Al-Anbya · Makki · ayah 111 of 112

Al-Anbya 21:111

وَإِنْ أَدْرِى لَعَلَّهُۥ فِتْنَةٌ لَّكُمْ وَمَتَـٰعٌ إِلَىٰ حِينٍ

“And I know not; perhaps it[912] is a trial for you and enjoyment for a time."”

Saheeh International

Essence

The Messenger does not know why the reckoning waits; perhaps the delay is itself a test, and a brief enjoyment, for those it spares.

A reflection

Why the wrongdoer still prospers

One of the oldest objections to faith is simple. If God is just, why do the wicked prosper? Why does punishment not fall at once on those who mock, cheat and oppress?

This ayah meets that objection head on, and from an unexpected angle. The Prophet ﷺ is told to say: I do not know; perhaps it is a trial for you, and an enjoyment for a while.

The commentators explain what 'it' refers to: the delay. One early commentator puts the Prophet's words this way. If He postpones His punishment from you, I do not know the reason. Perhaps the postponement is a test He intends for you, and a chance to enjoy your lives until an appointed term. Another adds: it is a trial, to see how you act, though He knows best.

So the delay is not evidence that no one is watching. It is part of the test. Ease given to the wrongdoer is itself a question being asked of him.

Picture a journalist who spent four years exposing a charity director who had quietly diverted donations to his own accounts. The case collapses on a technicality. Within a year the man launches a new venture, with a glossy website and a ribbon-cutting photograph. The journalist stares at the photo for a long time. Her editor says only: the story isn't over because the court case is.

What remains open is why Allah gives one person more time than another, and the Prophet himself said he did not know. What is not open is the ending. The respite has a term, ilā ḥīn, 'until a time'. It runs out.

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.