An-Nazi'at · Makki · ayah 44 of 46

An-Nazi'at 79:44

إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ مُنتَهَىٰهَآ

“To your Lord is its finality.[1850]”

Saheeh International

Essence

Every question about the Hour comes to rest in one place: with your Lord, who alone knows its end.

A reflection

The forecaster who says 'I can't know'

A respected meteorologist is asked on live radio whether it will rain on a particular street on a particular afternoon next month. She laughs kindly. With all her satellites and models, she explains, she can say roughly what a region's weather will do for a few days. Beyond that, nobody can say. Her honesty is more impressive than any forecast.

This ayah is four words. Ilā rabbika muntahāhā: to your Lord is its end. The sources explain it as the end of knowledge about the Hour. It is not with the Prophet ﷺ, nor with any created being; it ends with Allah, who alone knows its exact time. The Quran says elsewhere: 'Indeed, with Allah is the knowledge of the Hour' (31:34), and 'Its knowledge is only with my Lord' (7:187).

That is majesty expressed through knowledge. Human beings have learned an astonishing amount: the paths of planets, the workings of cells, the history of rocks. And yet the single most important date in human history, the end of it all, is known to One alone. No telescope reaches it. No calculation finds it.

The ego finds that hard. We like to feel that everything can be known if we try hard enough. Experts are expected to have answers. Admitting 'I cannot know this' feels like weakness. This ayah teaches the opposite. Some knowledge belongs to Allah, and admitting it is the beginning of wisdom.

A sceptic might say that 'only God knows' is a convenient dodge. But the Quran does not use it to avoid hard questions; it answers many. It uses it here to mark a real boundary. Even the Prophet ﷺ and the angel of revelation stood on the near side of it. Allah does not need us to acknowledge His knowledge. We need to, so that we stop wasting our lives on dates and start living as if any day could be the day.

Say 'I don't know' honestly today, about one thing you don't.

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.