Az-Zumar · Makki · ayah 34 of 75

Az-Zumar 39:34

لَهُم مَّا يَشَآءُونَ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ جَزَآءُ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ

“They will have whatever they desire with their Lord. That is the reward of the doers of good -”

Saheeh International

Essence

Those who lived truthfully will have, with their Lord, whatever they wish, the full repayment of those who did things beautifully.

A reflection

The first wish is safety

Lahum mā yashāʾūna ʿinda rabbihim: they will have whatever they wish with their Lord. One commentary pauses on the scope. It does not say 'in Paradise' only. It means everything they wish in the hereafter. Some of what they will wish for comes before Paradise: their sins wiped away, and safety from the greatest terror of that Day.

That changes how the promise sounds. We tend to picture wishes as luxuries: gardens, rivers, reunions. But the first wishes of someone standing on that Day will be simpler. Let me be forgiven. Let me be safe. Let me not be shamed.

Picture the passengers of a plane that has just made an emergency landing in a field. Twenty minutes ago they were thinking about connecting flights and lost luggage. Now, standing in wet grass, nobody asks about luggage. Each of them wants one thing: to know everyone they love is safe.

The ayah promises that even those first, desperate wishes will be met. Then the larger ones after them. Nothing they wish for is excluded, from the most basic to the most beautiful.

It is worth noticing what this does to fear. The terror of the Day is real; the surah does not soften it. But for these people, the very thing they will most want in that moment is already promised.

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.