Az-Zumar · Makki · ayah 48 of 75

Az-Zumar 39:48

وَبَدَا لَهُمْ سَيِّـَٔاتُ مَا كَسَبُوا۟ وَحَاقَ بِهِم مَّا كَانُوا۟ بِهِۦ يَسْتَهْزِءُونَ

“And there will appear to them the evils they had earned, and they will be enveloped by what they used to ridicule.”

Saheeh International

Essence

On the Day, what people gathered comes home to them, and what they laughed at closes around them.

A reflection

The catch the falcon brings home

The verb is kasabū: what they earned, what they gathered. The lexicons give it a hunter's picture. Hunting animals were called kawāsib, the gatherers. Think of a falcon returning to the wrist with its catch. Whatever you bring home at the end of the day is your kasb.

One commentary offers two readings of what 'appears' here. It may be the evil deeds themselves, shown when the records are opened, which had been hidden from them. Elsewhere the Quran says Allah has counted them, while they forgot them (58:6). Or it may be the punishments they earned. These are called 'evils', just as another ayah calls the recompense of an evil an evil like it (42:40).

Either way, the picture is the same. The falcon flew out a thousand times over a lifetime. Each time it brought something back. Most of it was forgotten the same evening. On the Day, the whole catch is laid out at once.

Almost the same sentence appears in Surah Al-Jathiyah (45:33). Its repetition is itself a warning. Nothing gathered is lost along the way.

The full entry has 2 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.