An-Nisa · Madani · ayah 129 of 176

An-Nisa 4:129

وَلَن تَسْتَطِيعُوٓا۟ أَن تَعْدِلُوا۟ بَيْنَ ٱلنِّسَآءِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتُمْ ۖ فَلَا تَمِيلُوا۟ كُلَّ ٱلْمَيْلِ فَتَذَرُوهَا كَٱلْمُعَلَّقَةِ ۚ وَإِن تُصْلِحُوا۟ وَتَتَّقُوا۟ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا

“And you will never be able to be equal [in feeling] between wives, even if you should strive [to do so]. So do not incline completely [toward one] and leave another hanging.[221] And if you amend [your affairs] and fear Allāh - then indeed, Allāh is ever Forgiving and Merciful.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Hearts will tip, however hard you try; what is forbidden is letting the tip become a total lean that leaves someone hanging.

A reflection

The only Judge who never needs telling

Few sentences in any scripture speak so bluntly to human pride. Wa-lan tastaṭīʿū: you will never be able. Not 'you may struggle'. Never.

The particle lan closes the door on the future. Whatever you resolve, however keen you are, perfect evenness between hearts is beyond you. One early authority, explaining this ayah, simply said: it is certain that you cannot.

That is a hard thing to hear for anyone who prides himself on fairness. The husband who insists he treats both homes exactly alike. The parent who says, a little too quickly, 'I love them all the same'. The manager who believes she has no favourites. The ayah does not flatter any of them. Hearts tip. Yours too.

This is where the ego shrinks. Only One is perfectly just, and He is the One speaking. He made the heart, knows where it leans, and owns what we cannot command.

Then comes something astonishing. Having told us we cannot, He does not demand that we do. One rhetorical commentator draws the conclusion. To burden people with what is beyond their power would itself be injustice, and your Lord is not unjust to His servants (41:46). So He lifts the impossible and asks for the possible.

The ayah closes with two names: Ghafūr, Forgiving, and Raḥīm, Merciful. The root of the first pictures the mail hood under a helmet: a covering that hides and protects at once.

Does Allah need us to admire His fairness? He needs nothing; it is people who are poor towards Him (35:15). The honesty is for us. It frees us from pretending to a perfection we will never reach, and from the despair of failing at it.

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.