In His (subhanahu wa ta’ala) words:
فَٱسۡتَقِيمُوٓاْ إِلَيۡهِ وَٱسۡتَغۡفِرُوهُ
“So be straight with Him and ask His forgiveness,” there is an indication that it is unavoidable that there will be shortcomings in the going unswervingly straight ahead with which we are commanded, and that that is repaired by the act of seeking forgiveness, which is a requirement of turning in tawbah, and returning to travelling unswervingly straight ahead. So that it is like the words of the Prophet (peace be upon him) to Mu’adh, “Have taqwa of Allah wherever you are and follow up a wrong action with a good action which will efface it.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) already informed us that people are unable to travel unswervingly straight ahead as they ought, as Imam Ahmad and Ibn Majah narrated in the hadith of Thawban that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Go unswervingly straight ahead and you will not be able to fully accomplish [it]. Know that the best of our actions is the prayer. Only a mu’min safeguards wudu’.” In the narration of Imam Ahmad, “Hit the mark or close to it.”
Hitting the mark is the reality of going unswervingly straight ahead, and it is to hit the mark in every word and deed and in all purposes and intentions, just as the one who shoots at the target and hits it. The Prophet (peace be upon him) ordered ‘Ali to ask Allah for [the quality of] hitting the mark and guidance, and he said to him, “Remember by hitting the mark, your directing the arrow [to its target] aright, and by guidance, your guiding [someone] on the pathway.”
Coming close to it is that someone hits that which is close to the target if he doesn’t hit the target itself, but with the proviso that he should be determined to hit the mark and strike the target, so that his coming close to the target [and not hitting it] is unintentional. The words of the Prophet (peace be upon him) show that, in the hadith of al-Hakam ibn Hazan al-Kulafi, “People, you will never do or you will never be able to do everything that I tell you, but aim to hit the mark and rejoice,” meaning, intend to direct things aright and to hit the mark and to go unswervingly straight ahead, because if they aim to hit the mark in every action, they will have done everything that they have been commanded to do.
— Ibn Rajab, Jami’ul ‘uloom wal-‘hikm
If you found this post beneficial, please share and subscribe below.
Qur'anic Reflections 
Leave a comment