Al-Fajr: (15-16) As for man, when his Lord tests him...

Know that His saying, {As for man} (Fa-ammā al-insān), is connected to His saying, {Indeed, your Lord is in wait/ambush} (Al-Fajr: 14). It is as if He is saying: Indeed, the Almighty is in ambush in the Hereafter, so He intends nothing but striving for the Hereafter. As for man, he is concerned only with this world, its pleasures, and its desires. If he finds comfort in this world, he says: "My Lord has honored me." If he does not find this comfort, he says: "My Lord has humiliated me."

This is similar to His saying regarding the description of the disbelievers: {They know an outward aspect of the worldly life, while they, of the Hereafter, are heedless} (Ar-Rum: 7), and His saying: {And among the people is he who worships Allah on an edge [i.e., in doubt]; if good befalls him, he is content with it, but if a trial befalls him, he turns over on his face} (Al-Hajj: 11).

This [man's judgment] is wrong for several reasons:

1. The happiness and misery of this world, in comparison to the happiness and misery of the Hereafter, are like a drop in the ocean. Thus, the one enjoying comfort in this world, if he is miserable in the Hereafter, that enjoyment is not happiness. And the one suffering and in need in this world, if he is happy in the Hereafter, that is neither humiliation nor misery. Therefore, the one enjoying comfort in this world is not permitted to judge himself as happy and honored, and the one suffering in this world is not permitted to judge himself as miserable and disgraced.
2. The attainment of blessings in this world and the occurrence of afflictions in this world do not indicate deservingness. Indeed, Allah often grants abundance to the disobedient and the disbelievers, either because He does what He wills and rules as He wills, or due to wisdom (for the sake of maslaha), or as a means of gradual leading astray (istidrāj) and plotting. Conversely, He may restrict provision for the righteous for reasons opposite to those mentioned. Therefore, the servant should not assume that this is a direct recompense.
3. The one enjoying comfort should not be heedless of the final outcome, for matters are judged by their conclusions. The poor and needy should not be heedless of the boundless blessings Allah has bestowed upon them—such as soundness of body, intellect, and faith, and the warding off of countless afflictions and pains. Therefore, he should not absolutely judge himself as humiliated.
4. The soul has become accustomed to these sensory things. Whenever these desired pleasures and delights are attained, it becomes difficult for the soul to detach from them and cease being engrossed in them. However, if man attains none of these sensory things, his soul, whether it wills or not, returns to Allah and occupies itself with the servitude of Allah. Thus, the attainment of the world becomes a cause for deprivation from Allah. So, how can it be permissible to judge [one who lacks the world] as miserable and humiliated, when that [lack] is the greatest means to the greatest happiness?
5. Frequent practice causes the love to become firm, and firm love causes the pain of separation to become firm. Whoever attains worldly possessions more and longer, his love for them will be stronger, and thus his pain upon parting with them at death will be more severe. The opposite is true for the one who lacks them. Therefore, the attainment of worldly delights is a cause for severe pain after death, and the lack thereof is a cause for severe happiness after death. How then can it be said that attaining the world is happiness and lacking it is misery?

Know that these points are valid only if one affirms the Resurrection, whether spiritually or physically. As for one who denies the Resurrection in every aspect, none of these points hold true for his view. Rather, it is incumbent upon him to conclude that attaining the world is happiness and lacking it is misery.

However, there is another subtle point: sometimes, attaining abundant worldly possessions becomes a cause for being killed, plundered, and falling into various tortures, so that deprivation might be a cause for remaining safe. Based on this consideration, it is not permissible even for one who denies the Resurrection in every aspect to judge the owner of the world as happy and the one lacking it as disgraced, for it might be revealed that the situation afterward is the opposite.

In the verse, there are several questions:

The First Question: What is meant by {As for man}—are two specific individuals meant, or the entire species?

Answer: There are two opinions:

1. That two specific individuals are meant. It is narrated from Ibn Abbas that they were 'Utbah ibn Rabi'ah and Abu Hudhayfah ibn al-Mughirah. Al-Kalbi said it was Ubayy ibn Khalaf. Al-Muqatil said it was revealed concerning Umayyah ibn Khalaf.
2. That it refers to whoever is described by this characteristic, which is the disbeliever who denies the Day of Recompense.

The Second Question: How is the expansion and restriction of provision called a trial (ibtila’)?

Answer: Because each of them is a test for the servant. If provision is expanded for him, his state is tested: does he give thanks or disbelieve? If it is restricted for him, his state is tested: does he have patience or become impatient? The wisdom behind both is one. This is similar to His saying: {And We test you with evil and with good as a trial} (Al-Anbiya: 35).

The Third Question: When He said, {then He honors him}, He affirmed that He honored him and established that fact. Yet, when He recounted that man said, "My Lord has honored me," He criticized him for it. How can these two be reconciled?

Answer: Because the word of denial is {Kallā} (Nay/Never). Why should it not be said that it is specific only to his saying, "My Lord has humiliated me"? Even if we concede that the denial refers to both, there are three aspects:

1. He believed that he deserved that honor.
2. The blessings of Allah were already present before the attainment of wealth—the blessing of soundness of body, intellect, and faith. When he did not acknowledge the blessing until the wealth was attained, it became clear that his goal was not to thank Allah's blessing, but rather arrogance due to worldly possessions and accumulating wealth and children.
3. His arrogance regarding the blessing of the world and his turning away from mentioning the blessing of the Hereafter indicates his denial of the Resurrection. Consequently, he deserved the blame, just as Allah recounted regarding the one who entered his garden while being unjust to himself: **{He said, "I do not think that this will perish ever," Nor do I think the Hour will occur}* (Al-Kahf: 35-36), until His saying: {Do you disbelieve in Him Who created you from dust?} (Al-Kahf: 37).

The Fourth Question: Why did He say in the first case: {when his Lord tests him, then He honors him} (using fa' [then]), but in the second case: {But when He tests him and restricts his provision} (using wa [and])?

Answer: Because Allah's mercy precedes His wrath, and His trial with blessings precedes His trial with the sending down of afflictions. The fa' (sequence/consequence) indicates the abundance of this first category, while the wa (conjunction) indicates the second, in light of what He said: {And if you should count the favors of Allah, you could not enumerate them} (An-Nahl: 18).

The Fifth Question: When He said in the first case: {then he says, "My Lord has honored me"}, it should follow that in the second case he should say: "My Lord has humiliated me." But he did not say that.

Answer: Because in his saying "He has honored me" (akramani), he is truthful (in his perception), but in his saying "My Lord has humiliated me" (ahānanī), he is untruthful. He merely thinks that the scarcity and restriction of the world constitute humiliation, and this is ignorance and a corrupt belief. How then could Allah recount this from him?

The Sixth Question: What is the meaning of His saying: {and restricts his provision} (fa-qaddara 'alayhi rizqahu)?

Answer: It means He straitened it for him, making it just enough for sustenance (balgha). It was also read as fa-qattara (with tā'), meaning He stinted/was stingy. And akramani and ahānanī are read with a quiescent nūn when pausing, for those who omit the yā' in continuous speech, contenting themselves with the kasra (vowel mark).

7 < { Nay, but you do not honor the orphan, * Nor do you encourage one another to feed the poor, * And you consume inheritance greedily, * And you love wealth with an excessive love. } >