أَمْ تَسْـَٔلُهُمْ خَرْجًا فَخَرَاجُ رَبِّكَ خَيْرٌ وَهُوَ خَيْرُ ٱلرَّٰزِقِينَ
"Or are you asking them for a payment? Your Lord's return is better; and He is the best of providers."
The verse is the continuation of the series of am questions that began in the sixty-eighth verse — the fifth question. And its difference from the earlier ones must be recorded: the first four tested the condition of the other side; this one tests the condition of the messenger.
I record this as an observation: one more possible obstacle is eliminated — the messenger's having an interest of his own.
Not the root ح-ر-ج but خ-ر-ج: to go out. Kharj — what is taken out, the price paid; kharāj — tax, revenue, yield.
| Reading | The two words |
|---|---|
| 1 | kharjan … fa-kharāju rabbik |
| 2 | kharājan … fa-kharāju rabbik — both in the same pattern |
| 3 | kharjan … fa-kharju rabbik — both in the same pattern |
| Word | The sense the lexicographers give |
|---|---|
| خَرْج | A thing paid once, a fee |
| خَرَاج | A revenue that comes continually, yield, tax |
I pass this distinction on as it is transmitted. And on the first reading the sentence builds a comparison: what might be asked for is a single payment, what is given in return is continual.
| Place | Sentence |
|---|---|
| al-Furqān 25/57 | mā asʾalukum ʿalayhi min ajrin illā man shāʾa an yattakhidha ilā rabbihī sabīlā |
| al-Shūrā 42/23 | lā asʾalukum ʿalayhi ajran illā'l-mawaddata fi'l-qurbā |
| al-Qalam 68/46 | am tasʾaluhum ajran fa-hum min maghramin muthqalūn |
| al-Ṭūr 52/40 | am tasʾaluhum ajran fa-hum min maghramin muthqalūn |
| al-Muʾminūn 23/72 | am tasʾaluhum kharjan fa-kharāju rabbika khayr |
In all five places the same work is done: it is recorded that the messenger has no interest of his own. This pattern was treated at al-Furqān 25/57, where the form of the exception was recorded: what was asked for was not a thing that leaves the giver's hand. I rely on that treatment.
And the difference of al-Muʾminūn must be recorded: al-Furqān and al-Shūrā build an exception (illā); al-Ṭūr and al-Qalam name the burden on the other side; al-Muʾminūn, for its part, makes a comparison — fa-kharāju rabbika khayr. The refusal of the demand, that is, is grounded in the alternative's being better.
The root ر-ز-ق: what reaches a living being and is drawn benefit from. The lexicographers do not confine the root to property; knowledge, health and children are counted rizq as well.
And the construction's link with al-khayr must be recorded: the verse uses the word khayr twice — once as a comparative (khayrun), once as a superlative (khayru'l-rāziqīn). The same word, in two patterns.