Al-Inshiqaq · Makki · ayah 13 of 25

Al-Inshiqaq 84:13

إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ فِىٓ أَهْلِهِۦ مَسْرُورًا

“Indeed, he had [once] been among his people in happiness;”

Saheeh International

Essence

His joy was real, and it was spent in the one place and time where it could not last.

A reflection

The Quran's only two uses of 'masrūr'

The word masrūr, joyful, appears exactly twice in the whole Quran. Both times it is in this surah, four ayat apart. Both times it is joined to the same phrase, ilā ahlihi or fī ahlihi: to his people, among his people.

The believer with his book in his right hand 'returns to his people joyful' (84:9). The man with his book behind his back 'was among his people joyful' (84:13). Same word, same family setting. The only difference is a tense. One joy is still ahead. The other is over.

It is hard to read that as accident. The surah sets the two men on either side of a hinge and uses one word to show what each of them spent.

A classical commentator gathers an early explanation of this ayah into a sharp exchange. The denier was joyful in this world. He was at ease from the effort of prayer and fasting and the other duties, secure from any reckoning. So Allah exchanged that passing joy for a grief that does not end. The believer was not carefree among his people. He guarded himself from wrong and never felt safe from the punishment. So Allah exchanged that passing concern for a joy that does not end.

Another classical explanation puts it in one line: that small joy was followed by a long sorrow.

Notice what the surah does not say. It does not say the denier never smiled and the believer never laughed. It says each chose where to place his settled, carefree joy: here, or there. Both men were given a portion of surūr. One spent it early.

There is something freeing in this. The ayah does not ask you to give up joy. It asks you to decide where you want its fullness to be. A little patience here buys a joy that is not taken back. A life arranged entirely around being at ease here spends that joy before the real homecoming.

Ask honestly which of the two tenses your happiness is written in. Was joyful, or returns joyful. The word is the same. The ending is not.

The full entry has 4 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.