إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ فَرَّقُوا۟ دِينَهُمْ وَكَانُوا۟ شِيَعًا لَّسْتَ مِنْهُمْ فِى شَىْءٍ · مَن جَآءَ بِٱلْحَسَنَةِ فَلَهُۥ عَشْرُ أَمْثَالِهَا وَمَن جَآءَ بِٱلسَّيِّئَةِ فَلَا يُجْزَىٰٓ إِلَّا مِثْلَهَا
"You have nothing to do with those who split up their religion and became factions… Whoever comes with a good deed has ten the like of it; and whoever comes with an evil deed is requited only with its like."
شِيَعًا — the root ش-ي-ع was treated at al-Qaṣaṣ 28/4 (Pharaoh's dividing of his people). And it was recorded there: oppression begins by first breaking a society into pieces.
The difference here must be recorded: in al-Qaṣaṣ the one who divided was the power outside; in al-Anʿām those who divide are themselves — farraqū dīnahum.
| Side | Requital |
|---|---|
| Man jāʾa bi'l-ḥasana | Fa-lahū ʿashru amthālihā |
| Man jāʾa bi'l-sayyiʾa | Fa-lā yujzā illā mithlahā |
The same asymmetry was treated at al-Qaṣaṣ 28/84 (fa-lahū khayrun minhā / illā mā kānū yaʿmalūn). The two sūras can be compared:
| Place | The requital of the good deed |
|---|---|
| al-Qaṣaṣ 28/84 | Khayrun minhā — something better (no amount is given) |
| al-Anʿām 6/160 | ʿAshru amthālihā — tenfold (an amount is given) |
I record this as an observation: the same principle is given once as a quality and once as a number. And in both sūras the requital of the evil deed stays at exact equivalence.