Al-Furqan · Makki · ayah 21 of 77

Al-Furqan 25:21

۞ وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَرْجُونَ لِقَآءَنَا لَوْلَآ أُنزِلَ عَلَيْنَا ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةُ أَوْ نَرَىٰ رَبَّنَا ۗ لَقَدِ ٱسْتَكْبَرُوا۟ فِىٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ وَعَتَوْ عُتُوًّا كَبِيرًا

“And those who do not expect the meeting with Us say, "Why were not angels sent down to us, or [why] do we [not] see our Lord?" They have certainly become arrogant within themselves[1013] and [become] insolent with great insolence.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Those who never expect to meet Allah demand angels or a sight of Him; the reply names the real obstacle, a swollen self.

A reflection

Setting the terms of a gift

The ayah reports a demand, then gives a verdict. The verdict is not about evidence. La-qadi istakbarū fī anfusihim: they have certainly grown great in their own eyes. It does not call them confused, or short of information. It names pride.

One classical commentator explains the charge with a picture. A great king, out of mercy, sends a gift to a poor man. The poor man turns it over and starts to argue. Not this, he says. I want that. Anyone watching would say this beggar has grown great in himself and gone too far. He has forgotten his own size.

That is the shape of the demand. Quraysh had been sent a man from among themselves, and a Book they could not match. Their reply was to set the terms of proof. Send the angels down to us. Better still, let us see our Lord.

Think of a student whose university fees are paid every term by someone who will not give a name. One year he writes to the bursar. He will accept no more money, he says, until the donor appears in person and explains himself. He is being carried, and he wants to set the conditions of the carrying.

The same commentator adds a sharper point. To insist that only one particular sign will do is to claim you know where every sign leads. That is a claim to knowledge only Allah has. It turns a servant who asks into a rival who negotiates.

Another commentator reads fī anfusihim as 'inside themselves'. The pride was lodged in the heart first, and kept there. The demand was only its sound reaching the tongue.

So the ayah turns to anyone who has ever said, 'I would believe if only…'. Its question is not whether we may ask. It is the tone we ask in, and who we imagine ourselves to be while we ask.

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.