Quran Garden

Session 451

Chapter 3

Verse 120

They grieve at any good that touches you and rejoice when misfortunes befall you.  But, if you are steadfast and conscious of God, their scheming will not harm you in the least: God encircles everything they do.  (Chapter 3: Verse 120)

Allah ended verse 119 of Al Imran with the statement, "God knows exactly what is hidden in everyone's hearts." This is a painful warning for the disbelievers because what they hide in their hearts is so ugly that they do not dare say it publicly.  Thus, you should always remember Allah's advice in Aya 118.  He says:

O you who believe!  Do not take your confidants from others than yourselves; such outsiders will spare nothing to ruin you.  They are eager to see you in distress.  Hatred has already shown itself from their mouths, and what their chests hide is yet worse.  We have certainly made the signs clear for you, should you apply reason.  (3:118)

Allah is the All-Knowing, and He will reward each person fairly for both their deeds and the good or evil concealed within their chest.  In verse 120, He exposes to us some of what is hidden:

They grieve at any good that touches you and rejoice when misfortunes befall you.  But, if you are steadfast and conscious of God, their scheming will not harm you in the least: God encircles everything they do.  (Chapter 3: Verse 120)

The Qur'an is the word of God, and each letter conveys the intended meaning accurately.  The verse under study is a great example.  Allah talks about the reaction of the disbelievers when the believers run into evil or good, but the expressions He chooses differ between the two.  When it comes to good, He says, "They grieve at any good that touches you.  " However, with evil, He does not use the verb "touch," instead, "befalls" is chosen.  Some scholars said that "to touch" and "to befall" have the same meaning.  We answer that these are the words of Allah, and we should look very closely at their meaning to understand the verse properly.

Let's start with "touch," translated from the Arabic المس (Al Mass).  God says:

Surely humans have been created with a restless, impatient disposition.  He is fretful when misfortune touches him, but tight-fisted when good fortune touches him.  (70:19-21)

Touching is a gentle and brief link between two objects.  For example, when a married couple flirtatiously touch each other, they only have to do the wudu ablution before prayers because touching does not cause the impurity that requires a shower.  "To befall," on the other hand, is to connect with force or hit hard like a slap in the face.  It causes pain and possibly swelling.  How do these meanings apply to the verse under study?

We answer that, by definition, "a touch of good" means something tiny and brief.  It may only be a slight increase in wealth or fleeting happiness.  Yet, even such a trivial amount of good upsets the disbelievers.  In our daily lives, we ??find a person who is enraged when he sees his opponent earn ten extra pennies.  People say, "Why don't you save your rage for when he earns a hundred pounds or more?!"  Such anger is evidence of the amount of hate hidden within the heart.  Now let's compare "a touch of good" to "when misfortune befalls." Unlike happiness, a 'touch of misfortune' does not satisfy the disbelievers.  They are only delighted when calamity strikes!  

It is of our human nature to sympathize when something terrible strikes another human, even if he or she is our enemy.  But humanity is no longer a trait of the disbelievers.  A poet said:

Know that a calamity has afflicted a person

when you see those enemies jealous of him become merciful

Does the attitude of the disbelievers change when a disaster strikes the believers?  No.  In fact, the more the believers suffer, the happier they become.  God says, "They grieve at any good that touches you and rejoice when misfortunes befall you."

But do not worry;  Allah gave you the cure!  You should be patient over their enmity, evil, and joy when calamities befall you and their sorrow when a blessing comes your way.  Patience will protect you from their scheming.  Be mindful of God at all times, and He, Almighty, will be by your side.  He says, "If you are steadfast and conscious of God, their scheming will not harm you in the least."  And, in an earlier verse:

They will never do you any harm, except for some hurt; and, if they fight you, they will turn tail, then they will not be helped.  (3:111)

Keep in mind that scheming is not a sign of strength because the strong face their enemies directly.  When you see someone plotting, know that they are cowards, unable to confront their adversary. 

The verse ends with "God encircles everything they do." The word "encircles" indicates that Allah is aware of everything, and nothing escapes His knowledge, regardless of how small or trivial.  Allah will give us a real-world example from Islamic history in the next Aya of Al Imran.