Quran Universe
17:21

ٱنظُرۡ كَيۡفَ فَضَّلۡنَا بَعۡضَهُمۡ عَلَىٰ بَعۡضٖۚ وَلَلۡأٓخِرَةُ أَكۡبَرُ دَرَجَٰتٖ وَأَكۡبَرُ تَفۡضِيلٗا

Onthur kayfa faddalna baAAdahum AAala baAAdin walalakhiratu akbaru darajatin waakbaru tafdeelan

Look how We have favored [in provision] some of them over others. But the Hereafter is greater in degrees [of difference] and greater in distinction.

Word by word
  1. ٱنظُرۡSee
  2. كَيۡفَhow
  3. فَضَّلۡنَاWe preferred
  4. بَعۡضَهُمۡsome of them
  5. عَلَىٰover
  6. بَعۡضٖۚothers
  7. وَلَلۡأٓخِرَةُAnd surely the Hereafter
  8. أَكۡبَرُ(is) greater
  9. دَرَجَٰتٖ(in) degrees
  10. وَأَكۡبَرُand greater
  11. تَفۡضِيلٗا(in) excellence
Al-Isra · 17:21Makkah

Look at the gaps here. The gaps there are bigger.

Differences in this world and in the Hereafter

Ranks
hererich and poorlong and short lives
smaller than
therea hundred levels in Paradise
Which ranking matters
salary, looks, statusthe real ladder
degrees in the Hereafterfar wider and lasting

Ibn Kathir describes the differences here: some rich, some poor, some die young, some live long. But the differences in the Hereafter are greater. He cites the Prophet ﷺ saying the people of the highest levels of Paradise will be seen like distant stars on the horizon.

You scroll and see a classmate's new house, a cousin's wedding abroad, a colleague's promotion. The gap stings. That gap is small and short. The ranks that last are being earned in ordinary moments no one posts about.

The differences between me and others in money and status are what really matter.

Worldly gaps are small next to the ranks of the Hereafter, and those are still open to me.

Try this

When you feel envy today, turn it into a short dua for a higher rank in Paradise.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 17:20)

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.)