Balʿam ibn Bāʿūrāʾ, and What Tawfīq Is

Allah (swt) then gives the account, in verses 175, 177 and 178, of a man called Balʿam ibn Bāʿūrāʾ. It is a long account, not to be told in full here, but it may be looked up under those verses in any good tafsīr; it will be found there, from verse 75^**** onwards. Balʿam ibn Bāʿūrāʾ, to whom Allah had given a great deal of knowledge — probably one of the most learned men of his time. But his difficulty was that he was very arrogant, and had no good akhlāq and no humility. And that led at length to his downfall. What is told us in it — Allāhu akbar — is that a man needs good akhlāq. And truly:

Wa-man yahdi Allāhu fa-huwa al-muhtadī: he whom Allah guides is the truly guided, and he whom Allah leaves to stray… Note the wording: leaves to stray, not sends astray. The reason is that Allah need not force anyone to stray. He has only to withdraw His help, His divine guidance and His tawfīq, His divine enabling, and a man will go of himself. Consider that in our own lives. If we do not make dhikr, and do not ask of Allah, then by default we shall incline to what is wrong. By default. Allah's protection and guidance must be with us. That is what is called tawfīq: that Allah makes His servant's deeds accord with what pleases Him. That is tawfīq: jaʿlu Allāhi fiʿla ʿibādihi muwāfiqan li-mā yuḥibbuhu wa-yarḍā. Its opposite is khidhlān: abandonment, forsaking. So when Allah forsakes a man — very well, you are left; no guidance will be given — of himself he begins to shift. We see it in people: where there is supervision, someone a man looks up to, someone who cares for him and reproves him, it does him good. When they say, let him be, then the man grows bolder, more daring, readier to take risks, and then does wrong — until it is too late. So Allah says:

Wa-law shiʾnā la-rafaʿnāhu bihā: had We willed, We could have raised him by it. Wa-lākinnahu akhlada ilā al-arḍ: but he inclined to the earth, and to worldly things. Wa-ttabaʿa hawāh: and he followed his desire.