Tafseer of The letter Saad · Saad · 38:86
Say, [O Muhammad], "I do not ask you for the Qur'an any payment, and I am not of the pretentious
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.
And His statement ( قُلْ مَا أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ ) (Say: I ask of you no wage for it): The Exalted, whose praise is sublime, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: say, O Muḥammad, to the polytheists (mushrikīn) of your people, who say to you أَؤُنْزِلَ عَلَيْهِ الذِّكْرُ مِنْ بَيْنِنَا (Has the Reminder been sent down upon him from among us in particular? (38:8)): I ask of you, for this Reminder — and that is the Qurʾān which I have brought to you from Allah — no wage, that is to say: no reward or recompense ( وَمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُتَكَلِّفِينَ ) (and I am not of those who pretend to what they are not), He says: and I am not of those who pretend to fabricating it and inventing it, so that you say إِنْ هَذَا إِلا إِفْكٌ افْتَرَاهُ (This is nothing but a falsehood which he has invented) and إِنْ هَذَا إِلا اخْتِلاقٌ (This is nothing but a fabrication).
As Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement ( قُلْ مَا أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ وَمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُتَكَلِّفِينَ ): he said: I ask of you no wage for the Qurʾān, that you should give me anything, and I am not of those who pretend to what they are not, who fabricate and impose upon themselves what Allah has not charged me with.
