Al-Anbya · Makki · ayah 103 of 112

Al-Anbya 21:103

لَا يَحْزُنُهُمُ ٱلْفَزَعُ ٱلْأَكْبَرُ وَتَتَلَقَّىٰهُمُ ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةُ هَـٰذَا يَوْمُكُمُ ٱلَّذِى كُنتُمْ تُوعَدُونَ

“They will not be grieved by the greatest terror,[907] and the angels will meet them, [saying], "This is your Day which you have been promised" -”

Saheeh International

Essence

The greatest terror will not grieve them; angels come out to meet them and say: this is your Day, the one you were promised.

A reflection

'Your' Day

Many believers think of the Day of Judgement only as a day of terror. They picture crowds, heat, accounts read out, and the heart contracts. That fear has a place; the Quran itself uses it. But the picture is incomplete.

Listen to what the angels say in this ayah. Hādhā yawmukum: this is your day. Not 'the day', not 'the dreadful day'. Your day. The commentators explain that the angels meet them with congratulations. They say: this is the day of honour from Allah you were promised, the reward for your striving in the world.

The same Day that is the greatest terror for some is described, for others, with a possessive pronoun. It is as if a celebration were held in their name.

Picture a university graduation. A young man in a wheelchair crosses the stage to receive his degree. His mother has driven him to every lecture for four years and slept in the car park through his exams. As he reaches the vice-chancellor, the hall begins to applaud and does not stop. The vice-chancellor leans towards the microphone and says that today belongs to his mother as well. She had always thought of exam days as days of dread. This one, it turns out, was hers.

The narrow image makes the Day only a courtroom. The truer picture is that for those who lived towards it, it is also a homecoming, a day that finally belongs to them.

Fear of the Day is meant to move us. It is not meant to blind us to the welcome Allah describes. Both are true, and the believer is asked to carry both.

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.