Al-Qasas · Makki · ayah 77 of 88

Al-Qasas 28:77

وَٱبْتَغِ فِيمَآ ءَاتَىٰكَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلدَّارَ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةَ ۖ وَلَا تَنسَ نَصِيبَكَ مِنَ ٱلدُّنْيَا ۖ وَأَحْسِن كَمَآ أَحْسَنَ ٱللَّهُ إِلَيْكَ ۖ وَلَا تَبْغِ ٱلْفَسَادَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُفْسِدِينَ

“But seek, through that which Allāh has given you, the home of the Hereafter; and [yet], do not forget your share of the world. And do good as Allāh has done good to you. And desire not corruption in the land. Indeed, Allāh does not like corrupters."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Seek the lasting home with what you hold, keep your share of this world, do good as good was done to you, spoil nothing.

A reflection

Not half and half: a home, and a share

This ayah is often quoted as Islam's charter of balance. Work for this world, work for the next, and keep the two in proportion. It usually arrives with a famous line. Work for your world as if you will live for ever, and for your hereafter as if you will die tomorrow. That line is often printed under the Prophet's name ﷺ. One classical commentary on this very ayah records it as a Companion's saying, not his.

The balance reading is half right. The missing half is in the wording, because the two halves are not built alike. For the next life the verb is ibtaghi, seek. It is a strong form of its root, used for earnest searching. For this world the ayah says only lā tansa, do not forget. Nobody needs telling not to forget the thing they chase all day.

The nouns differ too. The next life is al-dār, a home: somewhere you will live. This world gives you a naṣīb, a share: a portion marked out for you on the way.

Picture a tiler on a three-year contract abroad. He shares a room with five other men and sends most of his wage home. In his village a house is going up, one course of blocks at a time. Nobody would call his life fifty-fifty between here and there. All of it points home.

But he is not foolish. He eats a proper meal after a shift in the heat. He buys decent boots. He keeps enough to phone his mother on Fridays. The house needs him alive and well to live in it.

That is the shape of this ayah. Seek the home with what you hold, and do not forget the share you need on the road.

The commentators read 'your share' in two ways. Most early authorities say it is the good you do in this world, since that is the part you keep. Others say it is the lawful enjoyment Allah allows. One commentary calls the first reading stern and the second gentle. Gentleness, it adds, suits advice to a man who might bolt from severity. Neither reading makes the two lives equal partners.

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.