Tafseer of The Announcement · An-Naba · 78:36
[As] reward from your Lord, [a generous] gift [made due by] account,
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 discourse on the explanation of His word, the Exalted: جَزَاءً مِنْ رَبِّكَ عَطَاءً حِسَابًا (36) — "As a reward from your Lord, a gift according to reckoning" (78:36)
By His word, whose praise is exalted: (جَزَاءً مِنْ رَبِّكَ عَطَاءً) — "as a reward from your Lord, a gift" — He means: Allah has given to these God-fearing ones that which is described in these verses, as a reward from your Lord for their deeds, for their obedience to Him in the worldly life.
And His word: (عَطَاءً) — "a gift" — He says: as a favor from Allah to them by means of that reward, and that is because He repaid them for the one [good deed] tenfold, and in some cases for the one seven-hundredfold; this increase, although it is a reward, is [also] a gift from Allah.
And His word: (حِسَابًا) — "according to reckoning" — He says: as a reckoning with them for their deeds before Allah in the worldly life.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad 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: (جَزَاءً مِنْ رَبِّكَ عَطَاءً حِسَابًا) he said: a gift from Him as a reckoning for what they performed.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: (جَزَاءً مِنْ رَبِّكَ عَطَاءً حِسَابًا): that is to say an abundant gift, for He repaid them for the small work the immense good that knows no interruption.
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: (عَطَاءً حِسَابًا) he said: an abundant gift. And Mujāhid said: a gift from Allah as a reckoning for their deeds.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: I heard Ibn Zayd saying concerning the word of Allah: (جَزَاءً مِنْ رَبِّكَ عَطَاءً حِسَابًا), and he recited: إِنَّ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ مَفَازًا * حَدَائِقَ وَأَعْنَابًا * وَكَوَاعِبَ أَتْرَابًا ("Indeed, for the God-fearing there is a place of triumph: gardens and vineyards, and youthful companions of equal age...") up to (عَطَاءً حِسَابًا). He said: this then is a reward for their deeds, the gift that He gave them; they performed for Him one [deed], and He repaid them tenfold. And he recited the word of Allah: مَنْ جَاءَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ فَلَهُ عَشْرُ أَمْثَالِهَا ("Whoever comes with a good deed, for him is tenfold thereof"). And he recited the word of Allah: مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ يُنْفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ حَبَّةٍ أَنْبَتَتْ سَبْعَ سَنَابِلَ فِي كُلِّ سُنْبُلَةٍ مِائَةُ حَبَّةٍ وَاللَّهُ يُضَاعِفُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ ("The example of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is like the example of a grain that brings forth seven ears, in each ear a hundred grains; and Allah multiplies for whom He wills"). He said: He increases for whom He wills. All of this was a gift and not deeds that He reckoned to them; He repaid them for it until it was as though they had performed it, while they had not [in reality] performed it: they performed only ten, and He gave them a hundred, and they performed a hundred, and He gave them a thousand. All of this is a gift, and the first work; thereafter He reckoned that until it was as though they had performed it, and He repaid them as He repaid them for what they had truly performed.
