Qurani app iconQuraniQuran, hadith, fiqh, prayer, and audio in one place
Browse

Tafsir of Ar-Ra'd 13:26

Surah Ar-Ra'd 13:26

ﲯ ﲰ ﲱ ﲲ ﲳ ﲴ ﲵ ﲶ ﲷ ﲸ ﲹ ﲺ ﲻ ﲼ ﲽ ﲾ ﲿ

Allah extends provision for whom He wills and restricts [it]. And they rejoice in the worldly life, while the worldly life is not, compared to the Hereafter, except [brief] enjoyment.

Tafsir

Ruh al-Ma'ani

Verse range: 13:26

Open in Qurani
  • "Allah extends provision" (meaning: expands it) "for whom He wills" of His servants, "and restricts" (meaning: narrows it. It is also said: He gives according to what is sufficient). Provision here refers to worldly provision, not what encompasses the Hereafter, for it is said that the latter is not appropriate for the context. The author of al-Kashf stated: It is inclusive of both types of provision—the sensory and the conceptual, the worldly and the otherworldly—and he mentioned, in explaining the connection of the verse to that, what he mentioned. It is—as narrated from Ibn Abbas—that it was revealed regarding the people of Mecca. Even if it is as such, it is general. It is as if it is a refutation of the misconception: "How can they be in an abundance of provision while they are in such a state of misguidance?" Thus, He—Glorified is He—made clear that the expansion of their provision is not an honor for them, just as the restriction of the provision of some believers is not an insult to them. Rather, both matters proceed from Him, the Exalted, for divine wisdoms known only to Him, the Glorified. Perhaps He expands for the disbeliever as a respite and a gradual entrapment, and restricts for the believer to increase his reward.
  • The placement of the subject before the predicate in such a verse is solely for the purpose of strengthening [the assertion], according to al-Sakkaki. Al-Zamakhshari holds that there is no objection to it being for both strengthening and specification; thus he said: "Meaning, Allah alone is the one who extends and restricts, not anyone else, Glorified is He." Zayd ibn Ali (may Allah be pleased with both of them) recited "wa-yuqaddir" (restricts) with a damma on the dal wherever it occurs.
  • "And they rejoice" is a new beginning (start of a sentence) censuring their evil deeds alongside what He has expanded for them. The pronoun, it is said, refers to the people of Mecca, even if they were not previously mentioned, and a group preferred this. Abu Hayyan said: It refers to "those who break" [the covenant]. Some have claimed that the sentence is conjoined to the mawsul ("those who..."). There is a displacement of words in the verse, and the place for this is after "and they spread corruption in the earth." Its distance [from the original placement] is not hidden, due to the difference in generality, specificity, future, and past. Meaning: They rejoice with the joy of arrogance and insolence, not the joy of happiness in the favor of Allah, the Exalted.
  • "In the worldly life" (meaning: in what has been expanded for them within it of pleasures). Because their joy is not in the world itself, the attribution of joy to it is figurative, or there is an ellipsis, meaning: "He expands life," or "worldly life" is figurative for what is within it.
  • "And the worldly life is not, in the Hereafter" (meaning: existing alongside its pleasures). Thus, the preposition and its object are in the state of being a circumstantial qualifier (hal), and it is not related to "life" nor to "the world," as Abu al-Baqa' said, because they are not [contained] within it.
  • The "in" (fi) here has the meaning of comparison, which is frequent in speech; as it is said: "The sins of the servant in the mercy of Allah, the Exalted, are like a drop in the ocean." It is that which enters between a preceding inferior and a succeeding superior. It is figurative containment, because that which is compared to something is placed beside it.
  • Attributing "mere enjoyment" in His saying, the Exalted: "but mere enjoyment," to worldly life may be figurative or it may be literal. The intent is that it is nothing but a paltry thing that one enjoys, like the ujala of a rider—that which a shepherd carries as provisions given by his family, a handful of dates, or a bit of flour, or the like. The meaning is that they were content with the portion of the world, turning away from the pleasures of the Hereafter, while that which they rejoiced in is, alongside that which they turned away from, a paltry benefit and quickly exhausted.
  • Al-Tirmidhi recorded, and authenticated, from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud that he said: "The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) slept on a mat, and he rose with marks on his side. We said: 'O Messenger of Allah, if only we had taken for you...' He replied: 'What do I have to do with the world? I am not in the world except as a rider who sought shade under a tree, then left and abandoned it.'"
  • It is said: The meaning of the verse is like the report, "The world is the farm of the Hereafter." Meaning: It was expected that what was expanded for them in the world would be a means to the Hereafter, like the goods of a merchant that he sells for that which concerns him and benefits him in his goals, not that they should rejoice in it and count it as the ultimate goal in itself. The first [interpretation] is more primary and appropriate.