أَهُمْ يَقْسِمُونَ رَحْمَتَ رَبِّكَ ۚ نَحْنُ قَسَمْنَا بَيْنَهُم مَّعِيشَتَهُمْ فِى ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا ۚ وَرَفَعْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ دَرَجَـٰتٍ لِّيَتَّخِذَ بَعْضُهُم بَعْضًا سُخْرِيًّا ۗ وَرَحْمَتُ رَبِّكَ خَيْرٌ مِّمَّا يَجْمَعُونَ
Ahum yaqsimoona rahmata Rabbik; Nahnu qasamnaa bainahum ma'eeshatahum fil hayaatid dunyaa wa rafa'naa ba'dahum fawqa ba'din darajaatil liyattakhiza ba'duhum ba'dan sukhriyyaa; wa rahmatu Rabbika khairum mimmaa yajma'oon
Czy oni rozdzielają miłosierdzie twego Pana? My rozdzieliliśmy wśród nich środki do życia na tym świecie i wynieśliśmy jednych z nich stopniami ponad innymi, tak aby jedni z nich brali innych w służbę. Lecz miłosierdzie twego Pana jest lepsze niż to, co oni gromadzą!
Is it they who apportion your Lord's mercy? We are the ones who have apportioned among them their livelihood in the life of this world, and we have raised some of them above others in rank, so that some may take others into service. And your Lord's mercy is better than whatever they amass.
Your Lord's mercy opens and closes the verse, and between those two mentions sit livelihood, rank and the work people do for one another. Commentators take mercy in the opening question to mean prophethood itself, since the complaint one verse earlier was that the Qur'an had gone to the wrong man instead of a notable of Mecca or Ta'if. The reply points out that even the ordinary distribution of income was never in the objectors' hands.