Quran Universe
17:20

كُلّٗا نُّمِدُّ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ وَهَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ مِنۡ عَطَآءِ رَبِّكَۚ وَمَا كَانَ عَطَآءُ رَبِّكَ مَحۡظُورًا

Kullan numiddu haolai wahaolai min AAatai rabbika wama kana AAatao rabbika mahthooran

To each [category] We extend - to these and to those - from the gift of your Lord. And never has the gift of your Lord been restricted.

Word by word
  1. كُلّٗا(To) each
  2. نُّمِدُّWe extend
  3. هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ(to) these
  4. وَهَـٰٓؤُلَآءِand (to) these
  5. مِنۡfrom
  6. عَطَآءِ(the) gift
  7. رَبِّكَۚ(of) your Lord
  8. وَمَاAnd not
  9. كَانَis
  10. عَطَآءُ(the) gift
  11. رَبِّكَ(of) your Lord
  12. مَحۡظُورًاrestricted
Al-Isra · 17:20Makkah

Both seekers are given from your Lord's giving.

No one can block what He gives

Both groups
seekers of now
seekers of later
both receive from
your Lord's giftnever cut off
Who controls the tap
they can stop meboss, rival, system
no one canHis giving is never blocked

Having described two kinds of people, the verse says Allah gives to both. Ibn Kathir explains that He is in control of all things and is never unjust. Qatadah and Al-Hasan said the meaning is that His gifts can never be decreased or prevented by anyone.

The manager who you think holds your future. The client who might cancel. The relative who controls the family business. They are channels, not the source. Your rent this month came from the same Lord who feeds people who never thank Him.

The people above me decide what I get.

Allah is the giver, and no one can stop what He sends.

Try this

Before you check your bank app today, say thank you to Allah for what is in it.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

On each these as well as those We bestow from the bounties of your Lord. And the bounties of your Lord can never be forbidden (20)See how We prefer one above another (in this world), and verily, the Hereafter will be greater in degrees and greater in preferment.) Allah say (21)

كُلًّا 

On each meaning, on each of the two groups, those who desire this world and those who desire the Hereafter, We bestow what they want

مِنْ عَطَاءِ رَبِّكَ

(from the bounties of your Lord.) means, He is the One Who is in control of all things, and He is never unjust. He gives to each what he deserves, whether it is eternal happiness or doom. His decree is unstoppable, no one can withhold what He gives or change what He wants. Allah says:

وَمَا كَانَ عَطَاءُ رَبِّكَ مَحْظُورًا

(And the bounties of your Lord can never be forbidden.) meaning, no one can withhold or prevent them. Qatadah said,

وَمَا كَانَ عَطَاءُ رَبِّكَ مَحْظُورًا

(And the bounties of your Lord can never be forbidden.) "(It means) they can never decrease".

وَمَا كَانَ عَطَاءُ رَبِّكَ مَحْظُورًا

(And the Bounties of your Lord can never be forbidden) Al-Hasan and others said, "(It means) they can never be prevented." Then Allah says:

انظُرْ كَيْفَ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ

(See how We prefer one above another,) meaning in this world, so that some are rich and some are poor, and others are in between; some are beautiful, some are ugly and others are in between; some die young while others live to a great age, and some die in between.

وَلَلْآخِرَةُ أَكْبَرُ دَرَجَاتٍ وَأَكْبَرُ تَفْضِيلًا

(and verily, the Hereafter will be greater in degrees and greater in preferment.) means, the differences between them in the Hereafter will be greater than the differences between them in this world. Some of them will be in varying levels of Hell, in chains and fetters, while others will be in the lofty degrees of Paradise, with its blessings and delights. The people of Hell will vary in their positions and levels, just as the people of Paradise will. In Paradise there are one hundred levels, and the distance between one level and another is like the distance between heaven and earth. It is recorded in the Two Sahihs that the Prophet ﷺ said:

إِنَّ أَهْلَ الدَّرَجَاتِ الْعُلَى لَيَرَوْنَ أَهْلَ عِلِّيِّينَ كَمَا تَرَوْنَ الْكَوْكَبَ الْغَابِرَ فِي أُفُقِ السَّمَاءِ

(The people of the highest levels (of Paradise) will see the people of 'Illiyin as if they are looking at distant stars on the horizon.) Allah says:

وَلَلْآخِرَةُ أَكْبَرُ دَرَجَاتٍ وَأَكْبَرُ تَفْضِيلًا

(and verily, the Hereafter will be greater in degrees and greater in preferment.)