Tafsir of Az-Zumar 39:49-52

65

"The man" : the one who has aversion to Allah and whose face is distorted on hearing Allah alone being mentioned.

66

This sentence can have two meanings: (1) "That Allah knows that I am worthy of this blessing; that is why He has given me All this, otherwise He would not have blessed me if I had been an evil and wicked person in His sight;" and (2) `that I have attained to this by virtue of my ability."

67

People ignorantly think that whoever is being blessed by Allah in some way is being so blessed necessarily on account of his worth and ability and that the same is a sign or proof of his being a favorite in His sight; whereas the fact is that whoever is being given something here, is being given it for the sake of a trial by Allah. This is a means of the test, and not any reward for ability, otherwise many able and worthy people would not be living in poverty and many unworthy people would not be rolling in prosperity. Likewise, these worldly blessings arc not a sign of one's being a favorite with Allah either. Everyone can see that many good people whose goodness is unquestionable arc living in hardships in the world, and many wicked people whose evil-doing is well known are enjoying the pleasures of life, Now, can a sensible man take the affliction of the one and the life of ease and comfort of the other as an argument to say that Allah hates the good man and prefers the bad man?

68

That is, "When they were seized for evil-doing, the ability of which they were so proud, did not avail them anything, and this also became known that they were not Allah's favorites. Evidently, if their earning had been due to their capability and their being favorites with Allah, they would not have been seized for evil-doing at all."

69

That is, "The Abundance or restriction of the provisions is based on another law of Allah, which has some other wisdom. The distribution of the provisions does not at all depend on man's worthiness and ability, or on his being a favorite of Allah, or for being under His wrath. " (For details, see At-Taubah: 55, 69, 85; Yunus: 17; Hud: 3, 27; Ar-Ra`d: 26; Al-Kahf: 34-36; Ta Ha: 131-132; AI-Anbiya': 105; Al-Mu`min: Introduction and vv. 55-56; Ash-Shu'ara`: 111; AI-Qasas: 78, 89 and the E N. thereof. and E.N.'s 54 to 60 of Saba).