Al-Qur'an Surah Fatir Verse 32

Mufti Taqi Usmani

Then We conveyed the Book as an heritage to those of Our slaves whom We chose. Now, some of them are those who wrong their own selves, and some of them are mediocre, and some of them are those who outpace (others) in righteous deeds with Allah’s permission. That is the great bounty,

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Then We granted the Book to those We have chosen from Our servants. Some of them wrong themselves, some follow a middle course, and some are foremost in good deeds by Allah’s Will. That is ˹truly˺ the greatest bounty.

Ruwwad Translation Center

Then We made to inherit the Book those whom We have chosen from among Our slaves. But among them are some who wrong themselves, some follow a middle course, and some are foremost in good deeds with Allah’s permission. That is the great bounty.

A. J. Arberry

Then We bequeathed the Book on those of Our servants We chose; but of them some wrong themselves, some of them are lukewarm, and some are outstrippers in good works by the leave of God; that is the great bounty.

Abdul Haleem

We gave the Scripture as a heritage to Our chosen servants: some of them wronged their own souls, some stayed between [right and wrong], and some, by God’s leave, were foremost in good deeds. That is the greatest favour:

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Thereafter We made inheritors of the book those whom We chose of Our bondmen. Then of them are some who wrong themselves, and of them are some who keep the middle way, and of them are some who, by Allah's leave, go ahead in virtues. That! that is a great grace.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Then We have given the Book for inheritance to such of Our Servants as We have chosen; but there are among them some who wrong their own souls; some who follow a middle course; and some who are, by Allah's leave, foremost in good deeds; that is the highest Grace.

Abul Ala Maududi

Then We bequeathed the Book to those of Our servants that We chose. Now, some of them wrong themselves and some follow the medium course; and some, by Allah's leave, vie with each other in acts of goodness. That is the great bounty.

Ahmed Ali

So We made those of Our creatures whom We had chosen, heirs to the Book; but some of these exceed themselves, and some follow the middle course, and some surpass others in goodness by God's will, which is the greatest blessing.

Ahmed Raza Khan

We then made Our chosen bondmen the inheritors of the Book; so among them is one who wrongs himself; and among them is one who stays on the middle course; and among them is one who, by the command of Allah, surpassed others in good deeds; this is the great favour!

Ali Quli Qarai

Then We made those whom We chose from Our servants heirs to the Book. Yet some of them are those who wrong themselves, and some of them are average, and some of them are those who take the lead in all the good works by Allah’s will. That is the greatest grace [of Allah]!

Ali Ünal

Then (after every Messenger), We have made those of Our servants whom We chose heirs to the Book (to preserve and teach it, and secure its practice in daily life). However, among them are those who (in fulfilling their duty as heirs to the Book) wrong their own selves (on account of certain failings and sins), and among them are those who follow a moderate way, and among them are those who, by God’s leave, are foremost in doing good deeds. That (the inheriting of the Book) is the great favor.

Amatul Rahman Omar

We (always) made only those whom We had chosen from among Our servants, the inheritors of (Our) Book. Some of them are (hard upon themselves and so) unjust to their souls (for suppressing their egos sternly). There are others among them who are moderate and are following the middle course. There are yet others among them who, by the leave of Allâh, are foremost in acts of goodness. That indeed is the great distinction.

English Literal

Then We made The Book be inherited (by) those whom We cho se/purified from Our worshippers/slaves , so from them who (is) unjust/oppressive to him self, and from them economizing/moderate , and from them racing/surpassing/preceding with the goodnesses/generosity with God`s permission/pardon, that it is the grace/favour , the great .

Faridul Haque

We then made Our chosen bondmen the inheritors of the Book; so among them is one who wrongs himself; and among them is one who stays on the middle course; and among them is one who, by the command of Allah, surpassed others in good deeds; this is the great favour!

Hamid S. Aziz

And that which We have revealed to you of the Book, that is the Truth, confirming (verifying) that which was revealed before it; verily, Allah is Aware, Seer of His servants.

Hilali & Khan

Then We gave the Book the Quran) for inheritance to such of Our slaves whom We chose (the followers of Muhammad SAW). Then of them are some who wrong their ownselves, and of them are some who follow a middle course, and of them are some who are, by Allah's Leave, foremost in good deeds. That (inheritance of the Quran), that is indeed a great grace.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And that which We have revealed to thee of the Book, that is the truth, verifying that which is before it. Surely Allah is Aware, Seer of His servants.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

Then We gave the Book for an inheritance to those whom We chose from among Our servants; but of them is he who makes his soul to suffer a loss, and of them is he who takes a middle course, and of them is he who is foremost in deeds of goodness by Allah's permission; this is the great excellence.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Then We gave the Scripture as inheritance unto those whom We elected of Our bondmen. But of them are some who wrong themselves and of them are some who are lukewarm, and of them are some who outstrip (others) through good deeds, by Allah's leave. That is the great favour!

Muhammad Sarwar

We gave the Book as an inheritance to Our chosen servants, among whom some are unjust against their souls, some are moderate, and some are exceedingly virtuous by the permission of God. This is indeed a great favor.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Then, We gave the Book as an inheritance to those of our worshipers whom We chose. Among them, is he who was harmful to himself, and some who minimize, and some who, by the permission of Allah, race in charity, this is the greatest virtue.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Then We gave the Book as inheritance to such of Our servants whom We chose. Then of them are some who wrong themselves, and of them are some who follow a middle course, and of them are some who are, by Allah's leave, foremost in good deeds. That -- that is indeed a great grace.

Wahiduddin Khan

We have bestowed the Book on those of Our servants whom We have chosen. Some wrong their own souls, some keep half-way [between right and wrong]; some, by God's leave, excel others in good deeds. This is a great bounty of God:

Talal Itani

Then We passed the Book to those of Our servants whom We chose. Some of them wrong their souls, and some follow a middle course, and some are in the foremost in good deeds by God’s leave; that is the greatest blessing.

Tafsir jalalayn

Then We gave the Book, the Qur'n, to those of Our servants whom We chose, namely, your community. Yet some of them are those who wrong themselves, by failing to act fully in accordance with it, and some of them are moderate, acting in accordance with it most of the time, and some are those who take the lead in [performing] good works, so that in addition to his [acquiring] knowledge he disseminates it and shows [others] the way [to proper conduct] as well as acting in accordance [with the Qur'n], by the leave of God, by His will. That, bequest to them of the Book, is the greatest favour!

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Inheritance of the Qur'an is of three kinds

Allah says;

ثُمَّ أَوْرَثْنَا الْكِتَابَ الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَيْنَا مِنْ عِبَادِنَا

Then We gave the Book as inheritance to such of Our servants whom We chose.

Allah says We made those who uphold the Book confirming what came before, the one whom We have chosen from among Our servants. They are this Ummah, who are divided into three types.'

Allah says;

فَمِنْهُمْ ظَالِمٌ لِّنَفْسِهِ

Then of them are some who wrong themselves,

these are the ones who are careless about doing some obligatory actions, and who commit some forbidden actions.

وَمِنْهُم مُّقْتَصِدٌ

and of them are some who follow a middle course,

these are the ones who fulfill their obligations and avoid things that are forbidden, but they may neglect some good deeds and do some things which are disliked.

وَمِنْهُمْ سَابِقٌ بِالْخَيْرَاتِ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ

and of them are some who are, by Allah's leave, foremost in good deeds.

these are the ones who do obligatory actions and things which are encouraged, and who avoid doing unlawful and disliked actions, and avoid some actions which are permissible.

ذَلِكَ هُوَ الْفَضْلُ الْكَبِيرُ


that is indeed a great grace.

Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn Abbas commented on the Ayah;
ثُمَّ أَوْرَثْنَا الْكِتَابَ الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَيْنَا مِنْ عِبَادِنَا
(Then We gave the Book as inheritance to such of Our servants whom We chose).

"This refers to the Ummah of Muhammad. Allah caused it to inherit every Book that He had revealed; those who wrong themselves will be forgiven, those who follow a middle course will have an easy accounting, and those who are foremost in good deeds will enter Paradise without being brought to account."

Abu Al-Qasim At-Tabarani reported from Ibn Abbas that the Messenger of Allah said one day;

شَفَاعَتِي لاَِهْلِ الْكَبَايِرِ مِنْ أُمَّتِي

My intercession will be for those among my Ummah who commit major sins."

Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said,

"Those who are foremost in good deeds will enter Paradise without being brought to account;

those who follow a middle course will enter Paradise by the mercy of Allah; and

those who wrong themselves and Ashab Al-A`raf will enter Paradise by the intercession of Muhammad."

It was also reported from a number of the Salaf that those among this Ummah who wrong themselves are still among those whom Allah has chosen, even though they are imperfect and fell short (by not adhering to the straight path).

Others said that those who wrong themselves are not part of this Ummah and are not among those whom Allah has chosen and who inherited the Book.

The correct view is that they are also part of this Ummah.
The Virtues of the Scholars

The scholars are the most fortunate of people with regard to this blessing, and the most entitled to this mercy.

Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, recorded that Qays bin Kathir said,

"One of the people of Al-Madinah came to Abu Ad-Darda', may Allah be pleased with him, when he was in Damascus. (Abu Ad-Darda') said, `What brought you here, my brother?'

He said, `A Hadith which I heard that you narrate from the Messenger of Allah.'

He said, `Have you come for trade?'

He said, `No.'

He said, `Have you come for any other reason?'

He said, `No.'

He said, `Have you come only to seek this Hadith?'

He said, `Yes.'

He, may Allah be pleased with him said, `I heard the Messenger of Allah say;

مَنْ سَلَكَ طَرِيقًا يَطْلُبُ فِيهَا عِلْمًا سَلَكَ اللهُ تَعَالَى بِهِ طَرِيقًا إِلَى الْجَنَّةِ وَإِنَّ الْمَلَيِكَةَ لَتَضَعُ أَجْنِحَتَهَا رِضًا لِطَالِبِ الْعِلْمِ وَإِنَّهُ لَيَسْتَغْفِرُ لِلْعَالِمِ مَنْ فِي السَّمَوَاتِ وَالاَْرْضِ حَتَّى الْحِيتَانُ فِي الْمَاءِ وَفَضْلُ الْعَالِمِ عَلَى الْعَابِدِ كَفَضْلِ الْقَمَرِ عَلَى سَايِرِ الْكَوَاكِبِ وَإِنَّ الْعُلَمَاءَ هُمْ وَرَثَةُ الاَْنْبِيَاءِ وَإِنَّ الاَْنْبِيَاءَ لَمْ يُوَرِّثُوا دِينَارًا وَلَا دِرْهَمًا وَإِنَّمَا وَرَّثُوا الْعِلْمَ فَمَنْ أَخَذَ بِهِ أَخَذَ بِحَظَ وَافِر

Whoever follows a path to seek knowledge, Allah will show him the way to Paradise. The angels lower their wings being pleased with the one who seeks knowledge. Whoever is in the heavens and on earth, even the fish in the sea, ask for forgiveness for the scholar. The superiority of the scholar over the worshipper is like that of the moon over all other heavenly bodies. The scholars are the heirs of the Prophets, for the Prophets did not leave behind Dinars and Dirhams, but they left behind knowledge; and whoever receives it, receives an abundance of good fortune."'

It was also reported by Abu Dawud, At-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah