Al-Mursalat · Makki · ayah 47 of 50

Al-Mursalat 77:47

وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِينَ

“Woe, that Day, to the deniers.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The ninth "woe that Day to the deniers" — closing the one scene where the surah spoke straight to them, mid-meal, and named exactly what they were.

A reflection

The refrain that follows a direct accusation

This exact line was first met at 77:15, and its full treatment lives there. Each return closes a different case; this is the ninth, closing the sharpest direct address the surah has given the deniers yet: "eat and enjoy yourselves a little; indeed, you are criminals," spoken straight at them in the second person rather than described about them from a distance.

Every earlier return answered either evidence or description. This one answers an accusation delivered face to face, in the middle of an ordinary, unremarkable act — eating. That is a smaller, quieter scene than the fire or the false shade, and the refrain's return here shows it did not need a dramatic scene to justify its weight. An honest verdict, named plainly over something as ordinary as a meal, earns exactly the same four words as the loudest scene in the whole surah.

The full entry has 2 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.