Al-Mutaffifin · Makki · ayah 15 of 36

Al-Mutaffifin 83:15

كَلَّآ إِنَّهُمْ عَن رَّبِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ لَّمَحْجُوبُونَ

“No! Indeed, from their Lord, that Day, they will be partitioned.[1881]”

Saheeh International

Essence

A lifetime spent getting through the right doors ends at the only door that matters, and it does not open.

A reflection

Turned away at the door

The first hearers knew the ḥājib: the doorkeeper at a ruler's gate who decided who could enter. A mere screen only hides. A ḥijāb bars the way. The keepers of the Kaʿba's keys held that office too. The Arabs even called the eyebrows ḥājibān, the two that guard the eyes.

The commentaries quote an old Arab verse about the doors of the proud and powerful. When some people arrive at such a door, they are welcomed in. Others are barred. People are divided, it says, between the welcomed and the veiled. One classical reader says this ayah speaks that language. Only the honoured are admitted to kings. Only the disgraced are kept outside.

Now think how much of our own pride is built on doors. We enjoy being admitted where others wait. Some of us enjoy being the one who keeps others waiting. Picture a mid-level manager who likes telling his assistant, 'Say I'm in a meeting', while he scrolls at his desk. A small throne, with a small doorkeeper.

The ayah turns all of that upside down. On that Day there is one door, and it belongs to the Lord of all. No title, contact or reputation opens it.

Is a Lord who bars His door vain? He needs no visitors. The veil is not a slight He enjoys. One classical scholar of the heart says the veil begins here, in this life. Sins stand between people and their own hearts, and between their hearts and their Lord. An early reader said it plainly: as He veiled them in this world from His oneness, He veils them in the next from seeing Him. The Day only makes permanent the distance they chose to keep.

The humble response is to stop building small doors, and to start knocking on His.

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.