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ʾinna rabbaka yabsuṭu r-rizqa li-man yashāʾu wa-yaqdiru ʾinnahū kāna bi-ʿibādihī khabīran baṣīran
Indeed your Lord expands the provision for whomever He wishes, and tightens it. Indeed, He is well aware of His servants and a keen observer.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Isra’ – Verse 30
30. “Verily, your Lord extends the sustenance for whomever He pleases; and straitens (it for whom He pleases), verily He is, of His servants, All-Aware, All-Seeing.”
Allah’s coffers are plentiful and well expanded, though as a matter of expediency, He sometimes widens the scope for the means of sustenance for some people, while, at other times, He tightens up and makes the means of it meager. He is truly knowledgeable as to what is good for the servant, and He is all-seeing with regard to their advantage. Hence, while one’s scope of sustenance is broadened, another person’s sphere is tightened as He deems what is worthy for them.
Therefore, He (s.w.t.) examines some by enabling them to accumulate wealth while He does the same by leaving them in a state of empty-handedness and poverty. It is on the basis of this point that we find Imam Amir-ul-Mu’mineen Ali (as) state in Nahj-ul-Balaqah, sermon 91, that:
The Almighty has predetermined people’s means of sustenance by augmenting in case of some and decreasing in case of others so that He would be please to examine whomever He wants by putting him on trial, thus selecting the rich and the poor by their gratitude and perseverance which they express.
Moreover, a great many people start rebelling against everything as soon as they feel self-sufficient. Thus, they would better stay at a certain level of living which will neither make them stay in a state of dire poverty nor in a state of rebellion. Concluding these mentioned remarks, one must proclaim that affluence or lack of it, are both characteristics of the Lordship of Allah and are required for the development and training as well as for the testing of human beings.
The verse says:
“Verily, your Lord extends the sustenance for whomever He pleases; and straitens (it for whom He pleases), verily He is, of His servants, All-Aware, All-Seeing.”