Al-Mu'minun · Makki · ayah 85 of 118

Al-Mu'minun 23:85

سَيَقُولُونَ لِلَّهِ ۚ قُلْ أَفَلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ

“They will say, "To Allāh." Say, "Then will you not remember?"”

Saheeh International

Essence

Their answer was right and was foretold before they gave it; what they lacked was not knowledge but remembering what it meant.

A reflection

The answer written down before they spoke

A mother hears her teenage son's key in the door at midnight, an hour after curfew. Before he reaches the kitchen, she writes on a sticky note: the bus didn't come. He walks in and says, breathless, 'The bus didn't come.' She turns the note round.

The ayah opens with the answer before it is given. Sa-yaqūlūna li-llāh: they will say, to Allah. One commentary points this out. The question in the previous ayah was asked, and the reply was announced in advance, because plain reason would force them to admit it. A concise commentary adds the word ḥatman: they will certainly confess it.

There is a quiet majesty in that. The people of Makkah thought of themselves as free, unpredictable debaters. They prided themselves on their eloquence and their cleverness in argument. Yet their reply was known and written down before they opened their mouths.

The ego prizes its sense of surprise. We like to think we keep people guessing, that our next move is our own secret. Before Allah, there is no secret move. He knows what we will say, as He knows what we have said.

Does He need us to confess? No. The earth is His whether anyone says so or not. The confession is recorded for their sake: it is the evidence they will carry with them.

There is mercy here too. A Lord who knows your answer before you speak is also a Lord who knows the prayer you have not yet found words for. You do not need to perform for Him, or to win the argument. You only need to stop pretending you can surprise Him.

That can be a relief rather than a threat. So much of our energy goes into managing how we appear. Before the One who already knows the answer, the managing can stop.

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.