Az-Zukhruf · Makki · ayah 88 of 89

Az-Zukhruf 43:88

وَقِيلِهِۦ يَـٰرَبِّ إِنَّ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ قَوْمٌ لَّا يُؤْمِنُونَ

“And [Allāh acknowledges] his saying,[1455] "O my Lord, indeed these are a people who do not believe."”

Saheeh International

Essence

The Prophet's quiet complaint, 'My Lord, these are a people who will not believe', is held by Allah, honoured beside His knowledge of the Hour.

A reflection

A sigh that Allah keeps

Wa-qīlihi yā rabbi inna hāʾulāʾi qawmun lā yuʾminūn. And his saying: O my Lord, these are a people who do not believe.

The grammar of this ayah has been discussed at length, and the readings themselves carry meaning. On one reading, the word qīlihi, his saying, is joined to the previous ayah's ʿindahu ʿilmu al-sāʿah. With Him is the knowledge of the Hour, and the knowledge of his saying. A concise commentary puts it plainly: with Him, glorified is He, is the knowledge of His Messenger's complaint.

One classical linguist prefers a striking alternative. He reads it as an oath: by his saying, 'O my Lord'. Allah swearing by the Prophet's plea, he says, is an elevation and an honouring of his supplication and his turning to Him.

Either way, the effect is majestic. The One who holds the knowledge of the Hour also holds the private sigh of His servant. Nothing is too vast for Him, and nothing too small.

That humbles the ego in a specific way. When we are hurt or frustrated, we often take our complaint to people: to win sympathy, to be told we are right, to build a case. The Prophet ﷺ took his to his Lord. And his Lord did not merely hear it. He placed it in the Quran, beside His own knowledge of the end of the world.

Picture a father whose young son is autistic and has not slept through a single night in six years. He has stopped telling friends how hard it is; they change the subject. One night, at the kitchen sink at four in the morning, he whispers it all to Allah instead. He does not know whether anything changes. But he feels, for the first time in months, that his words have landed somewhere.

Does Allah need our complaints? No. But He receives them, and honours them. That is His greatness: no sigh addressed to Him is ever wasted.

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.