As-Sajdah · Makki · ayah 12 of 30

As-Sajdah 32:12

وَلَوْ تَرَىٰٓ إِذِ ٱلْمُجْرِمُونَ نَاكِسُوا۟ رُءُوسِهِمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ رَبَّنَآ أَبْصَرْنَا وَسَمِعْنَا فَٱرْجِعْنَا نَعْمَلْ صَـٰلِحًا إِنَّا مُوقِنُونَ

“If you could but see when the criminals are hanging their heads before their Lord, [saying], "Our Lord, we have seen and heard, so return us [to the world]; we will work righteousness. Indeed, we are [now] certain."”

Saheeh International

Essence

The head that refused to bow will hang before its Lord, saying the right words too late; today they still work.

A reflection

Two ways to lower a head

Most readers file this ayah under 'them'. The criminals, the deniers, a crowd at the Judgement with their heads down. It is a scene we watch, not one we are in.

But look at who the ayah is speaking to. Wa-law tarā: 'if you could see'. One commentary says the 'you' is anyone at all who is able to see. The scene is held up so that the reader can look at it now, while looking still changes something.

Then look at the posture. Nākisū ruʾūsihim: their heads hung low. The root pictures a thing turned over on its head. An arrow whose nock had broken was reversed, so its head end became its tail. A horse earned this word when weakness stopped its head riding high. The heads that rode high in Makkah, scoffing at the return, are now carried like broken arrows.

And look at where it happens: ʿinda rabbihim, 'before their Lord'. One theological commentary stops on that phrase. It shows the extremity of their shame, it says. When someone wrongs the one who raised him, and then stands in front of him, the shame is total. Rabb is the One who raised them, fed them and brought them to maturity.

Picture a grown son in his mother's kitchen. She has just found out he has been taking money from her account for a year. She does not shout. She raised him; she simply looks at him. He finds he cannot lift his eyes from the floor tiles. A stranger's anger he could have met. A judge's sentence he could have endured. Her face he cannot.

That is the shame of this ayah. Not the shame of being caught by a judge, but of standing before the One who raised you, having spent His gifts against Him.

This surah is known by the name of prostration, and three ayat later believers 'fall down in prostration' when reminded. Every head will be lowered before its Lord in the end. The only question is whether it bows now, freely, or hangs then, in shame.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.