What does 'whoever wills, let him take a way of return to his Lord' mean in Surah An-Naba 78:39?

Answer

Surah An-Naba 78:39 declares, 'That is the True Day. So whoever wills, let him take a way of return to his Lord.' The phrase 'a way of return' translates maʾāb, which the commentators (including al-Saʿdī, al-Ṭabarī, and al-Qurṭubī) explain as a place or path of return, refuge, and homecoming to Allah. After affirming that the Day of Judgment is 'the True Day'—an event whose occurrence is absolutely certain—the verse turns to the listener with an open invitation rooted in human free choice ('whoever wills'). The 'return' is accomplished now, in this life, through faith, repentance, and righteous deeds that lead one back to the pleasure and mercy of one's Lord. The verse is striking in its gentleness: rather than coercing, it appeals to the will, presenting salvation as something a person freely seizes. This aligns with the Qur'anic principle that there is no compulsion in faith and that guidance is a matter of sincere choice. The implicit warning is that the opportunity is time-bound—available in this world but not on the Day itself, when the disbeliever (in the very next verse) wishes only to escape into dust. The wise person, the commentators note, takes this path while the door remains open.