(34–39) “We never sent a warner to any town without its affluent people saying, ‘We reject what you have been sent with.’ They said, ‘We have greater wealth and more children, and we will not be punished.’ Say, ‘My Lord expands provision for whomever He wills and restricts it, but most people do not know. Neither your wealth nor your children can bring you nearer to Us. Only those who believe and do righteous deeds will be brought near. They will have a multiplied reward for what they did, and they will dwell securely in the lofty chambers. But those who strive against Our signs, seeking to thwart Our cause, will be brought into the punishment. Say, ‘My Lord expands provision for whomever He wills among His servants and restricts it for him. Whatever you spend, He will replace it, and He is the best of providers.’”
Allah Most High tells us that the nations of the past who denied the messengers were in the same condition as these people who are now denying their Messenger Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. Whenever Allah sent a messenger to a town, its affluent people disbelieved in him; their prosperity made them insolent, and they boasted of it.
“They said, ‘We have greater wealth and more children’”—that is, than those who followed the truth—“and we will not be punished.” That is, they claimed, first of all, that they would not be resurrected. Even if they were resurrected, the One who had given them wealth and children in this world would give them even more in the Hereafter and would not punish them.
Allah Most High answered them by explaining that the expansion and restriction of provision are no proof of what they claimed. Provision is subject to Allah’s will: if He wills, He expands it for His servant, and if He wills, He restricts it.
Neither wealth nor children bring one near to Allah. What brings a person near to Him is faith in what the messengers brought and the righteous deeds that necessarily accompany faith. Such people will have a multiplied reward from Allah Most High: every good deed will be rewarded tenfold, up to seven hundredfold and many times beyond that, in measures known only to Allah. “They will dwell securely in the lofty chambers”—that is, in exceedingly high and elevated dwellings, where they will reside in peace and reassurance. Amid the pleasures and all that they desire, they will be safe from anything that might disturb or mar their delight; they will also be safe from ever having to leave those chambers or experiencing sorrow therein.
As for those who strive against Our signs by seeking to thwart Us and Our messengers and by denying them, “they will be brought into the punishment.”
Allah Most High then repeats that He “expands provision for whomever He wills among His servants and restricts it for him,” in order to establish what follows: “Whatever you spend”—whether it is an obligatory or recommended expenditure upon a relative, neighbor, poor person, orphan, or anyone else—“He,” Most High, “will replace it.” Therefore, do not imagine that spending diminishes provision. Rather, the One who expands provision for whomever He wills and restricts it has promised to replace what the spender gives. “He is the best of providers.” So seek provision from Him and pursue the means He has commanded you to take.