“Therefore, flee to Allah. Verily, I am a clear (or plain) warner to you from Him”.
Immediate call to action Flee to, not from Pairs that point to the One
Overview
فَفِرُّوا إِلَى اللَّهِ “Therefore, flee to Allah” – This comes after Allah informing us that He created everything in pairs so that we may remember and reflect. It is as if we will be immersed in the world witnessing the pairs of all things and the more that we observe of this world the more we will be the opposite of الْخَرَّاصُونَthose who habitually make up lies based on conjecture mentioned earlier in this Surah: الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِي غَمْرَةٍ سَاهُونَThose who are in a flood of heedlessness. We will see the beauty of Allah’s creation in pairs and it will remind you of the only One who can never be paired, and that’s Allah. As such everything you observe will make you run towards Allah.
Pairs → remembrance and reflection Run towards Allah
Language points and insights
Shift in address
فَفِرُّوا إِلَى اللَّهِ “Therefore, flee to Allah” is a shift in language. In the previous verses the pronoun “We” was used and here the fleeing is directly to Allah.
This change firstly refreshes the discourse and secondly the first person in “we” indicates a closeness whilst the third person of “Allah” which is equivalent to “He” is in the third person which implies distance.
This prods the listener to think that he is not close enough to Allah and that there is some distance to reach Him. The statement “Run to me” sounds like the destination is close but if you hear “Run to Allah” it makes the destination further away and makes you feel that you have a lot more running to do.
Fleeing to vs. fleeing from
فِرُّوا (Firroo) is from the verb فَرَّ (Farra) which means “to flee” and it is usually used in the context of fleeing and running away from something to escape something threatening. However here it is used with إِلَى (Ilaa) which means “To or towards”.
This inversion of fleeing to something instead of from it invites the listener to reflect: If I am to flee to Allah, what am I fleeing from?
Fleeing has an urgency and desperation attached to it. It is a state of emergency and فَفِرُّوا إِلَى اللَّهِ “Therefore, flee to Allah” is a call for immediate action.
No refuge except to Him
وَظَنُّوا أَن لَّا مَلْجَأَ مِنَ اللَّهِ إِلَّا إِلَيْهِ “And they realised that there is no refuge from Allah except to Him”.
Usually, when you are afraid or terrified from something you flee and run away from it, but the believer realises that there is no way to flee from Allah except to run towards Him.
He is both the only One who we should truly fear and the only One who can save us. The believer realises that there is no escape or way out for him except to flee to Allah.
نَذِيرٌ (Nadheer) and the tone of the Surah
The Messenger ﷺ is both a بَشِير (Basheer) “Giver of good tidings/news” and a نَذِيرٌ (Nadheer) “Warner”.
Because he is being highlighted as a warner here it provides for us the tone of the Surah.
Basheer — Giver of good tidings/news Nadheer — Warner
From pairs to the One
Pairs and reflection
Allah created everything in pairs so that we may remember and reflect.
Away from conjecture and heedlessness
Observing the world makes us the opposite of الْخَرَّاصُونَ “those who habitually make up lies based on conjecture” and of الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِي غَمْرَةٍ سَاهُونَ “Those who are in a flood of heedlessness”.
The One without pair
Seeing the beauty of creation in pairs reminds you of the only One who can never be paired — Allah — and makes you run towards Him.