Sad · Makki · ayah 9 of 88

Sad 38:9

أَمْ عِندَهُمْ خَزَآئِنُ رَحْمَةِ رَبِّكَ ٱلْعَزِيزِ ٱلْوَهَّابِ

“Or do they have the depositories of the mercy of your Lord, the Exalted in Might, the Bestower?[1320]”

Saheeh International

Essence

Mercy has storerooms, and their keys hang with the Almighty who gives without asking anything back, not with anyone who decides who deserves it.

A reflection

Out of reach, and always giving

The Quraysh had decided who deserved revelation. It should have gone to one of their leading men, they said. The Prophet ﷺ was neither the eldest nor the most powerful among them. This ayah answers with two names of Allah, set side by side: al-ʿAzīz, al-Wahhāb.

Seven ayat earlier, the same root described the Quraysh themselves. They were in ʿizza (38:2): a pose of being beyond reach, too proud to follow. Here the real thing is named. The lexicons give the root strength, being out of reach, and rarity: a thing ʿazza when it grew so scarce it became precious. So al-ʿAzīz is the One truly beyond reach. No hand closes over His decisions, and no pressure moves them. The leaders' ʿizza was borrowed and brittle. His is His own.

Wahb is the gift with no price and nothing expected back. One lexicon adds that a true gift is free of any exchange or hidden aim. The intensive form, Wahhāb, is the One who gives like this again and again.

Together the pair dismantles the Quraysh's position from both sides. Because He is ʿAzīz, nobody can force His hand or vote on His gifts. Because He is Wahhāb, His giving does not follow wealth, age or family prestige. It follows His wisdom.

One commentator draws this out. The One able to grant such a rank must have complete power and complete generosity. Given both, His giving does not depend on whether the recipient is rich or poor. Nor does it wait for His enemies' approval.

This humbles a quiet pride in all of us. We describe what we have as earned and what others have as luck. We feel entitled to an opinion on other people's blessings, as though we had been consulted. The ayah asks: do you hold the storerooms? Then why should your view of who deserves them carry any weight?

Does Allah call Himself Mighty and Giving because He needs us to say so? A giver who needs nothing back has no use for flattery. The names are not for Him. They tell us where to stand when we are tempted to resent a gift: outside the storeroom, beside everyone else, with open hands.

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.