—nor will He purify him, and for him is a painful punishment.

Arrogance is unlawful in both the rich and the poor, yet in the poor it is more reprehensible. That is why, when people encounter a wealthy man who is humble, they are surprised and deeply impressed, judging him to possess remarkably noble character. Should they meet a humble pauper,, he is viewed as no different from anyone else, for poverty itself ought to make a person humble—what, after all, does he have to be proud of? Hence, if someone—Allah’s refuge is sought—comes along destitute yet looking down on Allah’s servants or rejecting the truth, nothing entitles him to such arrogance, and he therefore falls squarely under the warning contained in the ḥadīth.

The compiler—may Allah have mercy on him—then cited among the proofs for the prohibition of arrogance and self-admiration, and for classifying them as major sins, the report from Abū Hurayrah (d. 57 AH) that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Might is My lower garment and grandeur is My cloak; whoever vies with Me regarding either of them I shall punish.”

This is a qudsī ḥadīth that the Prophet ﷺ relates from his Lord, yet it does not occupy the rank of the Quran. The Quran has rulings unique to it: it is inimitable—the human race cannot produce anything like it, whether the whole Book, ten surahs, a single surah, or even a discourse comparable to it. A person in a state of major ritual impurity is forbidden to recite it. The prayer is valid only when the worshipper recites from the Quran; indeed, the Opening Chapter (al-Fātiḥah) is obligatory. Qudsī ḥadiths do not share these rulings.

Furthermore, the Quran is divinely protected: nothing may be added to it or taken from it, and it may not be conveyed by paraphrase, nor is it