At-Tur · Makki · ayah 45 of 49

At-Tur 52:45

فَذَرْهُمْ حَتَّىٰ يُلَـٰقُوا۟ يَوْمَهُمُ ٱلَّذِى فِيهِ يُصْعَقُونَ

“So leave them until they meet their Day in which they will be struck insensible -”

Saheeh International

Essence

Leave them to their Lord: a Day like a thunderclap is walking towards them, and will find them either ready or startled.

A reflection

The one who expects the thunder

Yuṣʿaqūn is a word of sound. The lexicons say the root is a violent crash of noise. The ṣāʿiqa is the heavy crash of thunder, and the fire that falls with it. A man ṣaʿiqa when a terrible sound knocked him senseless; from there the word came to mean dying suddenly, as if struck.

The commentators read the Day in several ways. The day of their death, the day of Badr, the first blast of the Trumpet, or the Day of Resurrection.

A classical commentator drew a striking distinction from this word. Everyone will meet that Day, he said. But think of a thunderclap. The one who knows the thunder is coming prepares to hear it. The one who does not is caught unaware. When the blast comes, the heedless one trembles, and the one who knew does not.

Picture a shepherd on a hillside in late summer. He watches the clouds pile up over the far ridge and starts moving his flock down towards the stone pens before the first rumble. Further along the ridge, two walkers in shorts are taking photographs of the view. When the thunder breaks directly overhead, they drop to their knees in shock. The shepherd, already at the gate, flinches only slightly. He heard it in the clouds an hour ago.

That is the difference the ayah points to. The Day itself is the same for everyone. What differs is how it finds you. Those who were reminded and listened meet it as people who knew. Those who mocked meet it as a crash out of a clear sky.

The surah has spent many ayat describing that Day and warning of it. Its purpose is not to frighten for the sake of fear. It is to make sure that, when the thunder comes, you have already heard it in the clouds.

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.