Taha · Makki · ayah 103 of 135

Taha 20:103

يَتَخَـٰفَتُونَ بَيْنَهُمْ إِن لَّبِثْتُمْ إِلَّا عَشْرًا

“They will murmur among themselves, "You remained not but ten [days in the world]."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Those who once spoke so loudly now whisper to each other a single verdict on their whole life: it lasted only ten.

A reflection

The loud become whisperers

They will whisper among themselves. The verb yatakhāfatūna describes speech so low it is barely there. An early report in a narration-based commentary glosses it: they speak secretly to one another. A concise commentary: they murmur.

The root, as the Word Dictionary records from the classical sources, has a striking range. Khufūt is a voice dropped very low. The same quieting describes a weak, stunted crop that barely rises from the soil, and a last breath. The image is held as one view, and it is a powerful one. Speech has lost its strength, like a plant that has lost its growth.

Why do they whisper? A rhetorical commentary answers: because of the terror and dread that fill their chests.

Think who these people are. In the previous ayat they turned away from the Reminder, and in this world they were often the loudest voices in the room. They mocked, argued, dismissed and declared. They had platforms, followers, the last word in every dinner-table debate.

On the Day, their voices fall to a murmur. The confidence that powered their speech is gone. They lean towards one another and whisper, the way people do in a hospital corridor when the news is bad.

Picture a man known in his family for his booming voice and his opinions on everything. At every wedding he holds court. Then his wife collapses at home and is rushed to intensive care. In the relatives' room at two in the morning, he speaks so quietly his own brother has to lean in to hear him. Nobody has ever heard him whisper before.

The ayah invites a sober reflection on our own volume. What do we speak loudly about now that we will only be able to whisper about then? A voice spent declaring what does not matter will have little left when it is needed. A voice spent in remembrance of Allah will not be ashamed.

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.