11/120-123 — The closing of the sūra
wa kullan naquṣṣu ʿalayka min anbāʾi'l-rusuli mā nuthabbitu bihī fuʾādak · wa jāʾaka fī hādhihi'l-ḥaqqu wa mawʿiẓatun wa dhikrā li'l-muʾminīn
"Of the tidings of the messengers We relate to you all with which We make your heart firm. In this there has come to you the truth, and an admonition and a reminder for the believers."
After telling six narratives, the sūra says why it told them — and this is the text's own statement, not an interpretation:
| To whom | For what |
|---|---|
| To the one addressed | mā nuthabbitu bihī fuʾādak — to make the heart firm |
| To everyone | al-ḥaqq — the truth itself |
| To the believers | mawʿiẓa and dhikrā — admonition and reminder |
The root ث-ب-ت: to stand in place, to become firm. The root was treated at Ibrāhīm 14/27 (yuthabbitu'llāhu'lladhīna āmanū bi'l-qawli'l-thābit) and al-Anfāl 8/11-12 (wa li-yarbiṭa ʿalā qulūbikum / fa-thabbitū'lladhīna āmanū); I rely on that treatment.
فُؤَاد — root ف-أ-د: the lexicographers explain the word as the moving, kindling side of the heart; faʾada'l-laḥma is to roast meat over a fire. What is asked to be made firm, that is, is the thing that by its nature stirs.
وَقُل لِّلَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ ٱعْمَلُوا۟ عَلَىٰ مَكَانَتِكُمْ إِنَّا عَٰمِلُونَ · وَٱنتَظِرُوٓا۟ إِنَّا مُنتَظِرُونَ (121-122)
And the sentence Shuʿayb spoke to his people twenty-eight verses earlier (11/93) is here given to the one addressed in word-for-word the same pattern:
| 11/93 (Shuʿayb) | iʿmalū ʿalā makānatikum innī ʿāmil … wa'rtaqibū innī maʿakum raqīb |
|---|---|
| 11/121-122 | iʿmalū ʿalā makānatikum innā ʿāmilūn … wa'ntaẓirū innā muntaẓirūn |
The difference is singular versus plural (innī → innā) and the verb of waiting has changed (irtiqāb → intiẓār). This is a correspondence that can be verified from the text.
I record this as my own reading: the sūra hands the narrative it has told over to the one addressed as speech. The narrative does not end; its sentence changes hands.
وَلِلَّهِ غَيْبُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَإِلَيْهِ يُرْجَعُ ٱلْأَمْرُ كُلُّهُۥ فَٱعْبُدْهُ وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَيْهِ (123)
The same root (ع-ب-د), in the sūra's first command and in its last. And in between six messengers, all of whom began with the same sentence: uʿbudū'llāha mā lakum min ilāhin ghayruh.
yurjaʿu'l-amru kulluh — and the word amr had been used again and again in this sūra for the coming of the destruction (11/40 jāʾa amrunā, 58, 66, 76, 82, 94; and at 11/97 amra Firʿawn). The last verse turns that word entirely back to a single place.
وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِغَٰفِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ — and it is the last of the sentences of watchfulness. The sūra closes the sequence muḥīṭ (84, 92), khabīr (111), baṣīr (112) here with ghayru ghāfil — four doing the same work with four different words.