يَقُولُ ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ يَوْمَئِذٍ أَيْنَ ٱلْمَفَرُّ
Here the sūra sets down the counterpart of the sixth verse and brings the two questions face to face:
| 75/6 | 75/10 | |
|---|---|---|
| Interrogative | أَيَّانَ — when | أَيْنَ — where |
| Who asks | al-insān (subject implicit) | al-insān (stated openly) |
| Its time | Now | On that day |
| Its subject | The time of the event | His own condition |
| Its tone | Challenge | Helplessness |
| Its answer | Not given | Given: "There is no refuge" |
The sūra's verdict is hidden here. The man asked the first question and got no answer; he asks the second and gets one. That is, the matter is not whether the information is given but when the question is asked. The same man, the same subject, two different moments — and in the second moment the information is of no use.
And note: both questions ask about place and time. Right up to the last moment the man is looking for a coordinate. What he wants to find is not a truth but a way out.
Root: ف-ر-ر. To flee, to run away. Fārr — one who flees; firār — flight. (In Turkish the borrowed word firar, "desertion, absconding", comes straight from this root.)
| Reading | Pattern | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| مَفَرّ (noun of place) | mafʿal | The place to flee to |
| مَفَرّ (verbal noun with mīm) | mafʿal | The act of fleeing itself |
On the first reading the question is "where shall I flee to?"; on the second, "where is escape, is there such a thing as escape?" The answer in the next verse (lā wazara — there is no refuge) fits the first reading better; but the second does not contradict the answer either.
فَفِرُّوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ — "So flee to God." (al-Dhāriyāt 51/50)
The same word, the opposite direction. In this world it is said "flee to God"; on that day it is asked "where shall I flee from God?"
And the twelfth verse will close this tension: the address sought as a place to flee to is the very address one is asked to flee to.