The Witness of Time: Shahid Bolsen on Surah al-ʿAṣr
Middle Nation
40,891 views
In Surah al-ʿAṣr, Allah swears by time itself and delivers one of the most piercing diagnoses of the human condition in the entire Qur'an: mankind is in loss.
This is Shahid Bolsen's excerpt from By the Time, a two-part course on Surah al-ʿAṣr hosted by The Preservers, where he sat alongside Shaykh Turaabi to reflect on the first two ayaat of this surah.
In this session, he discusses what it means for Allah to call Time as a witness — not the sun, not the stars, not the night or day, but Time itself, the one witness whose testimony is already sealed because the account is already closed. He walks through the commercial weight of the word khusr — loss as a ledger term, a closed transaction, not a feeling or a possibility but a verdict — and what it means that this verdict is delivered before belief, before deeds, before anyone gets to imagine themselves exempt. Ayah three hasn't even arrived yet. The ledger is already open, on all of us.
By the Time is a free course exploring Surah al-ʿAṣr as a Qur'anic lens on time, human loss, faith, truth, and liberation.
Led by Imam Isa ibn Matta (Turaabi) & Shaykh Shahid Bolsen
Sundays | August 2 & 9
6-7:30pm CST / 7-8:30pm EST
Live Online | Recordings available
Presented by The Preservers × Middle Nation
Free Registration: www.the-preservers.org/time
20 Comments
I wish that one day my Western societies reach out to Islam for decency and love.
I'm old and will not live to see it, but perhaps my son will be lucky.
So thank you.
I speak Arabic and read Quran but to see you explain in English was amazing.
I wish Muslims could stop putting those who think for themselves on a pedestal and realise that Allah has given all of us the ability to think.
Under Islamic videos, the comments always idealise the speaker and don't share their own thoughts about the topic.
The Witness of Time: Shahid Bolsen on Surah al-ʿAṣr
Middle Nation
40,891 views
In Surah al-ʿAṣr, Allah swears by time itself and delivers one of the most piercing diagnoses of the human condition in the entire Qur'an: mankind is in loss.
This is Shahid Bolsen's excerpt from By the Time, a two-part course on Surah al-ʿAṣr hosted by The Preservers, where he sat alongside Shaykh Turaabi to reflect on the first two ayaat of this surah.
In this session, he discusses what it means for Allah to call Time as a witness — not the sun, not the stars, not the night or day, but Time itself, the one witness whose testimony is already sealed because the account is already closed. He walks through the commercial weight of the word khusr — loss as a ledger term, a closed transaction, not a feeling or a possibility but a verdict — and what it means that this verdict is delivered before belief, before deeds, before anyone gets to imagine themselves exempt. Ayah three hasn't even arrived yet. The ledger is already open, on all of us.
By the Time is a free course exploring Surah al-ʿAṣr as a Qur'anic lens on time, human loss, faith, truth, and liberation.
Led by Imam Isa ibn Matta (Turaabi) & Shaykh Shahid Bolsen
Sundays | August 2 & 9
6-7:30pm CST / 7-8:30pm EST
Live Online | Recordings available
Presented by The Preservers × Middle Nation
Free Registration: www.the-preservers.org/time