Sūrat Ibrāhīm
Section 2 of 12 · Surah Studies · Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
The Rhythm Made to Fit the Meaning
There is a matter here that has not been possible to treat elsewhere, the content being always pressing and time short. The wording of the Qur'an, its rhythm, its rhapsody and its cadence are fashioned by Allah (swt) so that the sound itself answers to the meaning.
In some verses and some sūrahs this is more apparent than in others, and from verse 35 of this sūrah onwards* it is very clearly so. To catch the music of it one needs Arabic; but even a reader who takes only the sense of the words will feel something of it:
وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَٰهِيمُ رَبِّ ٱجْعَلْ هَـٰذَا ٱلْبَلَدَ ءَامِنًا وَٱجْنُبْنِى وَبَنِىَّ أَن نَّعْبُدَ ٱلْأَصْنَامَ رَبِّ إِنَّهُنَّ أَضْلَلْنَ كَثِيرًا مِّنَ ٱلنَّاسِ ۖ فَمَن تَبِعَنِى فَإِنَّهُۥ مِنِّى ۖ وَمَنْ عَصَانِى فَإِنَّكَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ رَّبَّنَآ إِنِّىٓ أَسْكَنتُ مِن ذُرِّيَّتِى بِوَادٍ غَيْرِ ذِى زَرْعٍ عِندَ بَيْتِكَ ٱلْمُحَرَّمِ رَبَّنَا لِيُقِيمُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ فَٱجْعَلْ أَفْـِٔدَةً مِّنَ ٱلنَّاسِ تَهْوِىٓ إِلَيْهِمْ وَٱرْزُقْهُم مِّنَ ٱلثَّمَرَٰتِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَشْكُرُونَ
“(Recall) when Ibrāhīm said, “My Lord, make this city peaceful, and keep me and my children away from worshiping idols. My Lord, they have misled many a people. So, the one who follows me does surely belong to me. As for the one who disobeys me, then You are Most-Forgiving, Very-Merciful. Our Lord, I have settled some of my children in a valley of no vegetation, close to Your sanctified House, so that, Our Lord, they may establish Salāh. So, make hearts of people yearn towards them, and provide them with fruits, so that they may be grateful.” (14:35–37)
The passage continues. The meaning of that last verse is this: our Lord, I have settled my descendants in a valley without vegetation, beside Your sanctified house — our Lord, that they may establish the prayer; so incline the hearts of people towards them, and provide them with fruits, that they may be thankful.
That duʿāʾ has been answered to this day, which is why hearts are forever turned towards the Ḥaram for Hajj and for ʿUmrah; and produce of every kind has been carried to Makkah Mukarramah and Madīnah from the ends of the earth. The passage then continues, and it is beautiful — genuinely beautiful, once it is understood.