Al-An'am · Makki · ayah 69 of 165

Al-An'am 6:69

وَمَا عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ يَتَّقُونَ مِنْ حِسَابِهِم مِّن شَىْءٍ وَلَـٰكِن ذِكْرَىٰ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَّقُونَ

“And those who fear Allāh are not held accountable for them [i.e., the disbelievers] at all, but [only for] a reminder - that perhaps they will fear Him.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The mindful do not carry the mockers' reckoning; their part is the reminder, in the hope that the mockers too become mindful.

A reflection

Not one thing of their account

A youth worker at a city mosque lies awake on Sunday nights. He runs through a list in his head. Bilal stopped coming in March. Yusuf posted something ugly about religion. Two brothers have not been seen since Ramadan. Each name feels like a charge sheet against him.

This ayah was sent down for people carrying a similar weight. The previous ayah told the believer to turn away from those mocking the Quran. An early report records the believers' worry. If we stand up every time they mock, they said, we can never sit in the Sacred Mosque or circle the House. Another version has them fearing sin for leaving the mockers unchallenged.

The answer is emphatic. 'Nothing of their reckoning is upon those who are mindful, not a thing.' A later commentator notes the small word min before 'thing'. It sweeps the whole range: not a fraction, not a remainder.

The root of ḥisāb, reckoning, joins two pictures: counting, and enough. A host fed his guest until the guest said ḥasbī, enough. Accounts were ḥisāb because they show what suffices, nothing over and nothing short. Their account is counted, precisely, by Another. It is not yours to total.

This is not permission to stop caring. The next words make sure of that. But it is a release from a false job description. The youth worker is responsible for his own sincerity, his own invitation, his own door kept open. He is not responsible for what Bilal does with his heart.

Some nights the list will still come. He can say each name in a prayer instead of a verdict. Then he can sleep, because the account is held by the One who never sleeps.

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.