Al-Isra · Makki · ayah 100 of 111

Al-Isra 17:100

قُل لَّوْ أَنتُمْ تَمْلِكُونَ خَزَآئِنَ رَحْمَةِ رَبِّىٓ إِذًا لَّأَمْسَكْتُمْ خَشْيَةَ ٱلْإِنفَاقِ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ قَتُورًا

“Say [to them], "If you possessed the depositories of the mercy of my Lord, then you would withhold out of fear of spending." And ever has man been stingy.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Hand a human the endless treasuries of Allah's mercy and he would still clutch them, afraid of running out; the grip was never about supply.

A reflection

Two thought experiments, facing each other

A boy of five at the seaside fills a bucket with seawater and carries it up the beach. When his little brother reaches for it, he swings it away and shouts. Behind him, the whole sea is still arriving, wave after wave.

The ayah sets up a thought experiment. Suppose you held khazāʾin raḥmati rabbī, the treasuries of my Lord's mercy. One concise commentary glosses them as provision and rain. Another commentator widens them to every blessing poured out on everything that exists. A modern commentary adds the decisive detail: they never run out and never perish. And still, the ayah says, you would hold them back.

Now set beside it a second thought experiment, from the Prophet ﷺ. Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim record it. Allah's right hand is full, and spending does not reduce it. It pours, night and day. Then comes a question. Have you seen what He has spent since He created the heavens and the earth? It has not lessened what is in His right hand.

One experiment asks what we would do with endless treasure. The other asks us to look at what He has actually done with it. We would clutch. He has been giving since the first morning, and nothing has run low.

That should make the ego very quiet. Most of us privately assume that, given real wealth, we would be the generous kind. The ayah removes that flattering picture before we can enjoy it. It even places the word antum, you, first. Two classical commentators read that as emphasis: you, of all people, are the ones who would grip.

Is it boastful for Allah to describe His own boundless store? A boast asks the listener to feel small so that the speaker can feel large. He needs nothing from us; He is the Rich (35:15). The description is given so that a frightened hand can open. The sea behind the boy does not need his bucket. It needs him to stop being afraid.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.