Al-Mutaffifin · Makki · ayah 9 of 36

Al-Mutaffifin 83:9

كِتَـٰبٌ مَّرْقُومٌ

“It is [their destination[1879] recorded in] a register inscribed.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The cheat spent a lifetime adjusting labels; his own record is marked plainly, and no one can peel the price off.

A reflection

The price marked on the cloth

Raqm is writing made plain, with every dot in its place so no letter can be misread. It is also what a merchant did to his cloth: he marked its price on it. The arqam serpent was named for its skin, patterned as if written on.

One classical reading brings the market picture straight into this ayah. The record is marqūm the way a trader marks his cloth, with a sign that shows its worth. The record of the wicked carries a mark that shows its value plainly. Another reading says it is fixed like a mark woven into cloth, never forgotten and never erased.

Consider how neatly this lands in a surah about the market. The short-measurer spent his days making things look fuller, heavier and better than they were. He was an expert in appearances. Every heap was arranged, every measure shaken, every price shaded.

Picture a volunteer in a charity shop on a Saturday morning. She sorts a pile of donated coats. With a small tag gun she clips a price on each one. The good wool coat gets one number, the worn anorak another. She does not ask what the previous owner thought the coat was worth. She looks at the coat itself.

That is the justice in this word. On the Day, no one will argue about the label. The record already carries the true mark, set by the One who saw every stitch.

It is also a mercy for the honest. The trader who weighed fairly for years, unnoticed and unthanked, has his mark too. Nothing he did was left unpriced.

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