Surah Az-Zumar
Chapter 39 · Verse 49 · Revealed in Makkah
“And when adversity touches man, he calls upon Us; then when We bestow on him a favor from Us, he says, "I have only been given it because of [my] knowledge." Rather, it is a trial, but most of them do not know.”
Translation: Saheeh International
Listen to recitation
Mishary Rashid Alafasy
Reflection — Ibn Kathir
How Man changes when He is blessed after suffering Harm
Allah tells us how man, when he is suffering from harm, prays to Allah, turning to Him in repentance and calling upon Him, but when He makes things easy for him, he transgresses and commits sins.
إِنَّمَآ أُوتِيتُهُ عَلَى عِلْمٍ
Reflection — Maarif ul Quran
In verse 47, it was said: وَبَدَا لَهُم مِّنَ اللَّـهِ مَا لَمْ يَكُونُوا يَحْتَسِبُونَ (And there will appear to them from Allah what they have never imagined.) The famous tabi` i, Sufyan Thawri recited this verse and said, 'Ruined are those who did good deeds only to pretend their piety before people. (He repeated this sentence twice) This verse is about them. They did good deeds in their mortal life to impress people, who took them to be good people. Even they themselves used to deceive themselves by thinking that these deeds will become a source of salvation for them in the Hereafter. But, as these were never performed with unalloyed sincerity ('ikhlas), they deserve no reward in the sight of Allah. So, once they are in the life after death, the punishment would come upon them suddenly against their expectation.' (Qurtubi)
An important instruction concerning 'mushajarat' (disagreements among Sahabah)
What does this verse bring up for you today?