Az-Zukhruf · Makki · ayah 68 of 89

Az-Zukhruf 43:68

يَـٰعِبَادِ لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْيَوْمَ وَلَآ أَنتُمْ تَحْزَنُونَ

“[To whom Allāh will say], "O My servants, no fear will there be concerning you this Day, nor will you grieve,”

Saheeh International

Essence

Allah Himself calls them 'My servants', and with one sentence removes the two burdens every human carries: fear of what comes, grief for what went.

A reflection

The title only He can give

Yā ʿibādi: O My servants. One classical theologian lists the joys packed into these two words.

First, Allah addresses them Himself, with no intermediary. On a Day when every voice is hushed, the King speaks directly to them.

Second, He calls them by servanthood, and joins them to Himself: My servants. The theologian notes that Allah gave His Prophet ﷺ this very title on the Night Journey: subḥāna alladhī asrā bi-ʿabdih, glory be to Him who took His servant by night (17:1). The highest moment in the Prophet's life was described with this word.

That should shrink the ego in a healthy way. People spend their lives collecting titles. Director, doctor, founder, expert. Some of these are honest achievements. But none of them will be read out on that Day. The only title that will matter is one we cannot give ourselves: to be called 'My servant' by the One whose servants we are.

Picture a chef who has won every award his profession offers. He has been called 'chef', 'maestro', 'genius' in newspapers for thirty years. At a dinner in his honour, his first head chef, now very old, stands to speak. He calls him simply 'my apprentice'. The celebrated man finds he cannot speak. Of all the names he has been given, this is the one that moved him, because of who said it.

Multiply that by infinity. The One who owns the heavens and the earth says: My servant.

Does Allah need servants? No. He is free of need of all the worlds. The servanthood is not His gain. It is ours: it is the only relationship in which a human being is held by Someone who will never let go. Pride wants to be its own master. The ayah offers something far better: to belong to the Master who calls His own by name.

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.