Al-Insan · Madani · ayah 27 of 31

Al-Insan 76:27

إِنَّ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ يُحِبُّونَ ٱلْعَاجِلَةَ وَيَذَرُونَ وَرَآءَهُمْ يَوْمًا ثَقِيلًا

“Indeed, these [disbelievers] love the immediate and leave behind them[1814] a grave Day.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The danger is not enjoying this world but loving the hasty one so much that you turn your back on a heavy Day still ahead.

A reflection

Them, or us?

It is easy to read this ayah as a verdict on other people. 'These people', hāʾulāʾ: the Makkan deniers who mocked and threatened. Their problem, safely in the past.

The commentaries close that exit. One names the deniers, then adds: and those who resemble them in loving the world and turning towards it, leaving the Hereafter behind their backs. Another records several views of who was meant, then says simply: the ayah is general.

A second misreading pulls the other way: that the ayah condemns enjoying life at all. It does not. One commentator explains the love it means as preferring this world over the next. He cites 'But you prefer the life of this world' (87:16). The fault lies in two verbs together. They love the hasty one, and they leave the heavy day.

Two sisters inherit equal sums from their grandmother. One spends hers on the kitchen she has wanted for years, and also clears the debt she has been dodging. The other spends all of hers on the kitchen, and the debt letters keep coming. Both enjoy their kitchens. Only one has turned her back on what is due.

That is the test the ayah sets its reader. The question is not whether I enjoy this life. It is whether the coming Day appears anywhere in my plans.

Sahih Muslim records the Prophet ﷺ putting it in one image. Paradise is surrounded by things the self dislikes, and the Fire by things it craves. The hasty one comes wrapped in craving. That is exactly why it needs watching.

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.