Fatir · Makki · ayah 4 of 45

Fatir 35:4

وَإِن يُكَذِّبُوكَ فَقَدْ كُذِّبَتْ رُسُلٌ مِّن قَبْلِكَ ۚ وَإِلَى ٱللَّهِ تُرْجَعُ ٱلْأُمُورُ

“And if they deny you, [O Muḥammad] - already were messengers denied before you. And to Allāh are returned [all] matters.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Being disbelieved is the old road every messenger walked, and every matter, yours and theirs, is sent back to Allah in the end.

A reflection

Where every misrouted bag ends up

Somewhere near a large airport is a warehouse few travellers ever see. Bags that missed their flights, lost their tags or went to the wrong continent all end up there. Weeks later, each is matched, opened if need be, and sent on. A bag can be lost for a while. It cannot leave the system.

The last words of this ayah describe something far greater. Wa-ilā Allāhi turjaʿu al-umūr: and to Allah all matters are returned. The phrase 'to Allah' comes first in the Arabic. One commentator reads that order as exclusive: to Him, and to no one else.

The verb is passive. Matters do not wander home on their own. They are sent back, like a file returned to the desk that issued it. The same commentator noted that some readers recite an active form, 'matters return'. He judged the passive reading the more awe-inspiring of the two.

The lexicons picture the root as going back to where you started: a traveller coming home, rain that comes round again. Every matter began with Him, and every matter is carried back to Him.

This is where our pride loosens its grip. We like to think we have the last word. The critic who writes the final review. The family member who wins the argument. The crowd that votes a messenger down. The ayah says none of these verdicts is final. Each is a bag in transit.

Is it arrogant for Allah to say every matter must come back to Him? Only if He needed the last word to feel secure. He does not. It is simply the truth of a world He made, and it is good news for anyone wronged.

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.