Al-Qasas · Makki · ayah 73 of 88

Al-Qasas 28:73

وَمِن رَّحْمَتِهِۦ جَعَلَ لَكُمُ ٱلَّيْلَ وَٱلنَّهَارَ لِتَسْكُنُوا۟ فِيهِ وَلِتَبْتَغُوا۟ مِن فَضْلِهِۦ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ

“And out of His mercy He made for you the night and the day that you may rest therein and [by day] seek from His bounty and [that] perhaps you will be grateful.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Night and day are one mercy in two halves: stillness by night, seeking His bounty by day, and thanks running through both.

A reflection

Your wages are His surplus

A freelance translator opens her banking app on the last day of the month. It has been her best month yet. She sits back and thinks: I earned every penny of that.

In one sense she did. She worked late and met every deadline. But this ayah describes her month in other words. It opens with out of His mercy, before any benefit is named. Then it calls what she earned faḍl, His bounty.

The lexicons give faḍl a precise edge. It is what goes beyond the measured amount. One lexicon puts it plainly: every gift the giver was not bound to give is called faḍl. It adds that earnings sought in trade are faḍl from Allah. This picture is established in the lexicons. One commentator draws the lesson directly. What a servant gains through his own effort is still bounty from Allah, not something He owed.

That is uncomfortable for the ego. We like to think of income as a debt the world paid us. The ayah reframes it as surplus. Allah owed no one a day to work in, eyes to see by, or a night to recover in. He gave all three, then let us call the result our wages.

This is why the ayah ends where it does. One classical commentator says Allah made night and day so that people would single Him out for thanks. No partner shared in the gift, so no partner should share in the praise.

Does He need that thanks? Musa answered the question long ago. If you and everyone on earth disbelieve, Allah is free of need and worthy of praise (14:8). Gratitude adds nothing to Him. It simply puts the translator's month back in its true frame.

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.