Qarun's Arrogance and Rejection of Guidance
Ayahs Covered
Common Words
Other Scholars on These Ayahs
He said ‘In fact I have been given it that is this wealth because of knowledge I possess’ in other words in return for it — he was the most knowledgeable of the Children of Israel in the Torah after M...
Related Hadiths
"If the people of knowledge had taken care of it and presented it only to those who cared for it, they would have become the leaders of their age by virtue of that. But they squandered it on the peopl...
A person from people who lived before you was called to account (by Allah at the Day of Judgment) and no good was found in his account except this that lie being a rich man had (financial) dealings wi...
Makhul said: I was the slave of a woman of Banu Hudhayl; afterwards she emancipated me. I did not leave Egypt until I had acquired all the knowledge that seemed to me to exist there. I then came...
Knowledge cannot be acquired with sloth.
Ibn Kathir Commentary
Related Tafsir
Qarun's Arrogance and Rejection of Guidance
Allah informs us how Qarun responded to the exhortations of his people when they sought to guide him
قَالَ إِنَّمَآ أُوتِيتُهُ عَلَى عِلْمٍ عِندِى
(He said: "This has been given to me only because of the knowledge I possess.") meaning, `I have no need of your advice; Allah has only given me this wealth because He knows that I deserve it and because He loves me. ' In other words: `He has given it to me because He knows that I am fit for this.' This is like the Ayat:
فَإِذَا مَسَّ الإِنسَـنَ ضُرٌّ دَعَانَا ثُمَّ إِذَا خَوَّلْنَـهُ نِعْمَةً مِّنَّا قَالَ إِنَّمَآ أُوتِيتُهُ عَلَى عِلْمٍ
(When harm touches man, he calls upon Us; then when We have changed it into a favor from Us, he says: "Only because of knowledge I obtained it.") (39:49) An alternative interpretation of this Ayah says that the meaning is: "Only because of what Allah knows about me did I obtain this favor." This is like His saying:
وَلَئِنْ أَذَقْنَـهُ رَحْمَةً مِّنَّا مِن بَعْدِ ضَرَّآءَ مَسَّتْهُ لَيَقُولَنَّ هَـذَا لِى
(And truly, if We give him a taste of mercy from Us, after some adversity has touched him, he is sure to say: "This is from me.") (41:50) meaning, "I deserved it." Imam `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam explained this Ayah very well. Concerning the phrase,
قَالَ إِنَّمَآ أُوتِيتُهُ عَلَى عِلْمٍ عِندِى
(He said: "This has been given to me only because of the knowledge I possess.") He said: "Were it not for the fact that Allah is pleased with me and knows my virtue, He would not have given me this wealth." And He said:
أَوَلَمْ يَعْلَمْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ أَهْلَكَ مِن قَبْلِهِ مِنَ الْقُرُونِ مَنْ هُوَ أَشَدُّ مِنْهُ قُوَّةً وَأَكْثَرُ جَمْعاً
(Did he not know that Allah had destroyed before him generations, men who were stronger than him in might and greater in the amount they had collected) This is what those who have little knowledge say when they see a person whom Allah has granted a lot of wealth; they say that if he did not deserve it, Allah would not have given it to him.