وَٱلْـَٔاخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ وَأَبْقَىٰٓ
The pattern of this word was taken up in the section on Sūrat al-Ḍuḥā and there is no need to repeat it here; I only recall it: khayr here is an elative, that is, it means "better". In Arabic this pattern normally comes on the afʿal measure (akbar, aḥsan), but the words khayr and sharr are used without being put on that measure, with their hamzas dropped. This needs to be stated, because in an English rendering it is not visible where the comparative force of "better" comes from.
- بَقَاء (baqāʾ) — lastingness, permanence. The opposite of fanāʾ.
- بَاقِي (bāqī) — that which remains.
- بَقِيَّة (baqiyya) — the portion left over.
"Better" is a judgement of value. But judgements of value do not by themselves change a preference — a person may know that one thing is better and still choose the other. Because there is a second factor that determines the choice: accessibility. The sixteenth verse had already said this: what is preferred is what is "near".
"More lasting" is what targets this second factor. The advantage of what is near is that it is in hand now; but that advantage is temporary. Lastingness is the only thing that can be set against nearness.
The verse, that is, does not make a comparison of value and leave it at that; it targets the ground of the addressee's preference.
What had been said in the fifth verse? "Then He made it dark scum." The greening pasture turning into refuse dragged along.
The link between the two is direct: the "life that is near" which is preferred is exactly what was described in the fifth verse. It grows green, dries, darkens, is dragged along. The verse does not put forward a claim; it recalls an image given at the beginning of the sūra.
It must be for this reason that the sūra placed the fourth and fifth verses right at the beginning. The evidence was given twelve verses before the ruling.
I record this as a reading of the structure. The relation of subject between the two verses is clear; I make no claim that this is a deliberate construction.
"And what comes after is better for you than what came before" (al-Ḍuḥā 93/4)
In the section on al-Ḍuḥā this was recorded: there al-ūlā was chosen instead of dunyā; because dunyā states a value while ūlā states an order. And this had been added: "To say to someone under strain 'what you were in was worthless anyway' is not consolation but belittlement. The verse does not do this."
| al-Ḍuḥā 93/4 | al-Aʿlā 87/17 | |
|---|---|---|
| The contrasting word | ٱلْأُولَىٰ — "the former" (states an order) | ٱلدُّنْيَا — "near/low" (states a value) |
| The caveat | لَكَ — "for you" | Absent — general |
| Number of attributes | One: khayr | Two: khayr and abqā |
| Addressee | A single person, under hardship | A community, in the act of preferring |
| Tone | Consolation | Warning |
The difference comes from the condition of the addressee. In al-Ḍuḥā the addressee is someone under strain, and what he has is not belittled. In al-Aʿlā the addressee is a community making a choice, and what its choice is is stated by name.
The same ruling is spoken to two different states in two different languages. This is an example worth recording about the Qurʾān's way of addressing.
The same pair of words (khayrun wa abqā), with the same function. And note: there the comparison is made with "the things you have been given" — that is, again between what is in hand and what lies ahead.