Guidance set against going astray
فَمَنِ ٱهْتَدَىٰ فَإِنَّمَا يَهْتَدِى لِنَفْسِهِۦ وَمَن ضَلَّ
fa-mani ih tadā fa-innamā yahtadī li-nafsihi wa-man ḍall — So whoever is guided is only guided for his own self, and whoever sinks astray
In the verses given, the roots ḍ-l-l and h-d-y are repeatedly placed in the same clause or sentence as two opposed movements — being guided and going astray — often in parallel verb pairs, so that each term defines the other's absence.
In the verses given, the two roots appear together in several recurring patterns. One is the balanced conditional pair: 'whoever is guided... and whoever sinks astray' (10:108, 17:15, 39:41, 27:92), where perfect forms of each root answer each other in parallel clauses, with imperfect forms continuing the outcome (10:108, 17:15), and the outcome is attached to the self: 'he is only guided for his own self' (10:108, 17:15, 39:41, 27:92); (53:30) pairs the roots differently, after 'knows best who...'. A second pattern is the exchange frame: 'they bought misguidance with guidance' (2:16), where the accusative noun al-ḍalāla and the genitive noun al-hudā are set as the two goods of a trade, and the buyers end up 'not (of) the guided'. A third is the divine-action pair: 'whoever Allah guides... and whoever He lets go astray' (7:178), 'He lets sink into error whom He wills and guides whom He wills' (35:8), and in (6:144) the Form IV 'to lead people astray' belongs to a human fabricator, set against Allah's negative 'does not guide the wrongdoing people'. A fourth is the temporal contrast: 'remember Him as He guided you, while you were... among those astray' (2:198), and 'If my Lord does not guide me, I will surely be among the misguided people' (6:77), where guidance is the condition on which being among the misguided turns. In (20:79) the pair is compressed into one clause — 'he caused his people to go astray, and he did not guide' — and in (30:53) the guide is said to be unable to lead the blind 'away from their straying'. Across these verses the two roots function as complementary poles: whichever direction a person or group is placed in, the other is what they have left or failed to reach.
Where it occurs
- 2:16 Sets al-ḍalāla and al-hudā as the two goods of a purchase, ending with the buyers 'not (of) the guided'.
- 2:198 Contrasts God's past guidance of the addressees with their earlier state 'among those astray'.
- 6:77 Sets a conditional 'if my Lord does not guide me' against the resulting state 'among the misguided people'.
- 6:144 Places a human act of leading people astray (Form IV) against the statement that Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.
- 7:178 Balances 'whoever Allah guides' with 'whoever He lets go astray' as two divine acts with two outcomes.
- 10:108 Pairs perfect and imperfect forms of both roots in parallel clauses, each outcome attached to the self.
- 16:36 Divides a community into 'those whom God guided' and those 'upon whom misguidance became binding'.
- 17:15 Repeats the paired conditional clauses of guidance and going astray, each 'for' or 'against' one's own self.
- 20:79 Compresses the contrast into one clause: Pharaoh led his people astray and did not guide.
- 27:92 Pairs 'whoever has followed guidance' with 'whoever has gone astray', the latter met with the speaker's warning role.
- 30:53 States the guide cannot lead the blind 'away from their straying', tying the two roots in one construction.
- 35:8 Sets 'lets sink into error whom He wills' beside 'guides whom He wills' as parallel divine acts.
- 39:41 Repeats the paired conditional clauses attaching guidance and straying to the self.
- 53:30 Presents God as knowing best both 'who has sunk away from His path' and 'who has found guidance'.
All Qur'anic expressions