68:39

أَمۡ لَكُمۡ أَيۡمَٰنٌ عَلَيۡنَا بَٰلِغَةٌ إِلَىٰ يَوۡمِ ٱلۡقِيَٰمَةِ إِنَّ لَكُمۡ لَمَا تَحۡكُمُونَ

Am lakum aymanun AAalayna balighatun ila yawmi alqiyamati inna lakum lama tahkumoona

Or do you have oaths [binding] upon Us, extending until the Day of Resurrection, that indeed for you is whatever you judge?

Word by word
  1. أَمۡOr
  2. لَكُمۡfor you
  3. أَيۡمَٰنٌoaths
  4. عَلَيۡنَاfrom us
  5. بَٰلِغَةٌreaching
  6. إِلَىٰto
  7. يَوۡمِ(the) Day
  8. ٱلۡقِيَٰمَةِ(of) the Resurrection
  9. إِنَّindeed
  10. لَكُمۡfor you
  11. لَمَا(is) what
  12. تَحۡكُمُونَyou judge
Al-Qalam · 68:39Makkah

Did Allah swear an oath to give you what you decide?

No one holds a contract over Allah


The claim
oaths binding on Usuntil Resurrection?
that
you get what you judgeall you want and desire
Who owes whom
Allah owes me
I owe Allahevery gift is His

Ibn Kathir explains: do you have covenants and confirmed agreements with Us, that you will attain all you want and desire? The chiefs acted as if Allah had signed a deal with them. He had not.

I pray, so my business should succeed. I fasted, so my exam should go well. Quietly turning worship into a contract. Allah is generous, but He is not bound to my terms.

I have done my part, so Allah has to give me what I asked.

Allah owes me nothing. Everything He gives is generosity.

Try this

Make one du'a today that ends with: but You know what is best for me.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 68:34)

Verily, for those who have Taqwa are Gardens of Delight with their Lord (34)Shall We then treat the Muslims like the criminals (35)What is the matter with you? How judge you (36)Or have you a Book wherein you learn (37)That you shall therein have all that you choose (38)Or have you oaths from Us, lasting until the Day of Judgement, that yours will be what you judge (39)Ask them, which of them will stand as surety for that (40)Or have they "partners"? Then let them bring their "partners" if they are truthful (41)

The Reward of those Who have Taqwa and that They will not be treated like the Criminals

After Allah mentions the situation of the people of the worldly garden and the wrath they suffered when they disobeyed Allah and opposed his commands, He then explains that whoever has Taqwa of Him, then they will have Gardens of Delight in the Hereafter that will never end. These Gardens will last forever and their pleasures will never cease. Allah says,

أَفَنَجْعَلُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ كَالْمُجْرِمِينَ

(Shall We then treat the Muslims like the criminals?)

Meaning, ‘should we deal equally between them in terms of recompense?’ Nay, by the Lord of the heaven and the earth, surely not! Thus, Allah says,

مَا لَكُمْ كَيْفَ تَحْكُمُونَ

(What is the matter with you? How do judge you?) meaning, ‘how can you think that?' Then he says,

أَمْ لَكُمْ كِتَابٌ فِيهِ تَدْرُسُونَ - إِنَّ لَكُمْ فِيهِ لَمَا تَخَيَّرُونَ

(Or have you a Book wherein you learn, That you shall therein have all that you choose?)

Allah is saying in this, ‘is there in your hands a Book that has been sent down from heaven that you study, memorize and pass on to each other, the latter generations conveying it from the generations of old? Do you have such a Book, containing definite laws, as you claim?'

إِنَّ لَكُمْ فِيهِ لَمَا تَخَيَّرُونَ - أَمْ لَكُمْ أَيْمَانٌ عَلَيْنَا بَالِغَةٌ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ ۙ إِنَّ لَكُمْ لَمَا تَحْكُمُونَ

(That you shall therein have all that you choose? Or have you oaths from Us, lasting until the Day of Judgement, that yours will be what you judge?) meaning, ‘do you have covenants and confirmed agreements with Us?’

إِنَّ لَكُمْ لَمَا تَحْكُمُونَ

(that yours will be what you judge?) meaning, ‘that you will attain all that you want and desire.’

سَلْهُمْ أَيُّهُم بِذَٰلِكَ زَعِيمٌ

(Ask them, which of them will stand as surety for that!) meaning, say to them, “Who is the sponsor of guarantee this?” Ibn ‘Abbas said that it means, “Which of them will be guarantor for that?”

أَمْ لَهُمْ شُرَكَاءُ

(Or have they "partners"?) meaning, ‘do they have idols and rivals gods (besides Allah)?’

فَلْيَأْتُوا بِشُرَكَائِهِمْ إِن كَانُوا صَادِقِينَ

(Then let them bring their "partners" if they are truthful!)