41:46

مَّنۡ عَمِلَ صَٰلِحٗا فَلِنَفۡسِهِۦۖ وَمَنۡ أَسَآءَ فَعَلَيۡهَاۗ وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِظَلَّـٰمٖ لِّلۡعَبِيدِ

Man AAamila salihan falinafsihi waman asaa faAAalayha wama rabbuka bithallamin lilAAabeedi

Whoever does righteousness - it is for his [own] soul; and whoever does evil [does so] against it. And your Lord is not ever unjust to [His] servants.

Word by word
  1. مَّنۡWhoever
  2. عَمِلَdoes
  3. صَٰلِحٗاrighteous deeds
  4. فَلِنَفۡسِهِۦۖthen it is for his soul
  5. وَمَنۡand whoever
  6. أَسَآءَdoes evil
  7. فَعَلَيۡهَاۗthen it is against it
  8. وَمَاAnd not
  9. رَبُّكَ(is) your Lord
  10. بِظَلَّـٰمٖunjust
  11. لِّلۡعَبِيدِto His slaves
Fussilat · 41:46Makkah

Your good is for you, your harm is against you.

And your Lord is never unjust


Where deeds land
good deedits benefit comes to you
bad deedits harm returns to you
and
never unjustproof comes first
Who gains from my deeds
Allah or othersI do it for them
my own soulit all comes back

Ibn Kathir says the benefit of a good deed comes back to the one who did it, and so do the consequences of evil. Allah punishes no one except after establishing proof and sending a messenger.

You hold the door for a stranger, help your kid with homework, pray when you are tired. It feels like giving away. It is all landing in your own account. So is the sharp reply you send at midnight.

When I do good, I am mostly doing it for others.

Every good deed is a gift to my own soul, and every harm I do lands on me too.

Try this

Do one good deed today and quietly remind yourself it is for your own soul.

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

Whosoever does righteous good deed, it is for himself; and whosoever does evil, it is against himself. And your Lord is not at all unjust to (His) servants (46)To Him is referred the knowledge of the Hour. No fruit comes out of its sheath, nor does a female conceive nor brings forth (young), except by His knowledge. And on the Day when He will call unto them (saying): "Where are My (so-called) partners?" They will say: "We inform You that none of us bears witness to it! (47)And those whom they used to invoke before (in this world) shall disappear from them, and they will perceive that they have no place of refuge (48)

Everyone will be requited according to His Deeds

مَنْ عَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلِنَفْسِهِ ۖ 

(Whosoever does righteous good deed, it is for himself;) means, the benefit of which will come to him.

وَمَنْ أَسَاءَ فَعَلَيْهَا ۗ 

(and whosoever does evil, it is against himself.) means, the consequences of that will come back on him.

وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِظَلَّامٍ لِلْعَبِيدِ

(And your Lord is not at all unjust to (His) servants) means, He only punishes people for their sins, and He does not punish anyone except after establishing proof against him and sending a Messenger to him.

Knowledge of the Hour is with Allah Alone

Then Allah says:

إِلَيْهِ يُرَدُّ عِلْمُ السَّاعَةِ ۚ

(To Him is referred the knowledge of the Hour.) meaning, no one knows about that apart from Him. Muhammad ﷺ, the leader of mankind, said to Jibril, who is one of the leading angels, when he asked him about the Hour:

مَا الْمَسْؤُولُ عَنْهَا بِأَعْلَمَ مِنَ السَّائِلِ

(The one who is asked about it does not know more than the one who is asking.)" And Allah says:

إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ مُنْتَهَاهَا 

(To your Lord belongs the term thereof.)(79:44)

لَا يُجَلِّيهَا لِوَقْتِهَا إِلَّا هُوَ ۚ 

(None can reveal its time but He)(7:187).

وَمَا تَخْرُجُ مِنْ ثَمَرَاتٍ مِنْ أَكْمَامِهَا وَمَا تَحْمِلُ مِنْ أُنْثَىٰ وَلَا تَضَعُ إِلَّا بِعِلْمِهِ ۚ 

(No fruit comes out of its sheath, nor does a female conceive nor brings forth (young), except by His knowledge.) means, all of that is known to Him, and nothing is hidden from your Lord the weight of a speck of dust on the earth or in the heaven. Allah says:

وَمَا تَسْقُطُ مِنْ وَرَقَةٍ إِلَّا يَعْلَمُهَا

(not a leaf falls, but He knows it)(6:59).

اللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَحْمِلُ كُلُّ أُنْثَىٰ وَمَا تَغِيضُ الْأَرْحَامُ وَمَا تَزْدَادُ ۖ وَكُلُّ شَيْءٍ عِنْدَهُ بِمِقْدَارٍ

(Allah knows what every female bears, and by how much the wombs fall short or exceed. Everything with Him is in (due) proportion)(13:8).

 وَمَا يُعَمَّرُ مِنْ مُعَمَّرٍ وَلَا يُنْقَصُ مِنْ عُمُرِهِ إِلَّا فِي كِتَابٍ ۚ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ

(And no aged man is granted a length of life nor is a part cut off from his life, but is in a Book. Surely, that is easy for Allah.)(35:11)

وَيَوْمَ يُنَادِيهِمْ أَيْنَ شُرَكَائِي

(And on the Day when He will call unto them (saying): "Where are My (so-called) partners?") means, on the Day of Resurrection, Allah will call out to the idolators before all of creation and say, "Where are My partners whom you worshipped besides Me?"

قَالُوا آذَنَّاكَ

(They will say: "We inform You...") means, 'we tell You,'

مَا مِنَّا مِنْ شَهِيدٍ 

(that none of us bears witness to it.) means, 'not one of us will bear witness today that You have any partner.'

وَضَلَّ عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَدْعُونَ مِنْ قَبْلُ ۖ 

(And those whom they used to invoke before (in this world) shall disappear from them,) means, they will go away, and will be of no benefit to them.

وَظَنُّوا مَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مَحِيصٍ

(and they will perceive that they have no place of refuge) means, they will have no way of escaping from the punishment of Allah. This is like the Ayah:

وَرَأَى الْمُجْرِمُونَ النَّارَ فَظَنُّوا أَنَّهُمْ مُوَاقِعُوهَا وَلَمْ يَجِدُوا عَنْهَا مَصْرِفًا

(And the criminals shall see the Fire and apprehend that they have to fall therein. And they will find no way of escape from there.)(18:53)