وَٱلَّذِينَ يَنقُضُونَ عَهْدَ ٱللَّهِ مِنۢ بَعْدِ مِيثَٰقِهِۦ وَيَقْطَعُونَ مَآ أَمَرَ ٱللَّهُ بِهِۦٓ أَن يُوصَلَ وَيُفْسِدُونَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ … ٱللَّهُ يَبْسُطُ ٱلرِّزْقَ لِمَن يَشَآءُ وَيَقْدِرُ
"Those who break God's covenant after its confirmation, who cut what God has commanded to be joined, and who work corruption in the earth…"
This verse is built as the exact opposite of the twentieth and twenty-first verses, and it can be compared word for word:
| Verses 20-21 | Verse 25 |
|---|---|
| Yūfūna bi-ʿahdi'llāh — keeping the covenant | Yanquḍūna ʿahda'llāh — breaking the covenant |
| Wa lā yanquḍūna'l-mīthāq | Min baʿdi mīthāqih |
| Yaṣilūna mā amara'llāhu bihi an yūṣal | Wa yaqṭaʿūna mā amara'llāhu bihi an yūṣal |
In all three items the same words, with opposite verbs. This is a symmetry that can be verified within the sūra, and I record this as my own reading: the sūra does not describe two groups separately — it reads one and the same list in two directions.
ٱللَّهُ يَبْسُطُ ٱلرِّزْقَ لِمَن يَشَآءُ وَيَقْدِرُ (26) — two verbs: to spread out and to give by measure.
The same pair was treated at al-Zumar 39/52 and al-Shūrā 42/27, and it was recorded there: abundance is no proof of merit, nor straitness a proof of having fallen from favour. I rely on that treatment.
وَفَرِحُوا۟ بِٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَمَا ٱلْحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنْيَا فِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ إِلَّا مَتَٰعٌ — the root ف-ر-ح was treated at Ghāfir (al-Muʾmin) 40/75 (bimā kuntum tafraḥūna … wa bimā kuntum tamraḥūn), and the difference between faraḥ and maraḥ was given there. I rely on that treatment.
قُلْ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُضِلُّ مَن يَشَآءُ وَيَهْدِىٓ إِلَيْهِ مَنْ أَنَابَ (27) — the second half of the sentence carries a condition: man anāb — the one who turns.
The root أ-ن-ب was treated at Qāf 50/8 and Ghāfir (al-Muʾmin) 40/13. And what was recorded there holds here too: the sign is shown to everyone, while the taking of the lesson is tied to turning.