Al-Anbya · Makki · ayah 37 of 112

Al-Anbya 21:37

خُلِقَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ مِنْ عَجَلٍ ۚ سَأُو۟رِيكُمْ ءَايَـٰتِى فَلَا تَسْتَعْجِلُونِ

“Man was created of haste [i.e., impatience]. I will show you My signs [i.e., vengeance], so do not impatiently urge Me.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Haste runs so deep in us that we seem made of it; He shows His signs in His own time.

A reflection

His time, not ours

Sa-urīkum āyātī fa-lā tastaʿjilūn: I will show you My signs, so do not ask Me to hasten. The voice is now first person singular. Not "We", but "I". The opponents had been demanding the punishment they were warned of. When is this promise, if you are truthful? (21:38). The answer does not argue about the date. It simply says: I will show you, and you do not set the time.

A narration-based commentary sees a second audience here. When the mockers of the Prophet ﷺ were mentioned, it says, people's hearts longed for swift revenge on them, and grew impatient. So the ayah speaks to them as well. Allah gives the wrongdoer respite, and when He takes him, He does not let him go. He delays and then hastens. He gives time, and then does not postpone.

Picture a man going through a hard year who finally kneels to pray after a long gap. Halfway through, a thought forms that he would never say aloud. If You are really there, sort this out by the end of the month. He finishes, half-ashamed, half-defiant. The month passes. Nothing obvious changes. He is tempted to conclude that nobody was listening.

The ayah meets that thought with gentle firmness. Our pride wants God to keep our calendar. We set deadlines for Him as if He were a contractor running late. But the One who made the night and day (21:33) does not take His schedule from us.

A sceptic may say this is a convenient way to excuse a God who never acts. The commentaries answer with the ayah's own wording: "I will show you". It is a promise, not an evasion. The delay is not absence. It is respite for those who might still turn, and time for those who are waiting to grow.

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.