Taha · Makki · ayah 15 of 135

Taha 20:15

إِنَّ ٱلسَّاعَةَ ءَاتِيَةٌ أَكَادُ أُخْفِيهَا لِتُجْزَىٰ كُلُّ نَفْسٍۭ بِمَا تَسْعَىٰ

“Indeed, the Hour is coming - I almost conceal it[833] - so that every soul may be recompensed according to that for which it strives.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The Hour is already on its way, its time kept almost hidden even in the telling, so that every effort will meet its due.

A reflection

Already on its way

The ayah does not say the Hour will come. It says ātiyatun: it is coming, an active word, as if already travelling. One commentator explains the choice. The Hour is spoken of as arriving to make its occurrence certain, presenting it as something already on the road towards the listener.

And its timing is held by Allah alone. With Allah is the knowledge of the Hour (31:34). Even a prophet on a holy mountain is told only that it is coming, not when.

This is humbling for a species that measures everything. We can time a light from the far side of a galaxy. We can schedule a satellite's orbit decades ahead. We fill calendars a year in advance. Yet the one date that matters most to every human being, the end of their world, is not in any diary.

That should shrink the pride we take in our control. Every plan we make sits on top of a day we cannot see. The confident planner and the anxious one stand on the same uncertain floor.

Someone may ask why Allah speaks of keeping such knowledge to Himself. Is it to emphasise His superiority? The ayah's own answer is in its last words: so that every soul may be repaid for what it strives. The hiddenness is not for His sake. It is for ours, so that our effort stays honest every day.

A man nearing retirement once realised that he had planned every year of his pension and not one hour of his death. He did not panic. He simply began to pray more carefully.

Take one plan you are proud of. Say in shāʾ Allāh over it sincerely. Then ask yourself what you would change if the Hour, already on its way, arrived first.

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.