Tafsir of Al-`Ankabut 29:62

"Allah extends the provision for whom He wills"—meaning He extends it for him and no one else—"of His servants and restricts [it] for him"—that is, He narrows it upon him. The pronoun returns to "whom He wills," for whom He extends the provision; that is, it returns to him while considering its correlate. Thus, the meaning is that He, Exalted is His state, expands the provision for a single person at one time and narrows it for him at another. The conjunction (wa) is for absolute association; thus, the restriction may precede the expansion. Or, the pronoun returns to "whom He wills," disregarding its correlate, in which case the intended meaning is "others" besides the aforementioned. This is analogous to [the expression] "I have a dirham and its half," meaning half of another dirham; this is close to the usage of istikhdam. The meaning is that He, Exalted is His state, expands it for some people and restricts it for others. Alqamah read (wa yuqaddir) with a damma on the ya, a fatha on the qaf, and a shadda on the dal.

"Indeed, Allah is Knowing of all things"—so He knows that each of the expansion and the restriction is appropriate to wisdom and interest at any given time, and thus He performs each of them at its proper time. Alternatively, He knows who is worthy of the extension of provision, so He extends it for him, and who is worthy of its restriction, so He restricts it for him.

This verse, meaning the saying of the Exalted: "Allah extends..." etc., is a completion of the meaning of His saying, Glorified be He: "Allah provides for it and for you," because the former is a discourse regarding the provided-for and its generality, while this is a discourse regarding the provision itself, its expansion, and its restriction.

His saying, Glorified be He: "And if you asked them..." etc., is a parenthetical statement to emphasize the meaning of the two verses and to imply that those upon whom you relied for provision are themselves confessing to Our power and Our might, similar to the saying of the Exalted: "Indeed, it is Allah who is the [continual] Provider, the firm possessor of strength." This was stated by the scholar al-Tayyibi.

The author of al-Kashf, may his secret be sanctified, said: It was inserted parenthetically to convey that the Creator is the Provider, and that He who bestowed existence in the first place and brought it into being is more worthy of having the power to sustain it. By this, He confirmed what was implied in His saying, Mighty and Majestic is He: "And upon their Lord they rely."