Fussilat · Makki · ayah 8 of 54

Fussilat 41:8

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ لَهُمْ أَجْرٌ غَيْرُ مَمْنُونٍ

“Indeed, those who believe and do righteous deeds - for them is a reward uninterrupted.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Set against the bargain ʿUtba offered, this is the real one: for faith joined to good work, a wage that heals and is never cut.

A reflection

The counter-offer

Remember the offer at the start of this surah. ʿUtba, by the early report, laid out everything Quraysh could give. Wealth until you are the richest of us. Rank, so that nothing is settled without you. A crown.

This ayah, recited in the same sitting, is the counter-offer, made not to the Prophet ﷺ but to everyone listening. For those who believe and do good: a reward ghayr mamnūn. The commentaries give its senses. Not cut off. Not reduced. Not counted out.

Set the two side by side. Everything ʿUtba offered had an end built into it. Wealth is spent or inherited. Rank passes to the next man. Even a crown comes off at the grave. The richest man in Makkah could promise a lot, but nothing that lasted longer than he did.

The surah's reply is quiet. It does not argue that money is evil or that rank is worthless. It simply names a reward on a different scale. One that does not stop.

Every serious choice involves weighing offers like these. A job, a deal, a shortcut. The question is never only how much. It is also: for how long? An offer that ends is worth less than it looks, however large it is today.

The full entry has 2 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.