فَلَا تُعْجِبْكَ أَمْوَٰلُهُمْ وَلَآ أَوْلَـٰدُهُمْ ۚ إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ لِيُعَذِّبَهُم بِهَا فِى ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَتَزْهَقَ أَنفُسُهُمْ وَهُمْ كَـٰفِرُونَ 55
Translations
So let not their wealth or their children impress you. Allāh only intends to punish them through them in worldly life and that their souls should depart [at death] while they are disbelievers.
Transliteration
Fa-lā tu'jibka amwāluhum wa-lā awlāduhum. Innamā yurīdu Allāhu li-yu'ażżibahum bihā fī al-ḥayāti ad-dunyā wa-tazhaqu anfusuhum wa-hum kāfirūn.
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah instructs the Prophet (ﷺ) not to be impressed by the wealth and children of those who reject Allah's message, as these material blessings are actually a means of divine punishment in this life. According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Qurtubi, Allah allows the disbelievers to accumulate wealth and offspring, yet these blessings become a source of torment and preoccupation that distances them further from faith, ultimately leading to their death while they remain in disbelief. The ayah emphasizes that worldly abundance without faith is meaningless and becomes an instrument of Allah's judgment.
Revelation Context
This ayah is part of Surah At-Tawbah (Chapter 9), which was revealed in the 9th year of Hijrah and addresses hypocrites and disbelievers in Medina. The surah's broader context concerns those who were wealthy yet refused to support the Islamic state and the Prophet's mission, serving as a comfort to believers not to envy the material prosperity of those who reject Allah's guidance.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: 'The best of you are those of the best character' (Jāmi' At-Tirmidhī), emphasizing that true excellence is not measured by wealth. Additionally, the hadith 'Wealth and children are adornments of life, but the everlasting good deeds are better' (Surah Al-Kahf 46) relates thematically to the transient nature of material possessions.
Themes
Key Lesson
Believers should not covet the material wealth of those who reject Allah, recognizing that abundance without faith becomes a source of torment rather than blessing. True success lies in spiritual conviction and righteous deeds, not in the accumulation of wealth and offspring.
Related Ayahs
۞ إِنَّمَا ٱلصَّدَقَـٰتُ لِلْفُقَرَآءِ وَٱلْمَسَـٰكِينِ وَٱلْعَـٰمِلِينَ عَلَيْهَا وَٱلْمُؤَلَّفَةِ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَفِى ٱلرِّقَابِ وَٱلْغَـٰرِمِينَ وَفِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَٱبْنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ ۖ فَرِيضَةً مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ
Zakāh expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy and for those employed for it and for bringing hearts together [for Islām] and for freeing captives [or slaves] and for those in debt and for the cause of Allāh and for the [stranded] traveler - an obligation [imposed] by Allāh. And Allāh is Knowing and Wise.
لَا تَعْتَذِرُوا۟ قَدْ كَفَرْتُم بَعْدَ إِيمَـٰنِكُمْ ۚ إِن نَّعْفُ عَن طَآئِفَةٍ مِّنكُمْ نُعَذِّبْ طَآئِفَةًۢ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا۟ مُجْرِمِينَ
Make no excuse; you have disbelieved [i.e., rejected faith] after your belief. If We pardon one faction of you - We will punish another faction because they were criminals.
وَمَا مَنَعَهُمْ أَن تُقْبَلَ مِنْهُمْ نَفَقَـٰتُهُمْ إِلَّآ أَنَّهُمْ كَفَرُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَبِرَسُولِهِۦ وَلَا يَأْتُونَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ إِلَّا وَهُمْ كُسَالَىٰ وَلَا يُنفِقُونَ إِلَّا وَهُمْ كَـٰرِهُونَ
And what prevents their expenditures from being accepted from them but that they have disbelieved in Allāh and in His Messenger and that they come not to prayer except while they are lazy and that they do not spend except while they are unwilling.
هُوَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَرْسَلَ رَسُولَهُۥ بِٱلْهُدَىٰ وَدِينِ ٱلْحَقِّ لِيُظْهِرَهُۥ عَلَى ٱلدِّينِ كُلِّهِۦ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ ٱلْمُشْرِكُونَ
It is He who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to manifest it over all religion, although they who associate others with Allāh dislike it.