Al-Hadid · Madani · ayah 10 of 29

Al-Hadid 57:10

وَمَا لَكُمْ أَلَّا تُنفِقُوا۟ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَلِلَّهِ مِيرَٰثُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ لَا يَسْتَوِى مِنكُم مَّنْ أَنفَقَ مِن قَبْلِ ٱلْفَتْحِ وَقَـٰتَلَ ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ أَعْظَمُ دَرَجَةً مِّنَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنفَقُوا۟ مِنۢ بَعْدُ وَقَـٰتَلُوا۟ ۚ وَكُلًّا وَعَدَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ

“And why do you not spend in the cause of Allāh while to Allāh belongs the heritage of the heavens and the earth? Not equal among you are those who spent before the conquest [of Makkah] and fought [and those who did so after it]. Those are greater in degree than they who spent afterwards and fought. But to all Allāh has promised the best [reward]. And Allāh, of what you do, is Aware.”

Saheeh International

Essence

All you hold is addressed to its final Heir; those who gave when it cost most rank higher, yet all are promised the best.

A reflection

The last name on every will

Wa lillāhi mīrāthu al-samāwāti wa al-arḍ: and to Allah belongs the inheritance of the heavens and the earth. The root of mīrāth is a single idea: something belonging to one people passes to others, without any contract. A poet spoke of what he inherited from truthful fathers, to pass on to his sons at death. The lexicons record it plainly.

Now the ayah applies it to everything. Whatever is in the heavens and the earth will pass, in the end, to its true Owner. The commentators explain the logic. You will die, and your wealth will be left behind. It is all heading to Him anyway, as an inheritance returns to the one entitled to it. One commentator calls this among the most forceful urgings to spend that could be made. What, then, is your reason for holding back?

Picture a government list, published online, of estates left by people who died with no known heir. Line after line: a name, a last address, a date. A house, some savings, a car. Each person spent a lifetime gathering it. Each probably pictured it going somewhere. With no one to claim it, it passes quietly to the state.

The ayah says every estate is on that list in the end. Even those with many heirs only delay the final transfer by a generation or two. The heirs die too, and leave it on. The last name on every will, behind all the names we write, is His.

Pride clings to the idea of a legacy: my house, my fortune, my name on a building. Humility sees the wealth for what it is, a sum passing through, already addressed to the One who will inherit it. The question the ayah asks is not whether you will give your wealth to Allah. You will. It is whether you will give it while it can still count for you.

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.