Ash-Shu'ara · Makki · ayah 38 of 227

Ash-Shu'ara 26:38

فَجُمِعَ ٱلسَّحَرَةُ لِمِيقَـٰتِ يَوْمٍ مَّعْلُومٍ

“So the magicians were assembled for the appointment of a well-known day.[1049]”

Saheeh International

Essence

The magicians were gathered for a fixed hour on a known day, in words the Quran uses again for the appointment no one will miss.

A reflection

The same three words for another appointment

Li-mīqāti yawmin maʿlūm: for the appointed time of a known day. Those exact words return in Surat al-Waqiʿah. There Allah says that the first and the last will be gathered ilā mīqāti yawmin maʿlūm (56:49-50). The verb is the same root too: here jumiʿa, gathered; there majmūʿūn, ones who will be gathered.

Read side by side, the two ayat open each other. In Egypt, a king set a date, and officers combed the cities to bring the magicians in. In Al-Waqiʿah, the date is set by Allah, and no one needs fetching. Every human being who ever lived will simply be there.

Notice the word maʿlūm, known. The magicians' day was known in the plain sense. It was announced and fixed on the calendar. The great day is 'known' in a deeper sense. It is fixed and certain with Allah, even though its date is hidden from us. We know that it is coming. We do not know when.

An old man keeps his burial shroud folded and ironed in a drawer of his wardrobe. His grandchildren find it eerie. He finds it calming. He does not know the date it will be needed. He only knows it will be, and he would rather be ready than surprised.

That is the posture the echo invites. The magicians had weeks to prepare for their known day, and they prepared ropes and staffs. Our appointment is just as fixed, and far more important. What are we preparing for ours, and with what?

The answer need not be dramatic. A debt repaid, a prayer guarded, an apology finally made. Small acts, done because the day is known even if its hour is not.

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.