clear proof for why one should not fear anything or anyone other than God.
Come to my help, You’re my God and my friend;
The lonely You attend, and I don’t have any friend.
They say, ‘so-and-so has no one as a friend’;
I don’t need anyone else, for God is my friend.
Others than Him has a general meaning that includes anything that has some power and influence, whether it is an individual, a group, an object, or a system. The Quran teaches us that these apparent powers and influences are only a façade, and that in reality they do not own anything, cannot fulfil any need, have no control or impact, and do not benefit or harm anyone (7:197-198, 13:14, 13:16, 22:62, 25:3, 31:30, 40:20, 43:86). All of the verses in this paragraph should be consulted to see what level of monotheism the Quran aims for, and why it wants us to rely on God alone and have no fear of other than Him. Here, we only present a few verses that describe how the Quran views other-than-God: That is Allah, your Lord; to Him belongs all sovereignty. As for those whom you invoke besides Him, they do not control so much as the husk of a date stone. If you invoke them they will not hear your invocation, and even if they heard they cannot respond to you, and on the Day of Resurrection they will forswear your polytheism (35:13-14); Say: ‘Invoke those whom you claim [to be gods] besides Him. They have no power to remove your distress nor to bring about any change [in your state]. Those whom they [i.e., the polytheists] invoke, themselves seek a recourse to their Lord, whoever is nearer [to Him], hoping for His mercy and fearing His punishment.’ Indeed your Lord’s punishment is a thing to beware of (17:56-57); O mankind! Listen to a parable that is being drawn: indeed those whom you invoke besides Allah will never create [even] a fly even if they all rallied to do so! And if a fly should take away something from them, they cannot recover that from it. Feeble is the seeker and the sought! They do not regard Allah with the regard due to Him. Indeed Allah is all-strong, all-mighty (22:73-74).
Hence, the message of this verse is that of tawḥīd: only be a servant of God and do not fear anyone or anything else, for He takes care of His servants:
Your Master knows the way
To treat those who obey.
So don’t set conditions
When you worship or pray.
Don’t be like hirelings
Who work only for a pay.
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- The Prophet said: ‘One who reduces all of his preoccupation into a single concern (hamm), God will suffice him what concerns him of the affairs of this world and the hereafter.’ The same idea has been narrated in other similar traditions from the Prophet and Imam al-Ṣādiq (a).
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
Many exegetes, following Ṭabarī, have assumed that this verse was revealed about Khālid ibn al-Walīd. It has been narrated that the Prophet ordered Khālid to go and break the great idol, al-ʿUzzā. Then the polytheists threatened Khālid: ‘Keep away from doing so, O Khālid, for it is of intense might.’ But Khālid carried on with his mission and broke the idol into pieces. Then these verses were revealed.
The following points should be clarified before accepting this account: 1. This is a Meccan chapter, while Khālid embraced Islam eight years after the Prophet’s migration to Medina, and the idols were broken shortly afterwards. 2. It should be historically proven whether Khālid was actually the person commissioned to break al-ʿUzzā. 3. The account does not comply with the apparent address of the verse, which is directed at the Prophet, and has no sign of reference to Khālid. 4. Accounts like this could have had socio-political benefits for some of the governments after the Prophet. Therefore, more caution should be taken in verifying their authenticity.
Based on this verse, God is the only source of sufficiency and He is also the only source of help and support (25:31). According to the late Ṣādiqī Tehrānī, this Quranic principle contradicts what Ibn Ṭāwūs has mentioned in Jamāl al-Usbūʿ as a supplication: ‘O Muhammad and O Ali! O Ali and O Muhammad! Suffice me, for you two suffice, and help me for you two are helpers.’ Although Ibn Ṭāwūs does not provide any chain of transmission for this tradition which he attributes to Imam al-Mahdī (a), and hence this supplication cannot be authenticated, there may be some rational arguments behind such supplications.
Get water from the stream
Or get it from the sea;
What’s the source of the stream?
The sea, can’t you see?
Get light from the moon
Or get it from the sun;
The source of them both
Is the sun, O my son!
When a jar is connected
To a vat from inside;
Then get wine from the jar,
It is from the other side.
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?
- Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver?
- Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
- So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
[1] Mizan, 17/261.
[2] Ayn, under k-f-ʾ.
[3] Zamakhshari, 4/129.
[4] Qurtubi, 15/257, narrated from al-Jurjānī; Alusi, 12/261.
[5] Tabari, 24/5; Tibyan, 9/28; Suyuti, 5/328, narrated from Qatādah, Suddī, and Ibn Zayd.
[6] Tabari, 24/5; Qurtubi, 15/257; Alusi, 12/260.
[7] Razi, 26/453-454.
[8] Nahj, sermon 87.
[9] Zayn al-Dīn al-ʿĀmili al-Jubaʿī, Musakkin al-Fuʾād, p. 27; Bihar, 67/26, h. 28.
[10] Ḥāfiẓ, ghazal 268.
[11] Rūmī, Mathnawī, v. 1, line 3154.
[12] Bābā Ṭāhir.
[13] Ḥāfiẓ, ghazal 177.
[14] Al-Ḥākim al-Ḥaskānī, al-Mustadrak ʿalā al-Ṣaḥīḥayn, 4/328-329; Kanz, 3/225-226, h. 6269-6270; Suyuti, 2/59, 6/5.
[15] Ibn Majah, 1/95, h. 257, and 2/1375, h. 4106; Kafi, 2/246, h. 5; Maybudi, 8/426.
[16] Tabari, 24/5; Tabrisi, 8/778-779; Suyuti, 5/328.
[17] Ibn Ṭāwūs, Jamāl al-Usbūʿ, p. 281; Kafami, p. 176; Bihar, 51/305, 53/275, 87/38, 88/191, 88/350, 92/201, 99/20, and 99/119; Wasail, 8/185.
[18] Furqan, 25/340.
[19] Rūmī, Mathnawī, v. 1, lines 1955-1958.
[20] Psalms 118:6.
[21] Isaiah 50:2.
[22] Jeremiah 2:5.
[23] Hebrews 13:6.