Which Surah and Juz is Quran 4:78 from?

This ayah is from Surah An-Nisaa (The Women), the 4th surah of the Quran. It appears in Juz 5.

Are there hadiths related to Quran 4:78?

Yes — there are 5 hadiths related to this ayah from Jami` at-Tirmidhi, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abu Dawud.

What tafsir is available for Quran 4:78?

Commentary on this ayah is available from Ibn Kathir, Ibn Abbas, Ibn Kathir, Al-Jalalayn — classical scholars of Quranic exegesis.

What topics does Quran 4:78 relate to?

This ayah connects to these Quranic topics: Allah, Death, Divine Decree, Divine Sovereignty, Tawhid.

Ayah 77

أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى ٱلَّذِينَ قِيلَ لَهُمْ كُفُّوٓا۟...

4:78An-Nisaa

Q: What does Quran 4:78 mean?

Quran 4:78 (Surah An-Nisaa, Ayah 78) translates to: "Wherever you may be, death will overtake you, even if you should be within towers of lofty construction. But if good comes to them, they say, "This is from Allah "; and if evil befalls them, they say, "This is from you." Say, "All [things] are from Allah." So what is [the matter] with those people that they can hardly understand any statement?"

Ayah 79

مَّآ أَصَابَكَ مِنْ حَسَنَةٍۢ فَمِنَ ٱللَّهِ ۖ وَم...

أَيْنَمَا تَكُونُوا۟ يُدْرِككُّمُ ٱلْمَوْتُ وَلَوْ كُنتُمْ فِى بُرُوجٍۢ مُّشَيَّدَةٍۢ ۗ وَإِن تُصِبْهُمْ حَسَنَةٌۭ يَقُولُوا۟ هَٰذِهِۦ مِنْ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ وَإِن تُصِبْهُمْ سَيِّئَةٌۭ يَقُولُوا۟ هَٰذِهِۦ مِنْ عِندِكَ ۚ قُلْ كُلٌّۭ مِّنْ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ فَمَالِ هَٰٓؤُلَآءِ ٱلْقَوْمِ لَا يَكَادُونَ يَفْقَهُونَ حَدِيثًۭا

Ainamaa takoonoo yudrikkumul mawtu wa law kuntum fee buroojim mushai yadah; wa in tusibhum hasanatuny yaqooloo haazihee min indil laahi wa in tusibhum saiyi'atuny yaqooloo haazihee min 'indik; qul kullum min 'indillaahi famaa lihaaa 'ulaaa'il qawmi laa yakkaadoona yafqahoona hadeesaa

Wherever you may be, death will overtake you, even if you should be within towers of lofty construction. But if good comes to them, they say, "This is from Allah "; and if evil befalls them, they say, "This is from you." Say, "All [things] are from Allah." So what is [the matter] with those people that they can hardly understand any statement?

Themes in this ayah

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Decree & what is written69

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Decree & what is written

4:78Ayah 1176

2 ayahs in An-Nisaa are strongly about Allah’s decree.

← Previous on Decree & what is written4:47O you who were given the Scripture, believe in what We have sent down [to Muhammad], confirming that which is with you,Next on Decree & what is written →4:81And they say, "[We pledge] obedience." But when they leave you, a group of them spend the night determining to do other than what you say.

Tafsir

Scholars largely agree on this ayah

View Full Tafsir: Al-Jalalayn on 4:78→

Wherever you may be death will overtake you though you should be in raised-up lofty towers’ forts so do not shrink from fighting for fear of death. And if a good thing such as fertility and abundance befalls them the Jews they say ‘This is from God’; but if an evil thing such as drought or misfortune befalls them as it did with them when the Prophet s arrived in Medina they say ‘This is from you’ O Muhammad (s) that is from the bad luck you bring. Say to them ‘Everything good and evil is from God.’ What is wrong with this people that they do not understand that is they do not come close to comprehending any words delivered to them the mā ‘what’ of mā li-hā’ūlā’ ‘what is wrong with these’ is an interrogative intended to provoke amazement at their extreme ignorance; to state that one cannot even come close to doing something is rhetorically more intense than saying that he cannot do it.

"When Allah decrees that a slave (of His) is to die in a land, He makes him have some need from it." Or, he said: "In it."

Jami` at-Tirmidhi #2214Matar bin 'Ukamis narrated that the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) said:Sahih

"When Allah decrees that a slave (of His) is to die in a land, He makes him have some need from it." Another chain reports a similar narration.

Jami` at-Tirmidhi #3150Narrated Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas:Sahih

from the Prophet (ﷺ), regarding this Ayah "Say: He has the power to send torment on you from above or from under your feet...' the Prophet (ﷺ) said "Indeed they shall be, even though they have not occurred as of yet."

Sahih Muslim #6574Abu al-Aswad reported that 'Imran b Husain asked him:Sahih

What is your view, what the people do today in the world, and strive for, is it something decreed for them or preordained for them or will their fate in the Hereafter be deterrained by the fact that their Prophets brought them teaching which they did not act upon? I said: Of course, it is something which is predetermined for them and preordained for them. He (further) said: Then, would it not be an injustice (to punish them)? I felt greatly disturbed because of that, and said: Everything is created by Allah and lies in His Power. He would not be questioned as to what He does, but they would be questioned; thereupon he said to me: May Allah have mercy upon you, I did not mean to ask you but for testing your intelligence. Two men of the tribe of Muzaina came to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and said: Allah's Messenger, what is your opinion that the people do in the world and strive for, is something decreed for them; something preordained for them and will their fate in the Hereafter be determined by the fact that their Prophets brought them teachings which they did not act upon. and thus they became deserving of punishment? Thereupon, he said: Of course, it happens as it is decreed by Destiny and preordained for them, and this view is confirmed by this verse of the Book of Allah, the Exalted and Glorious:" Consider the soul and Him Who made it perfect, then breathed into it its sin and its piety" (xci. 8).

Sunan Abu Dawud #3109Narrated Anas:Sahih

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: No one of you should wish for death for any calamity that befalls him, but he should say: O Allah! cause me to live so long as my life is better for me ; and cause me to die where death is better for me.