At-Takathur · Makki · ayah 7 of 8

At-Takathur 102:7

ثُمَّ لَتَرَوُنَّهَا عَيْنَ ٱلْيَقِينِ

“Then you will surely see it with the eye of certainty.[1982]”

Saheeh International

Essence

First the fire is known, then it is seen with certainty itself; wisdom is seeing it with the heart while there is still time.

A reflection

Certainty itself

Everything in the root of ʿayn grows from the eye. A spring is an ʿayn, water welling up clear like an eye. A scout sent to see is an ʿayn. The leading people of a community are its aʿyān, as the eye is the finest part of the face. And the ʿayn of a thing is the thing itself, its very self.

So ʿayn al-yaqīn can be heard two ways at once: certainty by the eye, and certainty itself. One commentator explains it as the seeing that is the very core of certainty. Another adds why: of all the ways a thing can be uncovered to us, sight is the fullest. Nothing reveals like looking.

Later writers describe a ladder. Every thinking person knows he will die: that is ʿilm al-yaqīn, certainty by knowledge. When he sees the angels at his death, that is ʿayn al-yaqīn, certainty by sight. When he tastes death, that is ḥaqq al-yaqīn, certainty by experience. The commentary that records the ladder notes that these are terms of later scholars, but the ayah invites them.

Think of a storm. First the forecast: you know it is coming. Then the black cloud over the rooftops: you see it. Then you are drenched. Three certainties about one storm, each deeper than the last.

This surah moves you up that ladder in two ayat. The previous ayah said you would know; this one says you will see with the eye of certainty itself.

The question it leaves is how far up you need to be before you take an umbrella. Most of us wait for the cloud. The wise act on the forecast.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.