An-Naba · Makki · ayah 17 of 40

An-Naba 78:17

إِنَّ يَوْمَ ٱلْفَصْلِ كَانَ مِيقَـٰتًا

“Indeed, the Day of Judgement is an appointed time -”

Saheeh International

Essence

The Day that parts truth from falsehood at the joint is already fixed in His knowledge, an appointment no one can move.

A reflection

The gate closes at 10.40

A man in an expensive suit strolls towards gate 22 at 10.42, still finishing a call. He is used to rooms waiting for him. Meetings start when he arrives. But the gate closed at 10.40. The desk is empty and the aircraft door is shut. For once in his week, the time was not his to set.

'Indeed, the Day of Sorting is an appointed time.' The sources explain that it is fixed to a counted term, neither lengthened nor shortened. They add that no one knows its exact time but Allah. They cite another ayah: 'We only delay it for a term that is counted' (11:104). One commentator says it is set in His knowledge so firmly that it will not step forward or back by a moment. He notes the verb is in the past tense, 'was an appointed time', because in His knowledge it is already settled.

That is humbling for anyone who is used to controlling time. Much of our status is measured by who waits for whom. Important people keep others waiting; the less important wait. Yet over every life stands one appointment that no one can reschedule, delay or buy their way round. The powerful and the powerless will arrive at exactly the same moment.

Does Allah announce this to show off His control? The Quran says He is free of need, and our awe adds nothing to Him. The announcement is a mercy. It tells us the gate is real and the time is fixed, while we can still walk to it at a sensible pace.

The man at gate 22 will get another flight. There will not be another Day. The ego that is used to others adjusting to it has one appointment it must adjust to.

Perhaps it is worth asking, quietly, how you are treating that appointment. Are you strolling towards it on the phone, assuming the world will wait?

The full entry has 4 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.