Hikma › Qur'an › Surah Al-A'raf › Verse 171

Surah Al-A'raf — 7:171

۞ وَإِذْ نَتَقْنَا ٱلْجَبَلَ فَوْقَهُمْ كَأَنَّهُۥ ظُلَّةٌ وَظَنُّوٓا۟ أَنَّهُۥ وَاقِعٌۢ بِهِمْ خُذُوا۟ مَآ ءَاتَيْنَـٰكُم بِقُوَّةٍ وَٱذْكُرُوا۟ مَا فِيهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ

Wa iz nataqnal jabala fawqahum ka annahoo zullatunw wa zannooo annahoo waaqi'um bihim khuzoo maaa aatainaakum biquwwatinw wazkuroo maa feehi la'allakum tattaqoon

اور جب ہم نے ان (کے سروں) پر پہاڑ اٹھا کھڑا کیا گویا وہ سائبان تھا اور انہوں نے خیال کیا کہ وہ ان پر گرتا ہے تو (ہم نے کہا کہ) جو ہم نے تمہیں دیا ہے اسے زور سے پکڑے رہو۔ اور جو اس میں لکھا ہے اس پر عمل کرو تاکہ بچ جاؤ

And when we lifted the mountain above them as if it were a canopy, and they were certain it would fall upon them — "Hold fast to what we have given you, and remember what is in it, so that you may be mindful."

Reflection

Two tellings of this moment use different verbs. Surah al-Baqara has the mount lifted above them; here the verb is natq, which the Qur'an keeps for this one place and which describes wrenching a thing loose with a shake, as a garment is shaken out. The simile then reaches for a ẓulla, an awning — the shape of shelter, arriving as a threat.

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