جَزَآءً مِّن رَّبِّكَ عَطَآءً حِسَابًا
The verse gathers everything counted in the preceding five verses into a single sentence and qualifies it with three words.
جَزَآءً — recompense. The same word occurred in the twenty-sixth verse: jazāʾan wifāqā. The sūra, that is, names the ends of both groups "recompense".
One — the source is stated. On the side of punishment this note was absent. As was recorded above, this is an asymmetry: the reward is given with the giver named.
Two — the address changes. Up to this point the sūra was saying "you" (plural) or "they". Here it suddenly says "your Lord" — that is, to a single addressee, to the Prophet.
This is iltifāt and it was treated in the section on al-Qāriʿa. Its function here is this: in the middle of a long scene the narration stops and turns directly to one person. The scene is thereby confirmed through that person's eyes.
The choosing of the name رَبّ is meaningful too. As was recorded in the section on al-Fātiḥa, Rabb carries ownership and nurture together. What is given, that is, is presented not as a prize but as the outcome of a relation of care.
The choice of the word is critical. It had said jazāʾ (recompense); now the same thing is named ʿaṭāʾ (gift).
| جَزَاء | عَطَاء | |
|---|---|---|
| What | The paying of what is deserved | What is given without return |
| Its measure | According to the work done | According to the giver's generosity |
| A claim upon it | Yes | No |
The way the exegetes explain this joining is: the deed earns a share of the recompense, but what is given is far above what is earned. It begins, that is, as a recompense and ends as a gift.
And this is the same equation set up at al-Anʿām 6/160: "Whoever brings a good deed shall have ten like it; and whoever brings an evil deed is recompensed only with its like."
One word on the side of punishment, two on the side of reward. Justice works on both sides; bounty on one only.
In the section on al-Humaza it was recorded that this root carries two verbs: ḥasaba (he counted) and ḥasiba (he supposed). Now a third wing is added:
"God is enough for us; what an excellent guardian." (Āl ʿImrān 3/173 — ḥasbunā'llāh)
"Whoever puts his trust in God, He is enough for him." (al-Ṭalāq 65/3 — fa-huwa ḥasbuh)
"God is enough for you." (al-Anfāl 8/62, 64 — ḥasbuka'llāh)
| View | Explanation | Ground |
|---|---|---|
| Sufficient, abundant | Ḥisāb here means "as much as suffices, satisfying" | The ḥasb wing of the root; and it fits the word ʿaṭāʾ (gift) — a gift is given not by reckoning but abundantly |
| According to reckoning | What is given has been calculated as the return for the deed | The ḥisāb wing of the root; it fits the word jazāʾ in the verse |
| Beyond reckoning | On one view the word is stretched to mean "not to be contained in a reckoning" | Weak; the wording of the word does not give this |
The first and second views deserve to be taken seriously, and what is interesting is this: they are exact opposites of one another. One says "measured out", the other "amply, in plenty".
I do not impose a preference. But I record this: since the verse sets two words side by side (jazāʾ and ʿaṭāʾ), that the third word too should be able to carry both directions at once fits the balance of the text. The recompense side requires reckoning, the gift side sufficiency.
| Verse | Expression | For whom |
|---|---|---|
| 78/27 | kānū lā yarjūna حِسَابًا | The transgressors — they were not expecting a reckoning |
| 78/36 | ʿaṭāʾan حِسَابًا | Those who guard themselves — a reckoned/sufficient gift |
The return for the one who does not expect the reckoning is the reckoning he did not expect. The return for the one who does expect it is a gift that goes beyond reckoning.
I record this as an observation; the repetition of the word is a verifiable datum. The meaning the link sets up, however, is my own reading.