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Surah Al-Isra — 17:21

ٱنظُرْ كَيْفَ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ ۚ وَلَلْـَٔاخِرَةُ أَكْبَرُ دَرَجَـٰتٍ وَأَكْبَرُ تَفْضِيلًا

Unzur kaifa faddalnaa ba'dahum 'alaa ba'd; wa lal Aakhiratu akbaru darajaatinw wa akbaru tafdeelaa

See how we have favored some of them over others — and the hereafter is greater in ranks and greater in favor.

Reflection

Visible inequality is treated here as something to study. The preceding verses describe two kinds of people, one chasing what passes and one working for what lasts, both drawing on a bounty the text calls unrestricted. The same verb, faddala, then covers the differences you can see now and the ranks of the hereafter, which the verse rates as by far the wider gap.

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