(99:7-8) A Subtle Stretch - Al-Zalzalah - Talha Ghannam

#FridayReminders 41: A Subtle Stretch (99:7-8)
#QuranReflections by Talha Ghannam
Video: • (99:7-8) A Subtle Stre...
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فَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًۭا يَرَهُۥ ٧
So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it.
وَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍۢ شَرًّۭا يَرَهُۥ ٨
And whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.
(99:7-8)
There is a subtle difference between these two verses which doesn’t translate in the English. When describing an atoms weight of good, the words (ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًۭا) have no ghunnah (i.e. stretch) between them, requiring the reader to continue without elongating the word. In the following verse, Allah ﷻ repeats a similar phrase but this time describing an atoms weight of sin: (ذَرَّةٍۢ شَرًّۭا). This time, a ghunnah is found between the two words, requiring a reciter to stretch the end of the first word for 2 moments before continuing with the rest of the verse.
Why is this difference there? There is a wonderful hadith of the Prophet ﷺ which perhaps enlightens us on some of the wisdoms:
أخرج الطبراني في "المعجم الكبير" (8/185) ، وأبو نعيم في "حلية الأولياء" (6/124) ، والبيهقي في "شعب الإيمان" (6650) ، من طريق القاسم بن عبد الرحمن، عن أبي أمامة، عن رسول الله صلَّى اللهُ عليه وسلَّم، قال:
إِنَّ صَاحِبَ الشِّمَالِ لِيَرْفَعُ الْقَلَمَ سِتَّ سَاعَاتٍ عَنِ الْعَبْدِ الْمُسْلِمِ الْمُخْطِئِ أَوِ الْمُسِيءِ، فَإِنْ نَدِمَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ اللهَ مِنْهَا أَلْقَاهَا ، وَإِلَّا كُتِبَتْ وَاحِدَةً .
“Truly the Angel on the left [of a person] withholds from recording a sin committed by a Muslim servant for a period of six ‘hours’. If the servant regrets committing the sin and asks Allah for forgiveness, the Angel does not write it down. Otherwise, the angel records it as one bad deed.”
[Tabarani, Mu`jam al-Kabir]
When a servant commits a sin, Allah ﷻ commands the angel to refrain from writing the sin down for a period of 6 hours, but not for a good deed. The miracle in the subtlety of this verse is how this hesitation of the angel is captured within its recitation; a good deed is written immediately as soon as it is performed, and the verse has no stretch between the two words. A sin however is delayed, waiting to see how a servant reacts following their misdemeanour. This hesitation is symbolised in the stretch at the end of the word ذَرَّةٍۢ before stating the word شَرًّۭا.
What’s even more miraculous is how the stretch isn’t a break, but rather a lengthening of the word to facilitate a type of pause. A clean break may give the impression the nature of the act was misunderstood or unknown. To the contrary, Allah ﷻ wants to make known that He is aware of the act being done, but is deliberately holding off recording it out of mercy for His servants. It’s like when a parent is counting to three as they warn their child of a misdemeanour, gradually stretching the numbers out as they get closer to the end. One…. Twwwooooo… This is how the angel is commanded to view our sin.
What’s more profound is when we consider other hadith which describe the nature of deeds and how they are recorded, the Prophet ﷺ teaches:
وَعَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: " إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَتَبَ الحسناتِ والسيِّئاتِ: فَمَنْ هَمَّ بِحَسَنَةٍ فَلَمْ يَعْمَلْهَا كَتَبَهَا اللَّهُ لهُ عندَهُ حَسَنَة كَامِلَة فَإِن هم بعملها كَتَبَهَا اللَّهُ لَهُ عِنْدَهُ عَشْرَ حَسَنَاتٍ إِلَى سَبْعِمِائَةِ ضِعْفٍ إِلَى أَضْعَافٍ كَثِيرَةٍ وَمَنْ هَمَّ بسيئة فَلَمْ يَعْمَلْهَا كَتَبَهَا اللَّهُ عِنْدَهُ حَسَنَةً كَامِلَةً فَإِن هُوَ هم بعملها كتبهَا الله لَهُ سَيِّئَة وَاحِدَة "
“God records good deeds and evil deeds.
1) If anyone intends to do a good deed but does not do it, God enters it for him in His record as a complete good deed.
2) and if he intends to do a good deed and does it, God enters it for him in His record as ten to seven hundred and many more times as much.
3) If anyone intends to do an evil deed and does not do it, God enters it for him in His record as a complete good deed;
4) but if he intends to do it and does it, God records it for him as one evil deed.”
[Bukhari and Muslim]
The nature of a good deed is clear; Allah ﷻ does not hesitate in writing it down the moment it is intended, hence the immediacy in stating its nature when mentioned in the verse. Furthermore, Allah ﷻ knows our thoughts before we even know them. A stretch would not be fitting for Him as it would suggest the reward was dependent on the action, not the intention - something Allah ﷻ already knows! On the other hand, the reason a stretch is there when stating the nature of a bad deed is because its nature is only determined after the sin has been committed. If a person intends a sin and does not commit it, it would be written down as a good deed!