Ali 'Imran · Madani · ayah 88 of 200

Ali 'Imran 3:88

خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا لَا يُخَفَّفُ عَنْهُمُ ٱلْعَذَابُ وَلَا هُمْ يُنظَرُونَ

“Abiding eternally therein. The punishment will not be lightened for them, nor will they be reprieved,”

Saheeh International

Essence

They remain in it with no lightening of the punishment and no reprieve, because the time for excuses and delays will have passed.

A reflection

The respite is now

A student is given a one-week extension on her dissertation. She spends six days of it reorganising her room, answering messages and promising herself she will start tomorrow. On the seventh day, she asks for another extension. This time the answer is no.

The ayah ends: 'nor will they be reprieved', wa lā hum yunẓarūn. Two modern commentaries explain what is meant. No delay will be granted for an excuse to be offered, or for repentance to be made. A classical commentator gives a second sense too: they will not be looked at, not regarded.

The root n-ẓ-r holds both ideas. It means looking towards something. And waiting for someone was naẓara, as if looking towards the hour he would come.

That is the quiet message of the ayah. There is a time when a reprieve is given, and a time when it is not. The giving is happening now. Every morning we wake is another day of looking towards an hour that has not yet come.

Most of us live as if the extension were endless. We will pray properly next month. We will mend that relationship after the holidays. We will repent once life settles. The ayah does not frighten us for the sake of fear. It reminds us that the respite has an end, and that we are inside it right now.

The best use of a reprieve is to stop needing one. Start today what you have been postponing.

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.