Taha · Makki · ayah 100 of 135

Taha 20:100

مَّنْ أَعْرَضَ عَنْهُ فَإِنَّهُۥ يَحْمِلُ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ وِزْرًا

“Whoever turns away from it - then indeed, he will bear on the Day of Resurrection a burden [i.e., great sin],”

Saheeh International

Essence

Turning your side to the Reminder seems weightless now; on the Day of standing it becomes a load carried on the back.

A reflection

Turning the shoulder

Whoever turns away from it. The verb is aʿraḍa, and its root, ʿ-r-ḍ, has a picture established in the lexicons. A stick is laid across the mouth of a vessel: something set crosswise that blocks the way. To aʿraḍa is to set yourself sideways to something, to present your side rather than your face.

That is a precise description of how most people turn from the Quran. Very few stand facing it and argue. Far more simply turn a shoulder. The Reminder is in front of them, and they shift slightly, so that it meets their side rather than their eyes.

The commentaries describe what that turning includes. A concise commentary says: did not believe in it. Several others widen it: did not believe in it, and did not act on what is in it. A narration-based commentary adds: and sought guidance from something else.

Picture a teenager at the family dinner table. His grandfather begins to talk about a verse he read that morning. The boy does not object. He does not argue. He simply angles himself a few degrees towards his phone, and the words land on his shoulder. The grandfather notices, and stops. Nothing was said, and something was refused.

Most of us do this in quieter ways. A verse unsettles us, and we change the subject. A reminder arrives, and we nod without turning towards it. A Friday sermon touches a nerve, and we decide the imam is being harsh. Each is a small sideways turn.

The ayah does not describe a single dramatic act of rejection. It describes a posture. And postures harden. A body that keeps turning its side to something eventually forgets how to face it.

The remedy is equally simple, and equally physical. When the Reminder speaks, turn your face to it. Put the phone down. Look at the page. Let the words land on your eyes, not your shoulder.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.