All of Verses

The 365 · Verses · Day 263 · Justice


Qur'an 63:10

وَأَنفِقُوا۟ مِن مَّا رَزَقْنَـٰكُم مِّن قَبْلِ أَن يَأْتِىَ أَحَدَكُمُ ٱلْمَوْتُ فَيَقُولَ رَبِّ لَوْلَآ أَخَّرْتَنِىٓ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍ قَرِيبٍ فَأَصَّدَّقَ وَأَكُن مِّنَ ٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ

Give out of what We have provided for you, before death comes to one of you and he says, 'My Lord, if You would only reprieve me for a little while, I would give in charity and become one of the righteous.' (Quran 63:10)

Svenska: Och ge av det som Vi har förlänat er innan döden kommer till någon av er och han måste säga: 'Min Herre, om Du bara skulle ge mig något mer tid skulle jag ge av min egendom och vara en av de rättfärdiga.' (Koranen 63:10)

A reflection to carry

Allah closed the long Sadaqah-Zakat-Spending architecture (Days 246-263) with the most chilling verse on giving in the entire Quran. The dying believer, watching his body fail, his account still full of unsent wealth, his deeds still uncompleted, begs: 'rabb-ī lawlā akhkhartanī ilā ajalin qarīb fa-aṣṣadaqa wa akun min al-ṣāliḥīn.' My Lord, if only You would delay me for a brief term: I would give in charity and become among the righteous. Note the specific promise the dying man makes. Not 'I would pray better.' Not 'I would learn Quran.' He says 'I would give in charity.' Allah preserved this specific regret. The dying soul, at the threshold, identifies the most pressing thing it left undone: the unsent sadaqah. And the very next verse closes the door: 'wa lan yuʾkhkhira Allāhu nafsan idhā jāʾa ajaluhā.' Allah does not delay a soul when its term comes. Ya akhī, ya ukhtī, this verse is the closing seal of the entire giving architecture. The giving you postpone, you may not get to do. The dying breath identifies the unsent sadaqah as the chief regret. Send it now. Do not arrive at the door of death with sadaqah-regret as your last thought.

Read the longer reflection

Yā Rabb, You closed the long architecture of giving (Days 246-263) with the most haunting verse in the Quran. The dying believer. The body shutting down. The account full. And the prayer: 'just a little more time. I would give in charity. I would be among the righteous.' And You answered with the next verse: 'Allah does not delay a soul when its term comes.' Ya Allāh, how many times have I treated my giving as something I would do 'when more comfortable,' 'after the bonus,' 'when the kids are older,' 'after the house is paid off'? Each was a small bet that I would be alive to give later. The dying man in 63:10 made the same bet. He lost. The verse preserved his loss as a warning to every reader. Forgive me, ya Allāh. Forgive every delay. Every 'next month I will increase my sadaqah.' Every campaign I scrolled past intending to revisit. Every parent in difficulty I 'meant to help.' Every orphan sponsorship I planned to set up. Each was a draft of a giving I might not get to publish. Move me to publishing this week, ya Rabb. The campaign I have been thinking about: donate before sleep. The orphan sponsorship I have been planning: set it up tonight. The relative in difficulty I have been meaning to help: contact and help this week. The masjid jar I pass: drop into. The strangers in difficulty I see in my city: cash in the pocket. Each is a draft I publish before death may close the publishing window. And ya Rabb, on the Day when I face the cumulative record of my giving, do not let me arrive having mostly intended. Let me arrive having sent. The architecture closes here, ya Allāh, at the threshold of death. Let me cross that threshold with the sadaqah already on its way, not as a regret begging for delay. Āmīn ya Razzāq al-Karīm.

A verse, a healing, and a Sunnah, every morning.

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