Quran Universe
29:62

ٱللَّهُ يَبۡسُطُ ٱلرِّزۡقَ لِمَن يَشَآءُ مِنۡ عِبَادِهِۦ وَيَقۡدِرُ لَهُۥٓۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ بِكُلِّ شَيۡءٍ عَلِيمٞ

Allahu yabsutu alrrizqa liman yashao min AAibadihi wayaqdiru lahu inna Allaha bikulli shayin AAaleemun

Allah extends provision for whom He wills of His servants and restricts for him. Indeed Allah is, of all things, Knowing.

Word by word
  1. ٱللَّهُAllah
  2. يَبۡسُطُextends
  3. ٱلرِّزۡقَthe provision
  4. لِمَنfor whom
  5. يَشَآءُHe wills
  6. مِنۡof
  7. عِبَادِهِۦHis slaves
  8. وَيَقۡدِرُand restricts
  9. لَهُۥٓۚfor him
  10. إِنَّIndeed
  11. ٱللَّهَAllah
  12. بِكُلِّof every
  13. شَيۡءٍthing
  14. عَلِيمٞ(is) All-Knower
Al-'Ankabut · 29:62Makkah

More for some, less for others, by His knowledge.

Why provision differs between people

How it is measured
one is richextended provision
one is poorrestricted provision
decided by
the All-Knowingknows what suits each
What the amount means
a score of worthmore money, better person
a fitted measurewhat suits each one

Ibn Kathir says Allah made people and their provision different, some rich and some poor, and He knows best what suits each of them. He alone decides this, so there is no reason to turn to anyone else for what only He gives.

Your friend posts the new car. Your cousin's wedding costs more than your year's salary. You check your own account and feel small. The comparison starts to feel like a judgement. The amount is a measure Allah fitted to you, not a grade on your worth.

If I have less, I must be worth less, or forgotten.

My share was measured by One who knows me. It is not a verdict on my worth.

Try this

Mute one account that makes you envious today. Thank Allah for three things you already have.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 29:61)

And if you were to ask them: "Who has created the heavens and the earth and subjected the sun and the moon?" They will surely reply: "Allah." How then are they deviating (61)Allah expands the provision for whom He wills of His servants, and straitens it for whom (He wills). Verily, Allah is the All-Knower of everything (62)And if you were to ask them: "Who sends down water from the sky, and gives life therewith to the earth after its death?" They will surely reply: "Allah." Say: "All the praises and thanks be to Allah!" Nay, most of them have no sense (63)

Evidences of Tawhid

Allah states that there is no God but He. The idolators who worshipped others besides Him recognized that He was the sole creator of the heavens and earth, the sun and the moon, alternating the night and day. They acknowledged that He was the Creator Who provided for His servants and decreed how long they should live. He made them and their provision different, so that some were rich and some were poor, and He knew best what was suitable for each of them, who deserved to be rich and who deserved to be poor. So, Allah stated that He has alone created everything, and that He alone is controlling them – if this is how it is, then why worship anyone else? Why put one's trust in anyone else? Since dominion is His Alone, then let worship be for Him Alone. Allah often establishes His divinity by referring to their acknowledgement of His Unique Lordship, because the idolators used to acknowledge His Lordship, as they said in their Talbiyah (during Hajj and 'Umrah: "At Your service, You have no partner, except the partner that You have, and You possess him and whatever he has."