Az-Zumar · Makki · ayah 47 of 75

Az-Zumar 39:47

وَلَوْ أَنَّ لِلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا۟ مَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا وَمِثْلَهُۥ مَعَهُۥ لَٱفْتَدَوْا۟ بِهِۦ مِن سُوٓءِ ٱلْعَذَابِ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ ۚ وَبَدَا لَهُم مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ مَا لَمْ يَكُونُوا۟ يَحْتَسِبُونَ

“And if those who did wrong had all that is in the earth entirely and the like of it with it, they would [attempt to] ransom themselves thereby from the worst of the punishment on the Day of Resurrection. And there will appear to them from Allāh that which they had not taken into account.[1352]”

Saheeh International

Essence

The whole earth twice over would buy no way out on that Day, and what appears from Allah is what nobody counted on.

A reflection

Not in their accounts

The ayah ends with a phrase that has unsettled careful readers for centuries. Wa-badā lahum mina Allāhi mā lam yakūnū yaḥtasibūn: there will appear to them from Allah what they had never reckoned with.

Two words carry the weight. The first is yaḥtasibūn. Its root is counting. Accounts in trade were ḥisāb, the lexicons say, because by them you know what suffices, with nothing over and nothing short. To iḥtasaba something is to enter it into your reckoning. What appears on that Day was never entered. It was not in their books at all.

One commentary puts it this way. Of Allah's displeasure and punishment, there will appear what had never entered their calculations, and what they had never let themselves think about.

The second word is badā, it appeared. The root means a thing coming into view. A near-synonym lexicon notes that this kind of appearing happens without anyone intending it. Lightning appears. Dawn appears. Nobody sends for them.

Put together, the picture is of a ledger kept carefully for a lifetime, with one entry missing. And on the Day, that missing entry appears, unbidden, like lightning across the whole sheet.

Most people keep some kind of account of their lives. Achievements, debts, good turns, grievances. The ayah asks a quiet question about that ledger. What is not in it? What have I simply never let into my calculations, because thinking about it was uncomfortable?

The answer is often the very thing that matters most. The meeting with Allah sits in many ledgers as a line that is 'always later'. The ayah warns that it does not stay later, and that when it arrives, it does not wait to be entered.

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.