Al-Mutaffifin · Makki · ayah 6 of 36

Al-Mutaffifin 83:6

يَوْمَ يَقُومُ ٱلنَّاسُ لِرَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ

“The Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds?”

Saheeh International

Essence

Every billionaire, president and influencer who ever lived will stand on their feet at once, silent before the Lord of all the worlds.

A reflection

The only One the room should rise for

Yaqūmu al-nās: the people stand. Not some people. All of them, together, for the Lord of the worlds.

There is a scene in al-Tirmidhī's collection that sits well beside this ayah. Muʿāwiya, then a ruler, came out to where people were gathered, and two men rose to their feet for him. He told them to sit. He said he had heard the Prophet ﷺ say: whoever loves men to stand before him, let him take his seat in the Fire. Al-Tirmidhī himself graded it ḥasan.

The ruler understood something. Standing is the posture of the servant before the one who is greater. It belongs, in its fullest sense, to only one.

Every form of pride we carry is built for a room where others are on their feet and we are not. Picture a man who notices, with a small private glow, how fast the waiter hurries to pull out his chair. Nobody else sees the glow. He barely admits it himself. But it is there, and it grows with every room that rises.

On this Day that room will not exist. Sahih al-Bukhari reports the Prophet ﷺ reciting this ayah. He said one of them will stand in his sweat up to the middle of his ears. Sahih Muslim adds that people will stand in their sweat according to their deeds. For some it reaches the ankles, for others the knees or the waist. For some it bridles the mouth.

Does He need this standing? In a hadith qudsi in Sahih Muslim, Allah speaks of every human and jinn together. Were they all as devout as the most devout heart, it would add nothing to His dominion. The standing is not for His benefit. It is simply the truth made visible. The one who sees it today can put his pride down early, and stand lighter when everyone stands.

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.