Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 105 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:105

مَّا يَوَدُّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مِنْ أَهْلِ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ وَلَا ٱلْمُشْرِكِينَ أَن يُنَزَّلَ عَلَيْكُم مِّنْ خَيْرٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يَخْتَصُّ بِرَحْمَتِهِۦ مَن يَشَآءُ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ ذُو ٱلْفَضْلِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ

“Neither those who disbelieve from the People of the Scripture [i.e., the Jews and Christians] nor the polytheists wish that any good should be sent down to you from your Lord. But Allāh selects for His mercy whom He wills, and Allāh is the possessor of great bounty.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Some wish no good at all to reach the believers, but Allah singles out for His mercy whom He wills, and His bounty is vast.

A reflection

Bounty no one was owed

At a supermarket till, a stranger quietly pays for a young mother's shopping. She tries to refuse; he is already walking away. The man behind them in the queue mutters to no one: 'Why her?'

The ayah ends with two sentences about Allah. 'Allah singles out for His mercy whom He wills, and Allah is the Possessor of great bounty.' A major early commentator explains faḍl here. Every good His servants receive, in their faith and in their world, comes from Him first, as a favour they had not earned from Him. Another commentary defines bounty as kindness begun without any cause.

That is what makes envy so strange, and so proud. Envy behaves as if the gifts of life were wages and someone has been overpaid. It quietly appoints itself to the committee that decides who deserves what. The ayah dissolves the committee. The gifts are His, and He gives them as He wills. A linguist-commentator adds that He wills only what His wisdom requires.

Is it unfair, then, that some receive what others do not? Nobody was owed the gift in the first place. Withholding a bounty wrongs no one; giving it is generosity.

A later commentary draws the conclusion for the envious. Since He favours all His servants with every kind of favour, no one should envy anyone. Everyone, it says, is drowning in the seas of His vast bounty. The man in the queue included.

Why would God call Himself 'the Possessor of great bounty'? Does He need it said? He is free of all need (35:15), and the title adds nothing to Him. It is information for us. It tells the woman at the till where the shopping really came from, and the man behind where his own came from too.

Envy cannot undo what Allah sends down, a classical theologian notes; it only spoils the heart that holds it. Humility here is simply accuracy. You were never on the committee.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.