sura fajr
(breakc of dawn)
no.89 (verses 15-20)

15. "and as for man, whenever his lord tries him and honours him,
and blesses him, he says, `my lord has honoured me'.
16. "but when he tries him and straitens for him his subsistence,
he says,`my lord has disgraced me'.
17. "nay! but you honour not the orphans!"
18. "nor do you encourage one another to feed the needy!"
19. "and you devour the inheritance - all with greed,"
20. "and you love wealth with (an) ardent love."

* * * *

commentary:
do not be proud of receiving his blessings nor disappointed when he
puts you in dire straights.

after the previous verses, which are full of warning to the
oppressors and threaten them by mentioning the divine punishments,
the following verses refer to the divine trials as a scale for his rewards
and punishments. trial is considered as one of the most important
concerns in man's life.

"and as for man, whenever his lord tries him and honours him, and blesses
him, he says, `my lord has honoured me'."

one does not realize that the trials from allah are sometimes
given through blessing and sometimes occur through disaster. neither
the abundance of blessings should cause man to be proud nor should
disasters make him disappointed, but impatient man forgets the essence
of the trial in both cases and when he receives the blessings of allah
he thinks that he has honoured him and that the blessings are the sign
of that honouring.

it is noteworthy that in the first verse it says: allah `honours
him and blesses him', but at the end of the verse man is scorned
because of feeling himself honoured by him. this is for the reason that
in the first case of honouring it means `bounty ` and the second means
`nearness to allah'.

but, when he tries him and puts him in dire straights for his
subsistence, he says:

"my lord has disgraced me."

despair covers him thoroughly and he becomes disturbed and
displeased with allah, forgetting that these are some of the ways
allah tests him; a trial in which is the key to man's development and,
consequently, causes him to deserve rewards, and if he disobeys, causes
him to deserve punishment.

these two verses warn that neither the blessing is the reason for
the proximity to allah, nor is adversity and the lack of blessings the
evidence of being far from him. they are but diverse factors by which
allah according to his wisdom, examines people. it is the human
being who sometimes becomes proud, and sometimes hopless because
of his limited capacity to understand and endure.

sura fussilat, no.41, verse 51 also says: "when we bestow
favours on man, he turns away, and gets himself remote on his side (instead
of coming to us) and when evil seizes him, (he comes) full of prolonged
prayer!".

also, sura hud, no.11 verse 9 says: "if we give man a taste of
mercy from ourselves, and then withdraw it from him. behold! he is in
despair and (falls into) blasphemy.".

* * * *

these two verses, in addition to relating the various kinds of
divine trials, also conclude that one being blessed abundantly or being
deprived of some blessings by allah,is not a sign of special favour
and high rank for him or a disgrace for him, but the only standard has
always, and in all respects, been `faith' with 'virtue '.

there have been many prophets who were involved in diverse
kinds of tasks and calamities in this world, and in contrast, there have
been many cruel pagans who possessed every kind of facility in this life.
this is the nature of life in the present world. by the way, this verse
also points, indirectly, to the philosophy of the existence of disasters and
painful events.

then, attention is paid to the deeds that cause man to be far away
from allah and to be caught in the grips of his punishment. pointing
to the fact that wealth is not evidence to the high rank of a person with
allah it says:

"nay! but you honour not the orphans!".

* * * *
"nor do you encourage one another to feed the needy!"

it is worth noting that the verse does not speak about ` feeding the
orphans', but it speaks about ` honouring the orphans '. this is because
the subject matter about an orphan is not only his hunger, but that
sympathy, as a remedy for his deficiencies, is more important than his
hunger, alone. an orphan should not be put in conditions which make
him feel misery and worthlessness, just because of his being orphaned.
he should be respected and honoured so that he does not feel the lack
of his parents. that is why in some islamic texts, affection and sympathy
for orphans is considered especially important.

a tradition narrated from imam sadiq (p.b.u.h.) says: "there is no
servant who touches an orphan's head, affectionately. except that allah will
bestow on him, on the day of judgement, as many rays (of blessings) as the
number of the orphan's hair.1

also, sura duha, no.93, verse 9 says: "therefore, treat not the
orphan with harshness".

this is just opposite to the treatment that ignorant people in the
faithless ancient societies showed, and also the same is true, today, in
the disbelieving, modern ones which not only use different schemes and
make various tricks to, oppressively, take the orphan's property, but,
abandon him in the society so that he tastes his plight in the most bitter
of ways.

as is understood from what was said, respecting an orphan is not
limited to preserving his property, but, according to some commentaries,
it has a broader meaning which covers both that sense and many other
matters.

the term / tahaddun / is based on /hadd/ which means 'to incite
anyone ',denoting that feeding the indigent is not enough, but people
ought to encourage each other to do this good deed until the time when
it actually becomes a custom in the society.

in sura haqqah, no.69, verses 33-34 the subject is counted
as being parallel to the lack of faith in almighty allah, thus: "this was
he, that would not believe in allah most high," "and would not encourage
the feeding of the indigent".

* * * *

then, pointing to their third disgraceful action and reproaching
them, it says:

"and you devour the inheritance - all with greed,"

surely, devouring the lawful inheritance is not blameworthy, so,
the reproach, in this verse, may be for one of the following:

1. it means `to assemble the wealth of one's own and that of others',
because the term /lamm/ originally means `to assemble, to collect', and
some commentators such as zamakhshari in his book `kashshaf ', have
commented on it especially with the sense of 'the collection of lawful and
unlawful wealth' . in particular, the pre-islamic arabs used to disinherit
women, children and minors. they collected their interests and took it
all for themselves as if it were their own inheritance. they believed that
only those who were fighters and strong enough to take part in plunders
should inherit property, since most of their wealth would be gained
through plunder and pillage.

2. whenever they inherited property, in their own right, they did
not usually donate anything to the poor and the deprived members of
their society. when they donated nothing from the inherited property
for which they suffered naught, they will certainly have economic excess
to the income which they earned by effort and endeavour. this is a
great shame.

3. it means 'devouring the orphan's inheritance and the rights of the
minors' and there have been many examples of some selfish disbelieving
persons who, having an opportunity of receiving an inheritance, pay no
attention to orphans or minors' interests, and take the most advantage
of the property of these defenceless persons. this is the greatest defect
and the most disgraceful sin.
however, all three commentaries can be considered together.

* * * *

then, the fourth despicable trait of theirs is mentioned:

"and you love wealth with (an) ardent love."

they are worldly, mammonish people who love amassing wealth.
such people surely do not care whether the wealth is lawful or unlawful
and, of course, never pay the rights of allah, or do not pay them
completely. also, such people whose hearts are occupied, completely,
by the love of money,cannot have the love of alloh in their hearts, either.

thus, after mentioning man's trial by blessing and disaster, the
holy qur'an directs our attention to the fourth great examination in
which these sinful people failed. the examinations are about the
treatment toward orphans, feeding the needy, devouring the lawful and
unlawful interests of inheritance, and finally, the trial of gathering
wealth without any regard for the limits.

it is interesting to note that all these trials are monetary and, in
fact, if one passes the financial trials, other trials will be easy for him.

it is the wealth of this world that causes faith to decay, and the
greatest faults found in human beings are based on this.

there are some people who are trustworthy with a limited amount
of wealth, but when the amount is great they tend to surrender to the
temptations of satan and commit treason. the real believers are those,
who under any condition and with any amount of wealth, are honest and
observe the rights of others, whatever they are (obligatory or
recommended). these are those who are believers and are virtuous.
they are trustworthy and pious, indeed, and can be counted as the best
of friends. they are also pure and honourable in other affairs aside
from financial ones. the emphasis in the above verse, regarding
financial trials, is for the same reason.

1 bahar-al-anwar, vol.15, p.120 (old edition).