Al-An'am · Makki · ayah 154 of 165

Al-An'am 6:154

ثُمَّ ءَاتَيْنَا مُوسَى ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ تَمَامًا عَلَى ٱلَّذِىٓ أَحْسَنَ وَتَفْصِيلًا لِّكُلِّ شَىْءٍ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةً لَّعَلَّهُم بِلِقَآءِ رَبِّهِمْ يُؤْمِنُونَ

“Then[358] We gave Moses the Scripture, making complete [Our favor] upon the one who did good [i.e., Moses] and as a detailed explanation of all things and as guidance and mercy that perhaps in the meeting with their Lord they would believe.”

Saheeh International

Essence

After the oldest charge, the gift to Moses: a Book completing grace for those who did good, and pointing to the meeting with their Lord.

A reflection

The reward for good is more good to do

Tamām is completeness, and the first hearers had a clear picture for it. The full moon was badr tamām, with nothing missing from its edge. The lexicons also describe a weaver short of wool for his cloak. He goes looking for one last tuft to finish it. Completeness is the point where a thing needs nothing more from outside.

The ayah says the Book was given tamāman ʿalā alladhī aḥsana: as a completion for the one who did good. The commentaries read this in several ways. The view the great early commentator preferred is that it means Moses himself. He had done well in all that Allah tested him with, so the Book completed Allah's favour upon him.

One compiled commentary draws a remarkable rule from the phrase. The grace here is a reward for obedience, paid in more obedience. The prize for doing good is being given more good to do.

Think of a hospital volunteer who turns up every Tuesday for a year. She makes tea, sits with patients and never misses a week. One morning the ward sister hands her a key to the quiet room and the rota for every volunteer on the ward. Her reward for faithfulness is not a certificate. It is a larger trust.

That reverses a common expectation. Many people imagine the reward of goodness as relief, a holiday from effort. The ayah pictures it as a fuller moon. Moses did not receive rest after Pharaoh. He received a Book, and a people to carry it to.

An early authority put the same idea in one line. Whoever does good in this world, Allah completes it for him in the next. The completion begins here and is finished there.

So when a new responsibility lands on you after a season of quiet faithfulness, look at it again. It may not be a burden at all. It may be the last tuft of wool for a cloak Allah is finishing.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.