Sad · Makki · ayah 16 of 88

Sad 38:16

وَقَالُوا۟ رَبَّنَا عَجِّل لَّنَا قِطَّنَا قَبْلَ يَوْمِ ٱلْحِسَابِ

“And they say, "Our Lord, hasten for us our share [of the punishment] before the Day of Account."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Told every soul would be handed its record on the Day of Account, the mockers asked for theirs now, in the words of prayer.

A reflection

A torn stub with your name on it

The word at the centre of this ayah is small and sharp: qiṭṭ. Its root means to cut something crosswise, cleanly, the way a scribe trims the nib of a reed pen. A qiṭṭ was the piece cut off. From there it came to mean a portion, a person's share of something.

Then it became a piece of writing. A pre-Islamic poet praised a king who handed out quṭūṭ: written notes promising a gift. Each was a slip cut from the sheet, with a name on it, to be exchanged later. The commentaries note that the word was used most often of a written page.

Picture the stub a dry cleaner tears from a numbered ticket book and hands across the counter. The scrap is worthless in itself. But it says what is yours, and you keep it until collection day.

Now hear the ayah. The Quran had spoken of records handed to each soul on the Day of Account. Some take theirs in the right hand, some in the left (69:19, 69:25). A concise commentary and an early report say this ayah followed those words. The mockers answered: Our Lord, hurry our stub to us. Let us see our page now, before the Day.

The commentators list what they meant, and the list is wide. Their record of deeds. Their share of the punishment they were warned of. Their share of the Garden, if it existed. Even their provision. One commentator weighs all of it and concludes they asked for their written share, good or bad, in mockery of the warning.

So qiṭṭ is not simply a word for punishment. It is the document of what is due to you. That is what makes the joke so bleak. They laughed at the idea of a page with their name on it. The page was being written while they laughed.

Every day adds a line to yours. The question is not whether it exists, but what it will say when it is handed to you.

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.