Al-Ma'arij · Makki · ayah 18 of 44

Al-Ma'arij 70:18

وَجَمَعَ فَأَوْعَىٰٓ

“And collected [wealth] and hoarded.”

Saheeh International

Essence

He kept gathering, and sealed every bit of it away, as though nobody else ever had a rightful share in it.

A reflection

A bag, tied shut and never reopened

The second verb here comes from a root meaning to place something inside a container and seal it, the exact word used for a money bag cinched tightly closed. It is a small, concrete, almost domestic image set against the vast cosmic scale this surah has been describing: not fire or mountains, but a drawstring pulled tight, and never loosened again for anyone else's benefit.

The Prophet ﷺ used this very same root directly in a warning preserved from his teaching to a woman asking about charity: do not withhold, tying your bag shut, or Allah will withhold from you in turn. The word is specifically chosen for the posture of closing something off, sealing it away from use, rather than simply having wealth or even simply saving it sensibly for the future.

That distinction matters enormously for how this verse should actually be read. It is not condemning wealth itself, nor even prudent saving. It is condemning the specific posture of the sealed bag, resources gathered and then permanently closed off from the rightful shares others were always owed from it, as though the due that belonged to the poor and the needy had simply never existed in the first place.

The full entry has 7 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.