كُلُّ نَفْسٍۭ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ رَهِينَةٌ 38
Translations
Every soul, for what it has earned, will be retained.
Transliteration
Kullu nafsin bima kasabat rahīnah
Tafsir (Explanation)
Every soul is held in pledge (or mortgaged) by its own deeds—meaning each person is bound by and responsible for their actions. Classical scholars like Ibn Kathir and Al-Qurtubi explain this as a declaration that no soul can escape the consequences of what it has earned through its choices; one's deeds become a binding obligation upon oneself, securing one's fate in the afterlife. This ayah emphasizes individual accountability before Allah on the Day of Judgment, where deeds are the decisive factor in determining one's destiny.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears near the end of Surah Al-Muddaththir, which is one of the earliest Meccan surahs revealed to the Prophet. The surah emphasizes the themes of accountability, the resurrection, and the consequences of one's actions—core themes presented to the early Muslims in Mecca when belief in the afterlife was being established as a fundamental Islamic principle.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: 'Everyone will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment in the state they died in' (Sahih Muslim 2834). Also relevant is the hadith: 'A person's deeds are what will benefit or harm him' (Sahih Bukhari 3208), emphasizing that each soul's actions are inescapably tied to its destiny.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches that we cannot blame others, circumstances, or fate for our spiritual condition—we are each bound by our own choices and actions. It serves as a powerful reminder for self-reflection and accountability, encouraging Muslims to take full responsibility for their conduct and remember that every deed has eternal weight before Allah.
Related Ayahs
فَمَا تَنفَعُهُمْ شَفَـٰعَةُ ٱلشَّـٰفِعِينَ
So there will not benefit them the intercession of [any] intercessors.
وَمَا جَعَلْنَآ أَصْحَـٰبَ ٱلنَّارِ إِلَّا مَلَـٰٓئِكَةً ۙ وَمَا جَعَلْنَا عِدَّتَهُمْ إِلَّا فِتْنَةً لِّلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ لِيَسْتَيْقِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ وَيَزْدَادَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِيمَـٰنًا ۙ وَلَا يَرْتَابَ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ ۙ وَلِيَقُولَ ٱلَّذِينَ فِى قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَضٌ وَٱلْكَـٰفِرُونَ مَاذَآ أَرَادَ ٱللَّهُ بِهَـٰذَا مَثَلًا ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يُضِلُّ ٱللَّهُ مَن يَشَآءُ وَيَهْدِى مَن يَشَآءُ ۚ وَمَا يَعْلَمُ جُنُودَ رَبِّكَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۚ وَمَا هِىَ إِلَّا ذِكْرَىٰ لِلْبَشَرِ
And We have not made the keepers of the Fire except angels. And We have not made their number except as a trial for those who disbelieve - that those who were given the Scripture will be convinced and those who have believed will increase in faith and those who were given the Scripture and the believers will not doubt and that those in whose hearts is disease [i.e., hypocrisy] and the disbelievers will say, "What does Allāh intend by this as an example?" Thus does Allāh send astray whom He wills and guide whom He wills. And none knows the soldiers of your Lord except Him. And it [i.e., mention of the Fire] is not but a reminder to humanity.
كَلَّآ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ لِـَٔايَـٰتِنَا عَنِيدًا
No! Indeed, he has been toward Our verses obstinate.
حَتَّىٰٓ أَتَىٰنَا ٱلْيَقِينُ
Until there came to us the certainty [i.e., death]."