Tafseer of The Star · An-Najm · 53:48
And that it is He who enriches and suffices
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 the Exalted: And that it is He who enriches and grants possession (48).
The Exalted, Whose praise is exalted, says: and that your Lord, it is He who enriched with wealth whomever of His creatures He enriched and granted him possession, thus He provided him with the possession of the principal sums of wealth.
The people of exegesis differed concerning its interpretation. Some said as we have said about it.
* Mention of who said that:
Muhammad ibn ʿUmāra al-Asadī related to me, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Abī Ṣāliḥ, concerning His word enriches and grants possession, he said: He enriched with wealth and granted the acquired possession.
And others said: by His word enriches is meant: gave servants.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word And that it is He who enriches and grants possession, he said: enriches: granted wealth, and grants possession: gave servants.
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Abī Rajāʾ, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His word enriches and grants possession, he said: gave servants.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word enriches and grants possession, he said: enriched and gave servants.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word enriches and grants possession, he said: gave and contented and gave servants.
And others said: no, by it is meant that He enriched with wealth, and "grants possession": contented.
* Mention of who said that:
Muhammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word And that it is He who enriches and grants possession, he said: indeed He enriched and contented.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, And that it is He who enriches and grants possession, he said: enriches: granted wealth, and grants possession: contented.
Muhammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word enriches, he said: granted wealth, and grants possession, he said: contented.
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word And that it is He who enriches and grants possession, he says: gave him and contented him.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, like the narration of Ibn Bashshār, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of Sufyān.
And others said: no, by it is meant that He made Himself rich and made His creatures in need of Him.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of his father, And that it is He who enriches and grants possession, he said: Ḥaḍramī claimed that he had been told that He made Himself rich and made the creatures in need of Him.
And others said: no, by it is meant that He enriched whomever of His creatures He willed and made needy whomever He willed.
* Mention of who said that:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word And that it is He who enriches and grants possession, he said: enriching is to give more, and granting possession is to give less; and he recited He extends provision for whom He wills of His servants and restricts it for him (29:62).
