Az-Zumar · Makki · ayah 69 of 75

Az-Zumar 39:69

وَأَشْرَقَتِ ٱلْأَرْضُ بِنُورِ رَبِّهَا وَوُضِعَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبُ وَجِا۟ىٓءَ بِٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ وَٱلشُّهَدَآءِ وَقُضِىَ بَيْنَهُم بِٱلْحَقِّ وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ

“And the earth will shine with the light of its Lord, and the record [of deeds] will be placed, and the prophets and the witnesses will be brought, and it will be judged between them in truth, and they will not be wronged.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The earth lights up with the light of its Lord, the record is laid down, the witnesses arrive, and every case is settled with truth.

A reflection

One light on the whole stage

Wa-ashraqati al-arḍu bi-nūri rabbihā: and the earth shone with the light of its Lord. The root of ashraqat is the sun coming up and its light spreading over the land. The whole plain of the gathering lights up at once.

The commentaries explain the light in more than one way, and each is careful. Several say it is when the Lord appears to judge between His creation. One report says it is a light Allah creates without sun or moon. Others read the light as His justice, spread across the land. All agree that the light is His, and that it comes for judgement.

Think about what that does to every human stage. Picture an actor who has spent forty years in spotlights. On the last night of his final run, after the audience has gone, he stands alone on the stage. The follow-spot is switched off. The house lights come up, flat and plain. He realises the light was never his. It was rented, for an evening, and aimed at him by someone in a booth.

On that Day there will be no spotlights aimed by anyone else. No ring light, no flattering angle, no curated feed. One light only, and it belongs to the Lord of the earth. Every person stands in it as they truly are.

That should loosen our pride in the small lights we crave now. A sceptic might ask whether a God who floods the stage with His own light is claiming all the attention. But consider the alternative. A judgement lit by human spotlights would favour the famous. His light falls on the forgotten and the celebrated alike.

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.