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سُورَةُ المُؤۡمِنُونَ · 23:62
MeccanRevelation order ٧٤Juzʾ ١٨Page ٣٤٦

وَلَا نُكَلِّفُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا ۖ وَلَدَيْنَا كِتَٰبٌۭ يَنطِقُ بِٱلْحَقِّ ۚ وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ

٦٢
Saheeh International · EN

And We charge no soul except [with that within] its capacity, and with Us is a record which speaks with truth; and they will not be wronged.

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Introduction

This is āyah 62 of Sūrat Al-Muminoon (The Believers), the 74th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 18. Meccan verses tend to address faith, the oneness of God, and the hereafter.

This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.

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Revelation & occasion

Asbāb al-Nuzūl
Period
Meccan
Order revealed
74 of 114
Surah
Al-Muminoon (23)
Occasion of revelation · Al-Wahidi

We burden no soul save to its capacity. The highway of the religion has a beginning and an end. The beginning belongs to the folk of the Shariah and the end to the lords of the Haqiqah. The practice of the folk of the Shariah is service according to the Shariah, and the attribute of the lords of the Haqiqah is exile in contemplation. The foundation of the folk of the Shariah was built with easiness. MuṣṬafā said, “I was sent out with easy and indulgent unswervingness.” The weak and the folk of concessions do not have the capacity for heavy burdens. The Exalted Lord put concessions into the Shariah for their sake and set aside heavy burdens: We burden no soul save to its capacity. This is the same as saying, “He placed no hardship upon you in the religion [22:78]. God desires for you ease and does not desire for you hardship [2:185].” As for the traveling of the lords of the Haqiqah, God founded that on discipline and difficulty. They are addressed by the words, “Struggle in God as is the rightful due of His struggle [22:78]. Be wary of God as is the rightful due of His wariness [3:102]. Whether you show what is within your souls or you hide it, God will bring you to account for it [2:284].” The Pir of the Tariqah was asked about Sufism. He said, “It is nothing but throwing away the spirit; otherwise, do not busy yourself with the nonsense of the claimants.” Al-Jurayrī said, “God does not burden the servants with recognizing Him in His measure; He only burdens them in their measure, for He says, 'We burden no soul save to its capacity.' Were He to burden them in His measure, they would be ignorant of Him and would not recognize Him, for no one but He recognizes His measure and no one other than He recognizes Him in reality.” God burdened the servants with recognizing Him in the measure of their obedience and the extent of their ability, not in the measure of His majesty and exaltedness. Everyone can know Him in his own measure, but only He knows and recognizes how He is in Himself. God says, “They encom- pass Him not in knowledge [20:110]. The All-Merciful.

Commentary

Tafsir

4 works

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

And We task not any person except according to his capacity, and with Us is a Record which speaks the truth, and they will not be wronged (62)Nay, but their hearts are covered from this, and they have other deeds, besides which they are doing (63)Until when We seize those of them who lead a luxurious life with punishment; behold, they make humble invocation with a loud voice (64)Invoke not loudly this day! Certainly you shall not be helped by Us (65)Indeed My Ayat used to be recited to you, but you used to turn back on your heels (66)In pride, talking evil about it by night (67) The Justice of Allah and the Frivolity of the Idolators Allah tells us of His justice towards His servants in this world, in that He does not task any person except according to his capacity, i.e., He does not burden any soul with more than it can bear. On the Day of Resurrection He will call them to account fo…
Provenance

Chains of transmission

Oral — isnād

  1. ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation

    Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.

  2. 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation

    Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.

  3. TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation

    Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.

Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.

Written — the manuscript record

  1. ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation

    The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).

  2. 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation

    Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.

  3. Modern printModern printawaiting curation

    The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.

A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.

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Provenance

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