It is generally observed that people run after worldly desires because wealth, status, pleasure, recognition, and comfort offer immediate and visible rewards, while the consequences of excess and the rewards of the Hereafter feel distant. Human beings are naturally attracted to what is attractive, competitive, and gratifying, and modern culture intensifies this through advertising, social media, and constant comparison.
Although, Islam stresses upon the need to live a simple worldly life for it being but temporary, it does not condemn enjoying lawful blessings, but it warns against allowing them to become our purpose, because when desire becomes the master, gratitude, contentment, justice, and remembrance of Allah begin to weaken. True wisdom is therefore not to abandon the world, but to possess it without letting it possess the heart.
This is the theme of Surah Ar-Raʿd 13:26 shared and explained herein under:
اللَّهُ يَبْسُطُ الرِّزْقَ لِمَن يَشَاءُ وَيَقْدِرُ ۚ وَفَرِحُوا بِالْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا فِي الْآخِرَةِ إِلَّا مَتَاعٌ
“Allah expands provision for whom He wills and restricts it. They rejoice in the life of this world, but the life of this world compared with the Hereafter is only a fleeting enjoyment.”
Context
The verse comes in a passage contrasting those who respond to Allah with those who reject guidance and become absorbed in worldly success. Just before it, the Surah speaks of people who break covenants and spread corruption, while the wider section repeatedly reminds us that apparent worldly advantage is not the same as ultimate success. Verse 13:26 therefore corrects a common human mistake: assuming that greater wealth means greater divine favour, or that restricted wealth means divine rejection.
This group of people is delighted with whatever comfort or pleasure they have in the life of this world, and as such, they do not aspire to the far superior happiness in the life to come. Yet it is God who determines what people have in this life. He gives either abundant or stinted provision, which means that He has the final say in both this present life and in the future life alike. Had such people sought the reward of the hereafter, God would not have deprived them of happiness in this life, when it is He who gives it to them in the first place.
Scholarly interpretation
1. Classical scholars such as Ibn Kathīr explain that Allah gives abundant provision to some and limits it for others according to His wisdom and as a test. The verse then criticizes those who become excessively delighted with worldly life and forget the Hereafter.
2. Al-Ṭabarī similarly emphasizes that the distribution of provision belongs to Allah and that worldly prosperity is temporary.
3. Maududi stresses that material prosperity is not a reliable measure of a person’s worth before Allah; wealth can itself be a trial, just as poverty can be a trial.
Relevance today
The verse is highly relevant today because modern society often measures success almost entirely through salary, property, lifestyle, status and consumption. Social media intensifies this by constantly displaying other people’s homes, travel, careers and possessions. This can create envy in those with less and arrogance in those with more. 13:26 teaches both sides to correct their perspective: the wealthy should see abundance as a responsibility and test, while those with less should not assume they are inferior or abandoned by Allah.
This does not mean Islam glorifies poverty or discourages effort. A believer should work, seek lawful income, improve circumstances and support family. The warning is against making wealth the ultimate measure of success. A person may be financially rich yet spiritually bankrupt, while another may possess little but live with integrity, gratitude and peace.
A practical way to live 13:26 today is to ask: “Do I possess my wealth, or does my wealth possess me?” If prosperity makes us grateful, generous and humble, it becomes a blessing. If it makes us boastful, anxious, greedy or forgetful of Allah, the same wealth becomes a test we are failing.
The essence of 13:26
Provision rises and falls by Allah’s wisdom, but neither abundance nor scarcity defines our true worth. Worldly success is temporary; what ultimately matters is how we use what we have and what we become before Allah.
For detailed explanation, read our earlier post: But the life of this world (compared to the Hereafter) is only a fleeting enjoyment
May Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى) help us understand Qur'ān and follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which is embodiment of commandments of Allah contained in the Qur'ān. May Allah help us to be like the ones He loves and let our lives be lived helping others and not making others' lives miserable or unlivable. May all our wrong doings, whether intentional or unintentional, be forgiven before the angel of death knocks on our door.
وَمَا عَلَيۡنَاۤ اِلَّا الۡبَلٰغُ الۡمُبِيۡنُ
(36:17) and our duty is no more than to clearly convey the Message.”
That is Our duty is only to convey to you the message that Allah has entrusted us with. Then it is for you to accept it or reject it. We have not been made responsible for making you accept it forcibly, and if you do not accept it, we shall not be seized in consequence of your disbelief, you will yourselves be answerable for your actions on Day of Resurrection.
May Allah forgive me if my posts ever imply a piety far greater than I possess. I am most in need of guidance.
Reading the Qur'ān should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully. It will also help the Muslims to have grasp over social issues and their answers discussed in the Qur'an and other matter related to inter faith so that they are able to discuss issues with non-Muslims with authority based on refences from Qur'an.
Note: When we mention God in our posts, we mean One True God, we call Allah in Islam, with no associates. Allah is the Sole Creator of all things, and that Allah is all-powerful and all-knowing. Allah has no offspring, no race, no gender, no body, and is unaffected by the characteristics of human life.
You may refer to more Selected Verses from Sürah 13. Al Ra'd - The Thunder already published.
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- Selected verses from selected Surahs of Al-Qurʾān for compiled verses from other surahs.
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You may also refer to our Reference Pages and Understanding Al Qur'an for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.
An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs and selected verses of Al-Qurʾān from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that the exegesis of the chapters of the Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi.
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