Surah Al-Kahf 18:6
سُورَةُ الكَهۡفِ · Meccan · Verse 6 of 110
فَلَعَلَّكَ بَٰخِعٌۭ نَّفْسَكَ عَلَىٰٓ ءَاثَٰرِهِمْ إِن لَّمْ يُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِهَٰذَا ٱلْحَدِيثِ أَسَفًا
Translation
But [Prophet] are you going to worry yourself to death over them if they do not believe in this message?
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'Perhaps you would destroy yourself with grief over them, if they do not believe in this message.' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the tenderness toward the Prophet, 'bakhi'un nafsak', consuming yourself with sorrow, and the gentle restraint: their guidance is not on your shoulders to force. Ask yourself: I can grieve myself sick over people I love who refuse what is good for them, a straying child, a friend on a destructive path, as if their choice were mine to override. This verse honours that grief while relieving me of an impossible burden: I am responsible to convey and to care, not to compel. Where am I destroying my own peace over someone else's refusal, taking onto myself a weight of outcome that was never mine to carry?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, al-Biqa'i.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Kahf 18:6 is discussed in 4 study guides on Maani. Each guide gathers the key verses, Arabic words and lessons of one Quranic topic.
Reflect on this verse
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