ذٰلِكَ اليَومُ الحَقُّ ۖ فَمَن شاءَ اتَّخَذَ إِلىٰ رَبِّهِ مَآبًا
That is the true day. So let anyone who wishes take resort with his Lord.
EXEGESIS
So let anyone who wishes is a strong rhetoric to entice, encourage, and urge the audience to take action.
Dhālika: that. It is a demonstrative pronoun used for a distant object. It is used for the Day of Resurrection to indicate its high status, significance, and magnificence. Another possibility is that since these verses wrap up and summarise the entire chapter, they involve a sense of stepping back and looking at the whole picture from a distance.
Maʾāban: place of return. See verse 22.
Ḥaqq: true, real, stable, fixed. Given the subsequent part of the verse, the verse is apparently saying: the Day of Resurrection is a reality that will inevitably occur. Thus, prepare for it by taking resort with your Lord. Another possibility is that the Day of Resurrection is entirely characterised by the truth; it is a day of truth; it is a day of manifestation and realisation of all truths and secrets (87:9, 100:10). Therefore, follow the path of the truth and live according to it so that you may have resort with your Lord.
In addition to these two meanings, there are a few other points that can be implicitly inferred from the exclusivity implied in That is the true day: 1. This expression could be a means of emphasis of the aforementioned suggested meanings. 2. It suggests that compared to the eternal life and realm of the hereafter, the current life and world (dunyā) is vain. This is confirmed by many verses in the Quran that prove the hereafter by saying that without it this world would be vain and pointless, while God is far from vanity (3:191, 21:16-17, 38:27, 44:38-39). This world and creation would not be true unless it is followed by the resurrection (15:85, 30:7-8, 46:3). So the resurrection is the true day that also gives truth and meaning to this world.
The fort of hopes is strongly frail;
The foundation of life is wind and hail;
So fill up my cup with wine and ale.
This world is a place of treason and gloom;
Do not be fooled; it’s not your room;
This hag is a bride to a thousand grooms!
- Since ḥaqq also means something that is fixed and unchanging, That is the true day could also hint at another contrast between the hereafter and this world. This world is a realm of change, where everything is in a constant state of change and transition. Our entire life in this world is an example of this: we are born at some point in time, live a few years, and then pass away. The other world, on the other hand, is a realm of stability and eternity. 4. It is the day when the truth will finally overcome and defeat falsehood once and for all: Rather, We hurl the truth against falsehood, and it crushes its head, and behold, falsehood vanishes! (21:18). It is the day when the promise of this victory of the truth and its followers over falsehood and its followers shall be fulfilled. Indeed the Day of Judgement is the tryst (verse 17) for the final encounter of truth and falsehood.
EXPOSITION
This verse emphasises that the aforementioned promises and forecasts should be taken seriously, because they are a great news by the most reliable and truthful of speakers (4:87, 4:122, 33:4). Indeed what you are promised is true, and indeed the retribution will surely come to pass! (51:5-6; also see 52:7, 77:7). The certainty of the Day of Resurrection is described elsewhere in the Quran as a day in which there is no doubt (3:9, 3:25).
So let anyone who wishes take resort with his Lord: this shows the possibility of doing so. In other words, people are given the free will to choose, decide, and build their ultimate home. And say: ‘[This is] the truth from your Lord: let anyone who wishes believe it, and let anyone who wishes disbelieve it’ (18:29). This verse has appeared with minor differences in two other places in the Quran: This is indeed a reminder. So let anyone who wishes take the way toward his Lord (73:19).
An important and practical question here is: how can we take resort with our Lord? The expression in this verse is a contrast to verses 21-22: Indeed hell is an ambush, a resort for the rebels. A similar and equivalent contrast is seen elsewhere between a good resort (38:49) and an evil one: as for the rebellious there will surely be an evil resort (38:55). The following practical results can be deduced from reflecting on these relevant verses:
- Those who have faith and do righteous deeds – happy are they and good is their [ultimate] resort (13:29). Hence, faith and righteous deeds are a key to taking resort with one’s Lord.
- Say: ‘Indeed I have been commanded to worship Allah and not to ascribe any partner to Him. To Him do I summon [all mankind] and to Him will be my resort’ (13:36). Therefore, not associating anyone with God is what secures resort with one’s Lord.
- Indeed the God-wary have a good resort (38:49). This verse shows that God-wariness (taqwā) is what results in taking resort with one’s Lord. The same can be deduced from this very chapter, because the rebels are contrasted with the God-wary (verse 31) and the current verse clearly pertains to the latter.
- To mankind has been made to seem decorous the love of [worldly] desires, including women and children, accumulated piles of gold and silver, horses of mark, livestock, and farms. Those are the wares of the life of this world; but Allah – with Him is a good resort (3:14). The contrast in this verse shows that attraction to lusts, desires, and pleasures is at odds with the good resort that is with God. This verse indeed is a very practical – and difficult – instruction with specific and tangible examples.
- Since this verse contrasts the resort of the rebels (verses 21-22), one should avoid the traits and actions of the rebels in order to take resort with his Lord. Some of these qualities and actions are: Indeed they did not expect any reckoning, and they denied Our signs defiantly (verses 27-28). Another example is: As for him who was rebellious, and preferred the life of this world, his refuge will indeed be hell (79:37-39). This quality of preferring the life of this world confirms verse 3:14 discussed in the previous point.
Overall, one should try his best to achieve the Quranic descriptions of the God-wary, and avoid the Quranic descriptions of the rebels.
We sought everyone else, except our Friend;
We failed to reach our journey’s end.
We’ve lost our capital and we are in debt;
All we have bought is sorrow and regret.
The days of our youth are over and done;
Our life has elapsed in vain and fun.
Food and clothes were highest on my list;
The matter of religion thus I have missed.
Alas for a life spent to hoard.
Heedless of the truth and distant from our Lord.
[1] Mizan, 20/175.
[2] Razi, 31/26.
[3] Ḥāfiẓ, ghazal 37.
[4] Razi, 31/26, with some elaboration.
[5] Tibyan, 10/249.
[6] Ali Akbar Nawghānī (d. 1951 CE).
[7] Saʿdī, Būstān, bāb 9, lines 49, 51-52.