Al-Waqi'ah · Makki · ayah 77 of 96

Al-Waqi'ah 56:77

إِنَّهُۥ لَقُرْءَانٌ كَرِيمٌ

“Indeed, it is a noble Qur’ān.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The word translated noble means a thing whose nature is to give freely, and whose first property is that it does not go stale.

A reflection

One word, used of Him, His speech and His Throne

A paper mill puts a watermark in every sheet it makes. The same mark appears in a ledger, a banknote and a letter, and it says nothing about what is written on them. It says where they came from.

One reflective commentary notices that this word works like that, and the observation is worth having at the front of the ayah.

Allah, it says, described Himself with generosity. He described His speech with it. He described His Throne with it. And He described with it whatever has much good in it and a fine appearance, among plants and other things.

So the same word is on the Maker, on the Book, and on the Throne.

That is a statement about origin, not a compliment paid to a text. The Book is being marked, and the mark is the one its Sender wears.

And this is where a man's self-importance quietly loses its footing. We are all in the business of attaching ourselves to things that carry weight. The institution we work for, the names we can drop, the project we were on the edge of. The whole operation is an attempt to acquire a watermark.

Here is a mark that cannot be acquired and was never for sale. It is on the thing you are holding, and it came from somewhere you had no access to.

The only available response is the one the previous ayah has already commanded: clear Him of every flaw, with your tongue. Not because He needs it. Because a man standing in front of a mark like that, saying nothing, is in an absurd position.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.