Ghafir · Makki · ayah 77 of 85

Ghafir 40:77

فَٱصْبِرْ إِنَّ وَعْدَ ٱللَّهِ حَقٌّ ۚ فَإِمَّا نُرِيَنَّكَ بَعْضَ ٱلَّذِى نَعِدُهُمْ أَوْ نَتَوَفَّيَنَّكَ فَإِلَيْنَا يُرْجَعُونَ

“So be patient, [O Muḥammad]; indeed, the promise of Allāh is truth. And whether We show you some of what We have promised them or We take you in death, it is to Us they will be returned.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Be patient: Allah's promise is true; whether the Prophet sees part of it in his lifetime or not, every soul returns to Allah.

A reflection

Everyone goes home

Fa-ilaynā yurjaʿūn. To Us they will be returned.

The word order puts the weight on ilaynā, to Us. Not to the grave, not to dust, not to nothing. To Us.

The root r-j-ʿ has warm pictures in the lexicons. Going back to where you started. The traveller coming home. The rain that comes again. Every soul returning to its Lord. This is established.

So the ayah's last phrase speaks of a homecoming, though for these people it is a homecoming they dreaded. Those who disputed Allah's signs, mocked His messenger and swaggered on the earth will be returned to the very One they denied. No one escapes the return.

That shrinks every ego. The most powerful person on earth, the most celebrated, the most defiant, will be returned like everyone else. They will not choose the time, the manner or the destination of their return.

A man leaves his village at eighteen, swearing never to come back. He builds a life in a great city, makes a fortune, forgets the dialect. At eighty, in his final illness, he asks one thing: to be buried in the village cemetery, beside his parents. His children are astonished. He says he has always known where he would end up.

A doubt follows. A classical rhetorical commentary explains: to Us they return on the Day, and We will take vengeance on them with the severest vengeance. Does Allah need to avenge Himself?

The narration-based commentary answers by describing the return differently. To Us is your destination and theirs, and We will judge between you with truth. It is not need. It is justice. Allah loses nothing by being denied. But wrongs done to His messengers and to people must be set right. The return makes that possible.

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.