قُلْ إِنَّ رَبِّى يَبْسُطُ ٱلرِّزْقَ لِمَن يَشَآءُ وَيَقْدِرُ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ 36
Translations
Say, "Indeed, my Lord extends provision for whom He wills and restricts [it], but most of the people do not know."
Transliteration
Qul inna Rabbi yabsutul-rizqa liman yasha'u wa yuqaddiru wa lakin aktharan-nasi la ya'lamun
Tafsir (Explanation)
Allah commands the Prophet to tell the people that sustenance (rizq) is entirely in the hands of Allah alone—He expands it for whom He wills and restricts it for whom He wills. Ibn Kathir explains this refutes the notion that wealth is earned solely through human effort or that poverty reflects divine displeasure; rather, Allah's distribution of provision follows His infinite wisdom. Al-Qurtubi emphasizes that most people fail to recognize this divine reality, attributing their circumstances to chance or personal merit rather than Allah's decree.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears in Surah Saba, a Meccan chapter addressing the Quraysh's arrogance regarding their wealth and denial of Allah's oneness. The broader context involves refuting the pagan Arabs' misunderstanding of prosperity as proof of their righteousness and their gods' favor, while interpreting poverty as divine punishment—a common jahiliyyah belief the Quran repeatedly corrects.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: 'No one's wealth increases except through charity' (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2280), and 'Seeking provision is a duty after the duty of worshipping Allah' (Al-Hakim), both emphasizing that while Allah controls provision, believers must also strive while trusting in His decree.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches that material conditions—wealth or poverty—are divinely ordained tests and not reflections of spiritual worth or divine favor; believers should therefore neither be arrogant in affluence nor despairing in hardship, but trust in Allah's wisdom while fulfilling their responsibilities to seek provision.
Related Ayahs
قُلْ أَرُونِىَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَلْحَقْتُم بِهِۦ شُرَكَآءَ ۖ كَلَّا ۚ بَلْ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ
Say, "Show me those whom you have attached to Him as partners. No! Rather, He [alone] is Allāh, the Exalted in Might, the Wise."
أَفَلَمْ يَرَوْا۟ إِلَىٰ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُم مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ إِن نَّشَأْ نَخْسِفْ بِهِمُ ٱلْأَرْضَ أَوْ نُسْقِطْ عَلَيْهِمْ كِسَفًا مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ ۚ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَـَٔايَةً لِّكُلِّ عَبْدٍ مُّنِيبٍ
Then, do they not look at what is before them and what is behind them of the heaven and earth? If We should will, We could cause the earth to swallow them or [could] let fall upon them fragments from the sky. Indeed in that is a sign for every servant turning back [to Allāh].
أَنِ ٱعْمَلْ سَـٰبِغَـٰتٍ وَقَدِّرْ فِى ٱلسَّرْدِ ۖ وَٱعْمَلُوا۟ صَـٰلِحًا ۖ إِنِّى بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ
[Commanding him], "Make full coats of mail and calculate [precisely] the links, and work [all of you] righteousness. Indeed I, of what you do, am Seeing."
فَقَالُوا۟ رَبَّنَا بَـٰعِدْ بَيْنَ أَسْفَارِنَا وَظَلَمُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَهُمْ فَجَعَلْنَـٰهُمْ أَحَادِيثَ وَمَزَّقْنَـٰهُمْ كُلَّ مُمَزَّقٍ ۚ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَـَٔايَـٰتٍ لِّكُلِّ صَبَّارٍ شَكُورٍ
But [insolently] they said, "Our Lord, lengthen the distance between our journeys," and wronged themselves, so We made them narrations and dispersed them in total dispersion. Indeed in that are signs for everyone patient and grateful.