The Quran

Preface

أَهُم يَقسِمونَ رَحمَتَ رَبِّكَ ۚ نَحنُ قَسَمنا بَينَهُم مَعيشَتَهُم فِي الحَياةِ الدُّنيا ۚ وَرَفَعنا بَعضَهُم فَوقَ بَعضٍ دَرَجاتٍ لِيَتَّخِذَ بَعضُهُم بَعضًا سُخرِيًّا ۗ وَرَحمَتُ رَبِّكَ خَيرٌ مِمّا يَجمَعونَ

Yusuf Ali

Is it they who would portion out the Mercy of thy Lord?¹ It is We Who portion out between them their livelihood in the life of this world: and We raise some of them above others in ranks, so that some may command work from others. But the Mercy of thy Lord is better than the (wealth) which they amass.

That is, spiritual gifts, those connected with Revelation. What audacity or folly in them to claim to divide or distribute them among themselves? They may think they are distributing the good things of this world among themselves. In a sense that may be true, but even here, their own power and initiative are very limited. Even here it is God’s Will on which all depends. In His wisdom God allows some to grow in power or riches, and command work from others, and various relative gradations are established. Men scramble for these good things of this world, but they are of no value compared to the spiritual gifts.