Surah An Najm

Episode 3 :

Now we are gonna talk about the second ayah... Very beautiful.. Very heavy ayah of the surah...

َ ‫صا ِح ُب ُك ْم َو َما‬
٢ ‫غَو ٰى‬ َ ‫ض َّل‬
َ ‫َما‬
“your companion is not lost, and he is not deviated...”

Who is it talking about???

It is talking about the prophet salallahualahiwasallam... There is so many things to dissect here...

THREE WORDS –

 Lost
 Companion
 And Deviated

We are gonna dig deep into words on this series...and this will help you with the rest of your Quran
study also because these words come everywhere... Right??

So, I want you to learn something about Quran vocabulary today... Something all of you need to know...

Arabic is not like other languages...

In Arabic, a word has a meaning and then it has something called secondary meanings...

You know, how you have the main dish.... You have the burger... But it also has the ketchup and the
mustard and the mayonnaise...

Every meal comes with some ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise and that’s all part of the over all flavor.....
Isn’t it????

So, what happens is – words in Arabic have a meaning...

Like ‫ض َّل‬
َ means to be lost... But it has some secondary meanings and you have to keep those in mind to
really get an idea of what the word means...

So, there is –

 Primary meanings...
 Secondary meanings...

For pretty much every word in Arabic, it is like that – primary meanings and secondary meaning...

Now, when you read an English translation of the Quran, what are they giving you???

The primary meaning...

What are they not giving you???

The secondary meaning...

And, sometimes you have two different words that have the same primary meaning....but they have
very different secondary meanings.... But when you are reading the English translation, you can’t tell
them apart because they only give you what???

A primary meaning...

Which is why studying vocabulary carefully in the Quran is very helpful.. Because Allah uses very precise
words...

So, we are looking at the word ‫ ضَ َّل‬which mean to be lost and we are gonna look for the secondary
meanings…

Now….

َ ‫ض َّل ال َّشيْ ُء َخف َِي َو‬

‫غَاب‬ َ
‫ض َّل‬
َ means for something to hide and disappear...forget about lost for now... One of its meanings is –
“something gets hidden and something that disappears...”

‫ض َّل ْال َما ُء فِيْ ْاللَ َبن‬

َ
When the water gets mixed with the milk and you can’t tell that water was ever there… it looks like pure
milk…. That’s the ‫ض َّل‬
َ of the water... Because it got lost and hidden and mixed in...
‫ت ْال َميْتَ َد َف ْن ُت ُه‬
ُ ‫َغاب ؤاضْ لَ ْل‬

When you bury the body, bury the animal or bury the person… and you can’t tell that there was even a
grave here then you have done ‫ ِٕاضْ لَ ْل‬of it because you can’t tell the dirt from the person underneath it…

‫َوال َشيْ ء َغ َّي ْب َت ُه‬

So, you made it disappear…

‫الضلَل ال َم ُء الذِي َيجْ ری تَحتَ الصخرة َٔاو الذي ال َتصيبه ال َشمس ضالضل‬
َ ‫َو‬
Similarly they would say – water... You know sometimes, there is a rock but underneath it there is
water.... But you don’t even know there is water underneath because it is covered by the rock.... They
would call that kind of water ‫ضلَ ْل‬
َ ….. they would call it that because it is hidden… it is disappeared…
Similarly, if they saw rocks in a valley that nobody is ever seen…. I am sure, there are rocks in that valley,
those rocks will be called ‫…ضالضِ ل‬..
َ
So, the word has a lot to do with being hidden, disappearing, mixed in….. these are some of the
secondary meanings inside this words…

ْ ‫ار ِٕا َذا لَ ْم َتعْ ِر‬

‫ف َم ْوضِ َع ُه َما‬ ُ ‫ضل ِْل‬
َ ‫ت ال َد‬ َ
If you are going to my house… and you couldn’t find it…. Google lied to you 😅😅😅… and you are at
McDonald’s or something…. You are like –

you live with McDonald’s??? (you are asking Ustadh)…

No No No… I don’t live there….. (Ustadh replied)….

Ohhh…. I am ‫ضا ْل‬
َ (you said that to Ustadh)…..
I was meant to be at “A”, I ended up at “B”….

That actually ‫ضلَ ْل‬

َ also… you ended up at the wrong location.
By whose mistake????

Your own…..

“When you end up at the wrong location on your own..”

Finally….

‫ض َّل ال َّشيْ ء يَضِ ُّل ضالاًل ٔاي‬

َ َ ‫اع و َه َل‬
‫ك‬ َ ‫ض‬َ
‫ض َّل‬
َ also means “for something to go to waste or something to die or someone to die…”

ٍ ۢ ‫َألَ ْم َيجْ َع ْل َك ْي َد ُه ْم فِى َتضْ ل‬

Like _)105:2( ‫ِيل‬

ٍ ۢ ‫ َتضْ ل‬is from the same word… “He put it to waste….”….he wasted it….
Here, ‫ِيل‬

So, being lost, disappearing and being wasted, and dying out..

And finally…

َ ‫ضال َك ِث ْي ٌر ال َت َتبُّعْ ل ِْل‬

‫ضالل‬ َ ‫َر ُج ٌل‬
A person who is gullible, you can easily mislead them, that person is called ‫…ضال‬..
َ
Anyway….

Here is what I want you to know about the word “lost”….

The white is the primary meaning…

The yellows are the secondary meaning…

That is going to be my format…

 The white is the primary…

 The yellows are the secondary…

So, when the two things appear as one like “the milk” and “the water” appear as one or the dirt and the
dead body appear as one…. Remember those examples… so, when two things become one and they
appear as one… like when something wasted or destroyed and when some one is gullible…. these are
the meanings of ‫ض َّل‬
َ …….
So, what does it mean for prophet salallahualahiwasallam???

Allah is saying – “your prophet is not confusing truth with falsehood, presenting them as one…

His speech and the Quran, the speech of Allah are separated…”

They are not mixed together because part of the meaning of ‫ضاَل ل‬
َ is two things become one…
This is not his speech… this is God’s speech… he is not mixing them together… he is not the lost cause…

They are like – “ohhh…. You were the smartest of us… you were the most honorable… you are the most
reliable business person…. And this ‘prophet business’ you started!!!... So, it is such a tragedy…..

What a person we lost!!!

What a waste of a talent!!!

Like for another prophet, it was said – “we had such high hopes in you…”

Noooo… he is not lost…

You are the ones that are lost…

You are the one that are wasting away not him (meaning the prophet salallahualahiwasallam)..

And then, the other is – “ohhh…. He is as good as dead… he keeps this up and he is gonna get killed…”

Keep this up and one day you will make us angry enough that we might just kill you…

Noooo… he is not the one that’s gonna get killed…

He is not the one that gonna get destroyed…

Also – “He must have come under the influence of somebody… somebody must have told him to say this
and he just fell for it…. Somebody convinced him ‘he is a prophet’ and now he thinks ‘he is a prophet’…
that would be that he is gullible…”

All of that is being denied and in what words???

َ ‫صا ِح ُب ُك ْم َو َما‬
٢ ‫غَو ٰى‬ َ ‫ض َّل‬
َ ‫َما‬

Now, let’s go to the next word ‫غ ََو ٰى‬

I will come back ‫صا ِح ُب ُك ْم‬

َ later…
But I want you to understand ‫…غَ َو ٰى‬.

And ‫ غ ََو ٰى‬actually a really interesting word.. I will go through this rather quickly…

‫ الغَاوي‬is locust… the swarm of locusts that come in the desert…

ْ‫ ْم مِنْ ْاللَ َبن‬H ‫ = ال َب َّش‬when you have very overwhelming indigestion that’s also called ‫ َوی‬H‫ال َغ‬. Really strong
indigestion and you can’t move… and your stomach is like going crazy… it is actually lactose
intolerance… ْ‫…مِنْ ْاللَ َبن‬.. So that what it is referring to… “strong lactose intolerance”…

َ ‫َما َس َت َر‬
Then, anything that covers and hovers over in the dark and it becomes invisible, overshadowed – ‫ك‬
‫ – ِب َظاَل ِم ِه‬that is also called ‫…َٔا ْغ َواء‬..

Back in the day, the Arabs used to Ambush each other like they used to hide behind rocks and the guys
َ ‫ َت‬from the
coming by and they all jumped him… so, when they jumped him, they would call that ‫غَاو ْوا‬
same origin of the word… so, ambushing and running over..
Are you noticing a theme for all of these???

 Locust hover over…

 The darkness hover over…
 The pain overtakes the person…
 The guy gets overtaken by an ambush….

Did you see that???

So, this word ‫ َغ َو ٰى‬has a lot to do with what???

Being overwhelmed…

Being overcast…

Being overtaken…

Then… ‫َٔارْ ضٌ م ِْغ َوات‬

When somebody gave you the wrong directions and you ended up in the wrong place…

But then this word has some really cool meanings…

One if my favourite meanings in this…

They used to make a whole or a ditch in the ground, and they used to take one of the baby goats and
throw it in the hole…

The Arabs made a deep hole… throw the goat in the hole because they have a wolf problem…

So, now they leave the goat their at night….. What’s the wolf gonna do???

Jump in the hole and now they got the wolf… so, they trapped the wolf…

That trap is actually called ‫ُٔا ْغ ِويَّة‬, it is from the same origin, from the same word…

So, now we have got the meaning of –

 a trap
 or an ambush
 overwhelmed
 and then ibn A’shur adds –

َ ‫َف َسا ُد الرَّ ْٔايِ َو َت َعلُّقُ ُه ِب ْالبَاطِ ِل‬

‫=و ْالغ َِوا َي ُة‬

When you have corrupt opinions and your thoughts are overrun with false ideas, that’s called ‫غ ََو ٰى‬.

So, ‫غَو ٰى‬

َ means deviated but it has to do with…

 Locust
 Indigestion
 Overcasting darkness
 Ambushed
  Trapped
 Wasted
 Unfamiliar land
 Corruption

All of that you can summarizer as just ‘being overcast’ and ‘corruption & thought’……

But now, let’s get to - “what is it that is this ayah is saying???”…

Now we know two words –

 ‫ض َّل‬
َ
 ٰ‫غ ََوى‬

“being lost” and “being deviated”..

But the deviated has to be overwhelmed… he is overrun…

You know, how they said – “He is taken over by a jinn…He is possessed…” or “his is mind is overtaken by
insanity or someone else is controlling him…”….. “He is taken by somebody else….”

All of that is inside ‫…… َغ َو ٰى‬

Or, “he is just confused on his own….”…. that is inside ‫ض َّل‬

َ

 And if he is setting a trap, if he is a poet….and he is just using his poetry to make himself
famous… or if he is just a magician and he is just using his sorcery, he is setting a trap for us….
That is inside ‫غَ َو ٰى‬

So, both of those kinds of allegations are coming inside these words…

So, now the thing is that -

‫ض َّل‬
َ = it is unintended… like it is as if the Quraish is saying – “ poor man… he is just lost his sanity… it is
such a tragedy that he has gone to waste….”

And ‫ = َغ َوا َية‬it is deliberate.. It is on purpose that he is trying to misguide them….

Now, Allah is denying BOTH OF THEM… “he is not a lost cause and a tragedy and he doesn’t have a
secret hidden agenda to misguide you…”

However, many of, basically the entire population of Makkah at the time, except for those who believed,
َ or ‫ غ ََو ٰى‬.
were either ‫ض َّل‬

Either “they were lost and confused” OR “they had an agenda to oppose Islam…..”

It is not “HE” who has got ‫ضاَل ل‬

َ and ‫ َغ َو ٰى‬, it is you who has it…
‫صا ِح ُب ُك ْم َو َما غ ََو ٰى‬
َ ‫ض َّل‬
َ ‫َما‬
But then….

This is where things get really powerful…

“Isn’t the imagery of the star falling beautiful????”

The star coming down and revelation coming… and the stars correlating with the Quran and the speech
of Allah.

Those correlation… it is very beautiful…

Ayah number one is very beautiful… and ayah number two talks about something very ugly…

“your companion is not lost… he is not deviated….he is not croocked…. He doesn’t have evil intentions
against you…”

All these ugly stuff… right after something beautiful…

So, there is a strange contrast happening between beauty and ugliness here…

Why is that there??? … this is the last thing I will share with you now for this session and I will give you a
break…

The word ْ‫صاحِب‬

َ in Arabic actually has to do with “Moss”…
You know, what moss is???

It is like algae, moss, fungus and stuff like that… sometimes it becomes part of the wall…

And also, “Sahab” or “Mushib” actually is – “the hair on your skin…”…

Now what is moss and the hair on your skin, have in common???

They are stuck to you… they are part of you… they are not quite you but they are you also… you
understand???

So it is separate from you but it is inseparable in some ways…

A ْ‫صاحِب‬
َ is someone who is very close to you…
You guys, many of you know each other… but you know each other from work…. You know each other
from the masjid… BUT you don’t know their personal lives… you don’t know their fears… the things they
like… their dark side… their light side… tbeir humorous side…

You don’t know everything…

You know a glimpse of another person…

Some people are married to each other and they don’t know each other…

Some people have children and they don’t know their kids…

You understand that???

The idea of a ْ‫صاحِب‬

َ is – someone so close to you, you know there ins and outs… you know everything
about them… you know what they are like…

The thing is – the celebrities, they look a certain way on the screen… they look a certain way when they
are performing… whether they are athletes or politicians or intellectuals or actors or whatever….. And
people see them… and they are like – “ahhhh…can I take a picture… I love you…. You are the best… you
are amazing…”

But you know who hates them…

Their neighbour….

Their driver…

Their spouse…

Their kids…

Their siblings…

their families..

Their cousins..

The people close to them, they hate them…

Their co-workers…

Their fellow actors.. They hate them…

Why???

Because they know a side of them that other people don’t know…

You understand???

So public figures, they have this like – “what you know about them…”…

You know somethings about me…

You don’t know the inside..

You don’t know my private life…

You don’t know my emotions… my fears… my anxieties… my weaknesses…

You don’t know any of that…

Because you are not my ْ‫صاحِب‬

َ …
Now when Allah calls Rasulullah salallahualahiwasallam ‫صا ِح ُب ُك ْم‬,
َ He says to Quraysh “your ْ‫”صاحِب‬
َ =a
person who has lived with you… who has laughed with you… who has cried with you…. Who has worked
with you… who has had family with you… he is married among you… he has do e businesse with you… he
was raised among you.. You have seen his youth… you have seen his childhood… you have seen his
adulthood…

You have seen every part of his life…

How are you gonna do dirty like that???

Like ‫صا ِح ُب ُك ْم‬
َ …. 💖💖💖
He didn’t say here –

‫هّٰللا‬
َ ‫ﷺ َرسُو ُل ِ َما‬
‫ض َّل‬

He used the closeness to the Quraish and said – “look at how beautiful this revelation is and it came to
the most beautiful human being and nobody knows this man’s beauty better than you….

And you are saying this about him!!!

How are you saying this about him???

How can you make either of these claims???

You knew more than anyone…

He is the smartest person among you… the wisest among you… the most reliable among you….

If you had a secret and you needed to get advice from someone, you wouldn’t think of anyone else but
him…

If you had a problem and you wanted somebody to solve it, you would go to him…

If you had something and you couldn’t trust anybody with, you would trust him…

And you are gonna say about him ‫ض َّل !!!!غ ََو ٰى‬
َ !!!”
Come on… 🙄🙄🙄

َ ‫صا ِح ُب ُك ْم َو َما‬
٢ ‫غَو ٰى‬ َ ‫ض َّل‬
َ ‫َما‬
It is such a powerful statement…

It is actually, it is an ugly claim but Allah within that ugliness, he is highlighting something beautiful that
your ugly claim falls apart…. forget even whether you believe in the revelation or not… in the star or
not… the fact that he is your ْ‫صاحِب‬ َ and you know better is “the ultimate proof”…
That itself is “The ultimate proof”…

Subhanallah..

َ ‫صا ِح ُب ُك ْم َو َما‬
٢ ‫غَو ٰى‬ َ ‫ض َّل‬
َ ‫َما‬
This is where we are gonna take our first break…

The End of discussion episode 3…

‫َج َزا ُك ُم هّٰللا ُ َخيْرً ا‬