A reflection on Surah Al-Mulk 67:9 - why receiving guidance is not enough without responding to it.
Continuing the previous ayah's question, Surah Al-Mulk now gives us the answer - and it is not one that offers any excuse.
An Honest but Too-Late Admission
Allah (SWT) says:
قَالُوا۟ بَلَىٰ قَدْ جَآءَنَا نَذِيرٌ فَكَذَّبْنَا وَقُلْنَا مَا نَزَّلَ ٱللَّهُ مِن شَىْءٍ إِنْ أَنتُمْ إِلَّا فِى ضَلَـٰلٍ كَبِيرٍ
"They will say, "Yes, a warner had come to us, but we denied and said, 'Allāh has not sent down anything. You are not but in great error.'"" (Surah Al-Mulk 67:9)
The people of the Fire admit fully: a warner did come, and they denied him. They did not lack guidance; they rejected it, actively and knowingly, despite it being delivered by noble prophets.
Receiving Guidance Is Not the Same as Living It
This ayah teaches something we try to keep in front of our students constantly: it is not enough to have reverence for the Qur'an as an object, or to memorise its words. Guidance must be responded to and lived, not simply received and set aside. A verse sealed in memory but never acted upon has not yet done its full work in the heart.
May Allah (SWT) make us among those who both receive guidance and live by it. Ameen.