Al-Muzzammil · Makki · ayah 5 of 20

Al-Muzzammil 73:5

إِنَّا سَنُلْقِى عَلَيْكَ قَوْلًا ثَقِيلًا

“Indeed, We will cast upon you a heavy word.[1779]”

Saheeh International

Essence

Allah warns His Messenger that a weighty word is coming, and the night prayer is the training that readies a soul to carry it.

A reflection

Nothing in it is light

Innā sanulqī ʿalayka qawlan thaqīlā. We are about to cast upon you a weighty word.

The speaker is We, the plural of majesty. The verb is nulqī, to cast, to lay upon. The word itself is thaqīl, heavy. The whole Quran, every surah of it, is described here by its weight.

A classical spiritual writer preserves a story about an early imam of Madina. Someone brought him a question and, when he hesitated, said: but it is a light, easy question. The imam grew angry. There is nothing light in knowledge, he said. Have you not heard the words of Allah: We are about to cast upon you a weighty word? All knowledge is heavy, especially what we will be asked about on the Day of Judgement.

A later commentator draws a similar caution from this ayah. One should not call any surah a light surah, since Allah named the whole Quran a weighty word.

This cuts against a quiet arrogance. We sometimes treat the Quran as content, something to scroll, quote, skim, use. We speak about it confidently after one reading. We pick the short surahs because they are easy, and forget what they weigh.

The ayah restores proportion. This is the word of the One who speaks as We, the Lord of the heavens and the earth. It is not a light thing to hold. The proper response is not anxiety, but reverence. Pick it up as you would lift something precious and heavy: carefully, with both hands.

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.