Tafseer of Taa-Haa · Taa-Haa · 20:132
And enjoin prayer upon your family [and people] and be steadfast therein. We ask you not for provision; We provide for you, and the [best] outcome is for [those of] righteousness.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the word of Allah, the Exalted: وَأْمُرْ أَهْلَكَ بِالصَّلاةِ وَاصْطَبِرْ عَلَيْهَا لا نَسْأَلُكَ رِزْقًا نَحْنُ نَرْزُقُكَ وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلتَّقْوَى (And enjoin upon your household the prayer, and be steadfast in it. We ask of you no provision — We provide for you. And the good outcome belongs to the God-fearing.) (132)
Allah, exalted be His praise, says to His Prophet Muḥammad: وَأْمُرْ — O Muḥammad — أَهْلَكَ بِالصَّلاةِ وَاصْطَبِرْ عَلَيْهَا — He says: be steadfast in upholding and performing it with all its ordinances, yourself. لا نَسْأَلُكَ رِزْقًا — He says: We ask of you no money — but We charge you with a bodily exertion for which We give you a great reward and an abundant recompense. He says: نَحْنُ نَرْزُقُكَ — We give you the money and provide it for you; We do not ask it of you.
His word وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلتَّقْوَى — He says: the good outcome of the deeds of every doer belongs to the God-fearing and to those who fear Allah, and not to him who does not fear His punishment and does not hope for His reward.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning His word وَأْمُرْ أَهْلَكَ بِالصَّلاةِ وَاصْطَبِرْ عَلَيْهَا , the scholars of tafsīr also spoke.
Mention of who said that:
Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth related to us, on the authority of Hishām ibn ʿUrwa, who said: ʿUrwa, when he saw what the rulers possessed, used to enter his house and say: لا تَمُدَّنَّ عَيْنَيْكَ إِلَى مَا مَتَّعْنَا بِهِ أَزْوَاجًا مِنْهُمْ زَهْرَةَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا لِنَفْتِنَهُمْ فِيهِ وَرِزْقُ رَبِّكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَبْقَى وَأْمُرْ أَهْلَكَ بِالصَّلاةِ وَاصْطَبِرْ عَلَيْهَا لا نَسْأَلُكَ رِزْقًا نَحْنُ نَرْزُقُكَ وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلتَّقْوَى — then he would call out: 'The prayer! The prayer! May Allah have mercy on you.'
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿIthām related to us, on the authority of Hishām ibn ʿUrwa, on the authority of his father, that when he saw something of the world he would go to his household and say: 'The prayer' — وَأْمُرْ أَهْلَكَ بِالصَّلاةِ وَاصْطَبِرْ عَلَيْهَا لا نَسْأَلُكَ رِزْقًا .
Al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm related to us, saying: Jaʿfar ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hishām ibn Saʿd informed us, on the authority of Zayd ibn Aslam, on the authority of his father, who said: 'ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb used to pray at night for an hour — I myself and Yarfāʾ would sleep at his place — and when we said that he would not rise that night, he would rise for a long while. Then, when he had performed his night prayer and finished with it, he would recite this verse: وَأْمُرْ أَهْلَكَ بِالصَّلاةِ وَاصْطَبِرْ عَلَيْهَا ... the entire verse.'
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Hishām ibn Saʿd informed me, on the authority of Zayd ibn Aslam — to the same effect.
