Tafseer of The Stories · Al-Qasas · 28:80
But those who had been given knowledge said, "Woe to you! The reward of Allah is better for he who believes and does righteousness. And none are granted it except the patient."
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 His word, the Exalted: وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ وَيْلَكُمْ ثَوَابُ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ لِمَنْ آمَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا وَلا يُلَقَّاهَا إِلا الصَّابِرُونَ (80) ("And those who had been given knowledge said: 'Woe to you! The reward of Allah is better for whoever believes and does righteous deeds; and none is granted it except the patient ones.'") (28:80)
The Exalted, whose praise is sublime, says: And those who had been given knowledge of Allah said — when they saw Qārūn come forth before them in his splendor — to those who had said "would that we had the like of what has been given to Qārūn": Woe to you, fear Allah and obey Him! For the reward of Allah (thawāb Allāh) and His recompense for whoever believes in Him and in His messengers and acts according to the righteous deeds with which His messengers have come, is in the Hereafter better than the splendor and the wealth that has been given to Qārūn and that belongs to Qārūn. And His word: "and none is granted it except the patient ones." He says: and none is granted it, that is to say: none is enabled to utter this word, namely His word "the reward of Allah is better for whoever believes and does righteous deeds" — and the "hā" and the "alif" (the pronoun "it" [feminine]) refer to the word. And He said: "except the patient ones," by which He means: those who refrained from pursuing the splendor of the worldly life and who preferred what is with Allah of abundant reward for righteous deeds over the enjoyments and lusts of the world, so that they strove earnestly in obedience to Allah and rejected the worldly life.
