An-Nisa · Madani · ayah 70 of 176

An-Nisa 4:70

ذَٰلِكَ ٱلْفَضْلُ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ ۚ وَكَفَىٰ بِٱللَّهِ عَلِيمًا

“That is the bounty from Allāh, and sufficient is Allāh as Knower.”

Saheeh International

Essence

All that is promised to the obedient is an overflow of Allah's generosity, not a wage; and He is enough as the One who knows.

A reflection

It was always a gift

'That is the bounty from Allah.' The word 'that' gathers up everything promised in the ayat before it. Being better off, made firmer, given a great reward, guided, placed among the prophets and the truthful. All of it, the ayah says, is faḍl.

The lexicons describe faḍl as an overflow: what goes beyond the measure. One lexicon puts it sharply. Every gift that the giver was not bound to give is called faḍl. A concise commentary spells out the point. He favoured them with it; it is not that they reached it by their obedience.

An early commentator raises the obvious objection. Did they not reach it through obeying? His answer is striking. They only obeyed in this world through His favour, which guided them to obey. So all of it is favour from Him.

Sahih al-Bukhari records the Prophet ﷺ saying that no one's deeds will admit him to Paradise. They asked: not even you? He said: not even me, unless Allah covers me with faḍl and mercy. The same word as this ayah.

This is where the ego shrinks. We keep a spiritual record of our own: prayers prayed, fasts kept, charity given. The ayah does not erase the record. It changes who the author is.

A man wins a national baking prize and thanks his own grit for ten minutes. Afterwards his daughter asks who first taught him to make bread. He stops. It was his grandmother, in her kitchen, when he was seven.

Does Allah remind us of this because He needs our gratitude? No. He is free of all need (35:15). The reminder is for us, to keep pride from spoiling the gift.

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.