Al-Mutaffifin · Makki · ayah 20 of 36

Al-Mutaffifin 83:20

كِتَـٰبٌ مَّرْقُومٌ

“It is [their destination[1882] recorded in] a register inscribed”

Saheeh International

Essence

The same two words describe both records; what differs is the news written inside.

A reflection

Same words, opposite news

Kitābun marqūm, a record inscribed. These two words appeared once already, describing the record of the wicked (83:9). Now they return, word for word, for the record of the righteous.

One classical reader explains the difference. Both are marked, but the marks are opposite. The record of the wicked is marked with what will grieve them. The record of the righteous is marked with what will bring them joy. Another commentator puts it in a phrase: the marking is reversed.

Picture two households on the same street on the same morning. The same brown envelope from the council lands on each doormat, in the same typeface with the same crest. In one house, a man opens it to find a penalty for months of unpaid charges he had ignored. In the other, a mother opens hers to find a grant approved for the stair lift her disabled son needs. Same paper, same printer, same postman. Opposite news.

That is what the repetition teaches. The form is identical for everyone. Every human being has a record. Every record is written plainly, marked and kept. Nobody escapes having one.

The only question is what it says. And that is being decided now, in the market, at the kitchen table, in the choice between the full measure and the short one.

It is worth remembering the next time you pick up an envelope and feel your heart lift or sink before you open it. One day a record will be handed over whose contents you wrote yourself. The Quran tells you in advance that both kinds of news exist.

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.