Ghafir · Makki · ayah 17 of 85

Ghafir 40:17

ٱلْيَوْمَ تُجْزَىٰ كُلُّ نَفْسٍۭ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ ۚ لَا ظُلْمَ ٱلْيَوْمَ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ سَرِيعُ ٱلْحِسَابِ

“This Day every soul will be recompensed for what it earned. No injustice today! Indeed, Allāh is swift in account.”

Saheeh International

Essence

That Day every soul is paid exactly what it earned, nothing is put out of place, and the reckoning of all creation is swift.

A reflection

The One who forbade injustice to Himself

Lā ẓulma al-yawm: no injustice today. Three words, spoken by the One who has just been declared the only King.

The Prophet ﷺ conveyed what Allah says about this. O My servants, I have forbidden injustice for Myself, and made it forbidden among you, so do not wrong one another. And later in the same words: O My servants, it is only your deeds that I count for you. Then I pay you in full for them. Whoever finds good, let him praise Allah. Whoever finds otherwise, let him blame no one but himself. Sahih Muslim records it.

Think about what that means. The One with absolute power, whom nothing can resist or question, has forbidden Himself to wrong anyone. One commentary adds what the Day looks like as a result. A good deed is repaid tenfold; a bad deed is repaid once.

Now compare human power. A local official approves his cousin's planning application and delays a stranger's. A manager overlooks a favourite's mistakes and documents a rival's. Most of us, given a little power, bend it a little towards ourselves. Few would call it injustice. We call it looking after our own.

That is where pride hides in plain sight. We demand perfect fairness when we are on the receiving end, and practise it selectively when we hold the pen.

The ayah shames that habit at its root. If the One who answers to no one has bound Himself to justice, what excuse does anyone with borrowed authority have? Being fair is not beneath the powerful. It is what the Most Powerful has chosen for Himself.

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.