وَيَسْتَجِيبُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ وَيَزِيدُهُم مِّن فَضْلِهِۦ ۚ وَٱلْكَٰفِرُونَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌۭ شَدِيدٌۭ
And He answers [the supplication of] those who have believed and done righteous deeds and increases [for] them from His bounty. But the disbelievers will have a severe punishment.
Introduction
This is āyah 26 of Sūrat Ash-Shura (The Consultation), the 62nd sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 25. 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.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Meccan
- Order revealed
- 62 of 114
- Surah
- Ash-Shura (42)
And He responds to those who have faith and do wholesome deeds, and He increases them in His bounty. This “increase,” according to the commentators among the Folk of the Sunnah, is the vision of the Lord. In the same way, He says in another place, “Those who do what is beautiful shall have the most beautiful and an increase” [10:26]. When the servant reaches the vision of God, he reaches it through God's bounty, not his own obedience, as He says: “and He increases them in His bounty.” Tomorrow, when He bestows His vision on His friends, He will do so by the request of His own beauty, not the request of mortal man. How could an insignificant mortal have the gall to make the request himself? What a marvelous business! Before the vision of others the exaltedness of jealousy requires mask upon mask, but the perfection of beauty requires self-disclosure upon self- disclosure! Though He's always hidden behind the curtain the light of His face is apparent on every horizon. Once when he was overpowered by ecstasy, Abū Bakr Shiblī said, “O God, tomorrow raise up everyone blind so that only Shiblī may see You!” Another time he said, “O God, raise up Shiblī blind, for it would be a shame for someone like me to see You!” The first words were jealousy for beauty against the eyes of others, and the second time was jealousy for that beauty against his own eyes. In the road of the chevaliers, the second step is more complete and more exalted than the first. Jealous for You, I'll pull out my heart and eyes so my eyes will not see You and my heart will know nothing more of You. Evidence that tomorrow's vision of the Lord will be at the request of beauty is in the sound report, “When the folk of the Garden enter the Garden, a call will come to them, 'O folk of the Garden, you have an appointment with God that He desires to fulfill.'” When the folk of paradise come into paradise and they take up residence in their own goodly dwellings, a call will come, “O friends of the Real! You have a promise with the Real. Come and be present, for the Real will realize that promise through His bounty.
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- 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
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- 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.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
Community resources
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