Ash-Shu'ara · Makki · ayah 92 of 227

Ash-Shu'ara 26:92

وَقِيلَ لَهُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ تَعْبُدُونَ

“And it will be said to them, "Where are those you used to worship”

Saheeh International

Essence

On the Day, those who served false gods are asked one word, where, and the things they used to worship are nowhere.

A reflection

The same three words, turned inside out

Ayna mā kuntum: where is what you used to... These three words open the question put to the worshippers on the Day. Where is what you used to worship?

The same three words appear, letter for letter, in another surah. There they carry the opposite news. 'And He is with you wherever you are' (57:4). In Arabic: wa huwa maʿakum ayna mā kuntum.

The grammar turns them inside out. Here ayna asks 'where?', and mā kuntum means 'what you used to'. There, the words run together to mean 'wherever you are'. One is a question with no answer. The other is a statement with no exceptions.

Set them side by side, and much of this surah's argument sits in six words. Everything a person serves besides Allah will one day be asked about with 'where'. And Allah is the One about whom 'where' never has to be asked. He is with you, wherever you are, and the same ayah adds that He sees what you do.

Think about what an idol needs. It has to be put somewhere: a shelf, a shrine, a niche in a wall. Someone has to carry it there and dust it. When the Day came, the commentaries say, these gods could not even save themselves. They had always been carried; now there was no one to carry them.

A Lord who is with you wherever you are needs no carrying. He is not left behind when you move house, lose your job or lie in a hospital bed. You do not have to find Him. You only have to turn.

So try the test of the three words on whatever you lean on most. Ask of it: where will it be? Then ask the same of your Lord, and listen to the answer He has already given.

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.