An-Nisa · Madani · ayah 173 of 176

An-Nisa 4:173

فَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ فَيُوَفِّيهِمْ أُجُورَهُمْ وَيَزِيدُهُم مِّن فَضْلِهِۦ ۖ وَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ٱسْتَنكَفُوا۟ وَٱسْتَكْبَرُوا۟ فَيُعَذِّبُهُمْ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا وَلَا يَجِدُونَ لَهُم مِّن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ وَلِيًّا وَلَا نَصِيرًا

“And as for those who believed and did righteous deeds, He will give them in full their rewards and grant them extra from His bounty. But as for those who disdained and were arrogant, He will punish them with a painful punishment, and they will not find for themselves besides Allāh any protector or helper.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Those who believe and do good are paid in full and given more; the proud find no protector but the One they refused.

A reflection

More than the wage

Fa-yuwaffīhim ujūrahum wa-yazīduhum min faḍlih: He will pay them their wages in full, and give them more from His bounty.

A major early commentator draws a careful line between the two halves. The wage has a known measure: Allah promised that one good deed brings ten like it. The 'more' has none. He did not tell them how much, and He set it no limit. Others proposed seven hundred times, or two thousand. Yet even the wage, the commentator adds, is His bounty.

The root of faḍl pictures overflow: what spills beyond the measure, a gift no one was obliged to give. Several commentators connect the 'more' to a sacred hadith. Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim record Allah saying that He has prepared something for His righteous servants. No eye has seen it, no ear has heard it, and no human heart has imagined it.

This is majesty of a particular kind: a Giver no one can out-give. And it humbles the ego quietly, because the ego likes to keep accounts.

Picture a man who keeps a note on his phone. Charity given, fasts kept, a hospital visit, prayers made up. He would never say it aloud, but he hopes the total is adding up to something. One night, reading this ayah, he sees the note differently. The One he is counting for does not pay by the note. He pays in full, and then He overflows.

That does not make deeds worthless. 'In full' means every one is counted. But it moves the believer from the anxious arithmetic of the ego to trust in a Giver who is generous by nature.

Why would He give more than the wage? Not to buy anything. He is the Free of need (35:15). Giving beyond the measure is simply what He is like.

So do one good thing today and leave it uncounted, trusting the One who adds.

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.