Az-Zukhruf · Makki · ayah 59 of 89

Az-Zukhruf 43:59

إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا عَبْدٌ أَنْعَمْنَا عَلَيْهِ وَجَعَلْنَـٰهُ مَثَلًا لِّبَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ

“He [i.e., Jesus] was not but a servant upon whom We bestowed favor, and We made him an example for the Children of Israel.”

Saheeh International

Essence

ʿIsa, born without a father and given wonders no one else had, was nothing but a servant whom Allah favoured, and that is his honour.

A reflection

Every wonder was a favour

In huwa illā ʿabdun anʿamnā ʿalayh: he was nothing but a servant on whom We bestowed favour. The sentence is built with a restriction: in … illā, nothing but. Whatever else is said about ʿIsa, this is the frame.

And yet look at what lies inside that frame. The commentaries list it. He was created without a father, as Adam was created without father or mother (3:59). He raised the dead and healed the blind and the leper by Allah's leave. One commentary says he was given what no one else was given in his time.

All of it, the ayah says, was favour. Anʿamnā: We bestowed. The miracles did not make him more than a servant. They showed the power of the One he served. Several commentaries say it plainly: he was a sign by which people could see Allah's power to do whatever He wills.

This is where the ego learns its true size. If the greatest gifts ever given to a human being were favours, then our small gifts certainly are. A good mind, a strong body, a talent for music or numbers, a kind heart. None of it is ours by right. All of it was bestowed.

Allah gains nothing by bestowing. He loses nothing by withholding. He gives because He is generous.

A celebrated surgeon is asked by a journalist what makes her hands so steady. She says she does not know, and that she thanks Allah for them every morning before she scrubs in. The journalist leaves that line out. She does not mind.

Whatever you are good at, say quietly today: this was bestowed.

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.