Al-Qasas · Makki · ayah 80 of 88

Al-Qasas 28:80

وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْعِلْمَ وَيْلَكُمْ ثَوَابُ ٱللَّهِ خَيْرٌ لِّمَنْ ءَامَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَـٰلِحًا وَلَا يُلَقَّىٰهَآ إِلَّا ٱلصَّـٰبِرُونَ

“But those who had been given knowledge said, "Woe to you! The reward of Allāh is better for he who believes and does righteousness. And none are granted it except the patient."”

Saheeh International

Essence

In the same street, those given knowledge answered the sighing crowd: Allah's reward is better, and only the patient receive it.

A reflection

Named by what they knew, not by what they wanted

Two groups stood in the same street and watched the same procession. The ayah before named the first group by its desire: those who wanted the life of this world. This ayah names the second group differently. Not 'those who wanted the next life'. Instead: alladhīna ūtū al-ʿilm, those who had been given knowledge.

One commentary stops on that choice. Why not describe them by what they wanted? Because, it says, true knowledge of both worlds is enough. Whoever sees both lives as they really are will turn from the first towards the second, as a matter of course. The other group's wish came from not knowing either world as it should be known.

That is a striking claim. It means the difference between the two groups was not willpower. It was sight. Both had far less than Qarun. Both saw the robes and the mules. One saw a prize. The other saw a price tag no one else could read.

What did they know? The commentaries give several answers. Knowledge of Allah and His law. Knowledge of the realities of things. Knowledge of what Allah has promised in the next life. One report says they were the scholars of the Israelites.

Picture a gemmologist walking down a high street at lunchtime. A small crowd has gathered at a jeweller's window around one enormous stone. She glances at it and keeps walking. She is not more virtuous than the crowd. She simply knows what she is looking at. The crowd is admiring cut glass.

Now set this beside Qarun's claim two ayat earlier: I was given it only because of knowledge I have (28:78). The word ʿilm appears in both places. Qarun's knowledge was 'with me', his own, and it made him proud. Theirs was 'given', and it made them clear-eyed.

So the passage holds two kinds of knowledge side by side. One kind earns a man treasure and blinds him to its end. The other earns nothing visible at all, and sees straight through the parade. The question it leaves is which kind you are collecting.

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.