Al-Mutaffifin · Makki · ayah 10 of 36

Al-Mutaffifin 83:10

وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِينَ

“Woe, that Day, to the deniers,”

Saheeh International

Essence

A second woe follows the first: the man who short-measured the grain was, underneath, short-measuring the truth.

A reflection

Short measure of the truth

Kadhib first meant falling short. The Arabs said a warrior's charge kadhaba when he rode at his enemy and pulled up before reaching him. A she-camel's milk 'lied' when it was expected to last and dried up. A cloth painted to look embroidered was said to lie by its appearance. So a lie is a promise that gives way, in word, in deed or in look. And takdhīb, the word here, is calling the truth a lie and holding to that.

Put that beside the opening of the surah. The short-measurer stopped the grain just before the brim. The denier stops the truth just before it reaches him. He hears the warning, rides halfway towards it, and pulls up.

The surah has two woes, and they are one disease. The first appeared in the marketplace (83:1). This one appears on the Day. The hand that would not fill the measure belonged to a heart that would not let the truth arrive.

We know the pattern in small things. A man texts his nephew, 'Definitely coming to your graduation.' On the morning itself he sends a second message: something has come up. He did not plan to let the boy down. He simply never quite set out. The promise pulled up short of its target.

Most denial looks like that from the inside. It rarely feels like rebellion. It feels like being busy, being reasonable, being not quite convinced yet. The ayah names what it is underneath: a charge that never reaches the enemy, a measure never filled. And it names the Day when the shortfall will be shown for what it was.

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.