102- AL-TAKATHUR
VYING FOR INCREASE
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
# Vying for increase distracts you, # till you visit the graves. # Nay! Soon you will know. # Indeed! Soon you will know. # Nay! If you knew with the knowledge of certainty, # you would surely see Hellfire. # Then you would surely see it with the eye of certainty. # Then surely you will be questioned that Day about the blessing.
Commentary
# Vying for increase distracts you,
1 Vying for increase in worldly gains distracts people from obedience to God and remembering the Hereafter. “Distraction” (lahw) indicates an amusement, something that keeps people from achieving their real goals (Āl, Iṣ). In this vein, the Quran advises, Let not the life of this world delude you (31:33; 35:5; see also 45:35). Vying for increase translates takāthur, which implies both competing and boasting. It can pertain to anything that people seek for the gratification of their egos rather than for God’s sake. According to a saying attributed to the Prophet, it means gathering wealth without right, withholding it from those to whom it rightfully belongs, and hoarding it. It is reported that a Companion of the Prophet came upon him while he was reciting, Vying for increase distracts you, and the Prophet said, “The son of Adam says, ‘My wealth! My wealth!’ But do you get anything from your wealth except what you have eaten and finished, or what you have clothed yourself with and worn out, or what you have given as charity or spent?”. Another ḥadīth states, “If the son of Adam had a valley of gold, he would wish for it to be two valleys”.
# till you visit the graves.
2 This verse can be interpreted according to the first occasion of revelation mentioned in the sūrah introduction or as implying that people will continue to be distracted and not repent before they die. Regarding the first interpretation, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib is reported to have said, “How neglectful are these visitors and how difficult is the affair. They took no lesson from something that was full of lessons, but took lessons from far-off places. Do they boast about the dead bodies of their forefathers, or do they regard the number of dead people as grounds for feeling boastful of their numbers? They want to revive bodies that have become spiritless and moments that have passed that are more appropriate as lessons than as sources of pride and that are more suitable as a source of humility than of honor” (Nahj al-balāghah, Sermon No. 221).
# Nay! Soon you will know.
# Indeed! Soon you will know.3–4 This verse means that people will know at the moment of death. The repetition in these verses can be viewed as emphasizing that people cannot evade the outcome of their actions and that in the Hereafter they will know the real value of the things they prized when on earth. The repetition can also be taken as a reference to the punishment realized in the grave (v. 3) and then to the punishment realized after the Final Resurrection (v. 4; Āl, Q, Ṭs). According to some, the first is addressed to disbelievers and the second to believers (IK, Q). The emphatic particle kallā can indicate either negation or affirmation; it is thus rendered Nay in v. 3 and v. 5 and indeed in v. 4, though it could also be rendered nay for each or indeed for each.
(Source: The study Quran, by Sayyed Hossein Nasr and 4 others)
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