[57:23] Do Not Grieve Over What You Miss, Nor Be Proud of What You Receive: Two Tests of the Heart

Author: Berk KÖKSAL
Date: November 04, 2026
Location: Mersin

The purpose of this reflection is to contemplate 57:23 alongside related verses, asking what bearing witness to GOD alone means in the face of loss, joy, knowledge, justice, truthful speech, and submission. It seeks to distinguish grief from despair and joy from self-exaltation without making the verses say more than they do.

Peace. Peace be upon you.

Some events remain with me because I lost something. Others remain because I received something I never expected. When a door closes, it can feel as though part of the future has been taken away with it. When a door opens, a very different temptation appears: I can begin to think that I alone made it open. One experience seems to diminish me; the other tempts me to enlarge myself. Verse 57:23 places both experiences in a single sentence.

Does this mean a person should never feel sad, and never feel joy? If I read it that way, I could end up silencing someone who is mourning. I might even accuse a grateful person of wrongdoing for being happy. Yet other verses tell us of Jacob’s profound grief, while another calls people to rejoice in GOD’s grace. The answer cannot be found by isolating one word from everything around it. The verse before 57:23 matters, and so does the verse after it.

In my earlier reflection Loving GOD Alone, I examined the danger of giving the things we love a place that belongs to GOD. In Responding to Evil with What Is Best, I explored how pain tests justice and conduct. Here those questions meet: Will I allow a loss to define my entire life? Will I allow an achievement to define me as someone above other people?

Summary

57:23

لِّكَيْلَا تَأْسَوْا۟ عَلَىٰ مَا فَاتَكُمْ وَلَا تَفْرَحُوا۟ بِمَآ ءَاتَىٰكُمْ وَٱللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ كُلَّ مُخْتَالٍ فَخُورٍ

Thus, you should not grieve over anything you miss, nor be proud of anything He has bestowed upon you. GOD does not love those who are boastful, proud.

Bu yüzden, kaçırdığınız hiçbir şeye üzülmemeli, O’nun size ihsan ettiği hiçbir şeyle de gururlanmamalısınız. TANRI, böbürlenen, gururlu kimseleri sevmez.

Source: kuranteyit.com

57:22 — Anything that happens on earth, or to you, has already been recorded, even before the creation. This is easy for GOD to do.

12:84 — He turned away from them, saying, “I am grieving over Joseph.” His eyes turned white from grieving so much; he was truly sad.

10:58 — Say, “With GOD’s grace and with His mercy they shall rejoice.” This is far better than any wealth they can accumulate.

27:40 — The one who possessed knowledge from the book said, “I can bring it to you in the blink of your eye.” When he saw it settled in front of him, he said, “This is a blessing from my Lord, whereby He tests me, to show whether I am appreciative or unappreciative. Whoever is appreciative is appreciative for his own good, and if one turns unappreciative, then my Lord is in no need for him, Most Honorable.”

57:24 — They are stingy, and enjoin the people to be stingy. If one turns away, then GOD is the Rich, the Praiseworthy.

1. One Verse, Two Extremes: The Pain of Loss and the Pride of Gain

Verse

57:23

لِّكَيْلَا تَأْسَوْا۟ عَلَىٰ مَا فَاتَكُمْ وَلَا تَفْرَحُوا۟ بِمَآ ءَاتَىٰكُمْ وَٱللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ كُلَّ مُخْتَالٍ فَخُورٍ

Thus, you should not grieve over anything you miss, nor be proud of anything He has bestowed upon you. GOD does not love those who are boastful, proud.

Bu yüzden, kaçırdığınız hiçbir şeye üzülmemeli, O’nun size ihsan ettiği hiçbir şeyle de gururlanmamalısınız. TANRI, böbürlenen, gururlu kimseleri sevmez.

Source: kuranteyit.com

Reflection on the Verse

I notice that 57:23 addresses the same heart in two different moments. In the first, something I wanted does not happen. A possible future disappears: an opportunity, an income, a relationship, a season of life I thought would last. In the second, something comes to me. My work is recognized. A difficulty is lifted. An unexpected provision appears. I can respond to the first as if life has cheated me, and to the second as if everything good in my life proves my personal superiority.

To make this verse only about grief would be to neglect half its warning. There is suffering in what we lose, but there can also be a moral danger in what we possess. Pride can harden the heart without causing any obvious distress. I may begin to measure other people against my achievements, my possessions, or the reputation I have gained. A comfortable life can conceal that change rather well.

I understand the verse as a call to examine what my circumstances are doing to my relationship with GOD and with other people. That is a reflection, not a claim that a believer is psychologically incapable of sorrow. The verse gives me good reason to question the way I turn loss into final defeat and gain into a declaration of greatness. It does not entitle me to diagnose everyone else’s feelings.

Verse reference: 57:23.

2. “Thus”: Why the Verse Cannot Be Separated from What Comes Before

Verse

57:22 — Anything that happens on earth, or to you, has already been recorded, even before the creation. This is easy for GOD to do.

57:23 — Thus, you should not grieve over anything you miss, nor be proud of anything He has bestowed upon you. GOD does not love those who are boastful, proud.

Reflection on the Verse

Read by itself, 57:23 sounds like instruction about emotional life. Read after 57:22, it also becomes a statement about the limits of human knowledge. Events that lie beyond my foresight are not beyond GOD’s knowledge. I know so much only after it happens. I construct explanations from fragments, and sometimes I mistake those explanations for the complete story. The verse about what has been recorded challenges that confidence.

The connection must not be stretched into a convenient excuse. I cannot say, “Everything is recorded, so nothing is required of me,” and pretend that 57:22 has commanded me to be passive. Nor should I turn every setback into certain punishment, or every success into certain divine approval. The passage does not hand me an infallible method for assigning hidden reasons to individual events.

What it does give me is a limit. The world does not begin when I want something and end when I fail to receive it. A blessing is not mine to explain solely through self-praise. Recognizing that my knowledge is partial may help loosen the hold of both resentment and boasting. But the relationship between divine knowledge and human choice deserves care, not an instant formula.

Verse references: 57:22-23.

3. Does Not Grieving Mean Never Crying? Jacob’s Sorrow

Verse

12:84 — He turned away from them, saying, “I am grieving over Joseph.” His eyes turned white from grieving so much; he was truly sad.

12:86 — He said, “I simply complain to GOD about my dilemma and grief, for I know from GOD what you do not know.

53:43 — He is the One who makes you laugh or cry.

Reflection on the Verse

If I declared that a righteous person can never cry, what would I do with 12:84? Jacob’s grief over Joseph is not described as a passing disappointment. His sorrow is deep enough to affect his body. The verse explicitly says he was truly sad. I cannot erase that description in order to protect a simplistic reading of 57:23.

What strikes me next is the direction of Jacob’s complaint. In 12:86, he speaks about his grief and dilemma to GOD. He does not have to deny his pain in order to turn toward his Lord. Verse 53:43, which attributes laughter and tears to GOD, is another reason to avoid portraying the very existence of tears as forbidden.

I need a distinction between experiencing sorrow and allowing sorrow to become the only truth I recognize. Mourning may arise because a person loved deeply. It may take time; its expression varies from one person to another. These verses do not provide a timetable by which I can judge how quickly someone should recover. They invite me to notice that grief and turning toward GOD can inhabit the same life.

Verse references: 12:84, 12:86, 53:43; considered alongside 57:23.

4. Hope Inside Grief: Why Did Jacob Keep Seeking?

Verse

12:87 — “O my sons, go fetch Joseph and his brother, and never despair of GOD’s grace. None despairs of GOD’s grace except the disbelieving people.”

39:53 — Proclaim: “O My servants who exceeded the limits, never despair of GOD’s mercy. For GOD forgives all sins. He is the Forgiver, Most Merciful.”

Reflection on the Verse

One of the most moving features of Jacob’s story is that grief does not prevent him from hoping. After expressing his sorrow, he sends his sons to seek Joseph and his brother and urges them not to despair of GOD’s grace. He is neither untouched by loss nor simply resigned to it. His pain has not erased his capacity to act.

Verse 39:53 also calls those who have exceeded the limits not to despair of GOD’s mercy. I must not transform this into a guarantee that whatever I have lost will eventually return in the exact form I want. Jacob’s story is not a contract promising the same ending to every sufferer. Hope, as I understand it here, is a refusal to close the door on GOD’s mercy and on righteous action merely because my view of tomorrow is dark.

Loss can make my speech harsh. It can narrow my attention until I see little beyond what is missing. At such times I may abandon an effort too soon, or judge someone else’s intentions without knowing them. Verses 12:87 and 39:53 give me reason to resist that narrowing. Hope need not wait for the tears to stop.

Verse references: 12:87, 39:53; with the context of 12:84-86.

5. Loss Is Not an Exception to Life: Fear, Livelihood, and Loved Ones

Verse

2:155 — We will surely test you through some fear, hunger, and loss of money, lives, and crops. Give good news to the steadfast.*

2:156 — When an affliction befalls them, they say, “We belong to GOD, and to Him we are returning.”

2:157 — These have deserved blessings from their Lord and mercy. These are the guided ones.

Reflection on the Verse

Verse 2:155 brings the subject of loss out of abstraction. Fear, hunger, loss of money, lives, and crops: these do not all wound a person in the same way. I would not place the loss of a family member and a financial setback on an identical emotional scale simply because the verse mentions both. The verse names different forms of testing; it does not say their effects are interchangeable.

What follows in 2:156 is a reminder of belonging and return. That does not make a bereavement trivial or a ruined livelihood imaginary. The harm and pain are real. Yet I am confronted with a truth I would rather postpone: neither my possessions nor my earthly life can be held indefinitely. If I have never considered that limit, a loss may feel not only devastating but impossible to understand.

The good news given to the steadfast is not addressed to people who have never suffered. It appears within a passage about suffering. That matters when we speak to someone in pain. I do not want to use a verse as a tool to silence grief. I would rather first ask what these words demand of me when my own certainties are shaken.

Verse references: 2:155-157, 57:23.

6. I Missed Something: Do I Really Know It Would Have Been Good for Me?

Verse

2:216 — Fighting may be imposed on you, even though you dislike it. But you may dislike something which is good for you, and you may like something which is bad for you. GOD knows while you do not know.

64:11 — Nothing happens to you except in accordance with GOD’s will. Anyone who believes in GOD, He will guide his heart. GOD is fully aware of all things.

Reflection on the Verse

Some opportunities that never materialized can remain in my mind for years. A job, a move, a relationship, an entirely different future: I may call it a loss without knowing what living that future would actually have meant. Verse 2:216, in its own specific setting, reminds me that what a person likes is not always what is good for that person. This does not prove that every disappointment secretly conceals a greater earthly reward. The verse does not give me that certainty.

Verse 64:11 places what happens to us in relation to GOD’s will and speaks of guidance to the believer’s heart. My attention therefore turns not only to the event but to the person I become after it. Something I did not want may have happened. My pain may be genuine. But feeling pain does not establish that I know every consequence or every possible future.

I have noticed how easily the question “Why did this happen?” becomes “Why did I not get what I wanted?” These are not the same question. The restraint I see in 57:23 is not a demand that I call every tragedy a blessing. It is a caution against turning incomplete knowledge into absolute judgments, especially when speaking to someone else who is suffering.

Verse references: 2:216, 64:11, 57:22-23.

7. Is Joy Forbidden? Rejoicing in Grace Is Not the Same as Being Proud

Verse

10:58 — Say, “With GOD’s grace and with His mercy they shall rejoice.” This is far better than any wealth they can accumulate.

18:46 — Money and children are the joys of this life, but the righteous works provide an eternal recompense from your Lord, and a far better hope.

53:43 — He is the One who makes you laugh or cry.

Reflection on the Verse

The authorized English wording of 57:23 warns me not to be proud of what GOD has bestowed, while 10:58 calls for rejoicing in GOD’s grace and mercy. If I treat pride and joy as identical, I create a contradiction that need not exist. Hearing a child laugh, finding relief after hardship, receiving help I did not expect, or feeling grateful for something beautiful: none of these requires me to declare myself above someone else.

Verse 18:46 calls money and children joys of this life, while pointing beyond them to righteous works and a better hope. Earthly joy is not denied; its power to define the final value of my life is questioned. This is a difficult balance. I do not need to despise what I love. I need to keep from making my possession of it evidence that I am superior, or that I will never have to live without it.

And 53:43 matters here too. If laughter and tears are both spoken of in relation to GOD, I should be slow to condemn either emotional expression in itself. I read 57:23 as a warning against using joy as a throne for the self. I may rejoice without converting that joy into self-glorification.

Verse references: 10:58, 18:46, 53:43, 57:23.

8. When a Blessing Arrives, What Is My First Explanation?

Verse

27:40 — The one who possessed knowledge from the book said, “I can bring it to you in the blink of your eye.” When he saw it settled in front of him, he said, “This is a blessing from my Lord, whereby He tests me, to show whether I am appreciative or unappreciative. Whoever is appreciative is appreciative for his own good, and if one turns unappreciative, then my Lord is in no need for him, Most Honorable.”

16:53 — Any blessing you enjoy is from GOD. Yet, whenever you incur any adversity you immediately complain to Him.

14:7 — Your Lord has decreed: “The more you thank Me, the more I give you.” But if you turn unappreciative, then My retribution is severe.

Reflection on the Verse

In 27:40, the arrival of something remarkable is met with an acknowledgment that it is a blessing and a test of appreciation. I wonder what my own first sentence would be in that moment. “I worked for this” may be true. I may have studied, practiced, and persevered. But must I end the whole explanation there? Could my work be real while I remain grateful for what was not ultimately mine to command?

Verse 16:53 attributes the blessings we enjoy to GOD. If I take that seriously, achievement changes its meaning. It becomes an occasion to examine my response, not merely an invitation to admire myself. Does gratitude make me more careful with others? Does it help me recognize need rather than belittle people who have less? These questions are not detached from 27:40, where appreciation and its opposite are set beside one another.

Verse 14:7 speaks of increase in response to thanks. But I cannot take that promise and invent a precise financial outcome for every grateful person. I do not know the full form or timing of what GOD gives. The question closest to my responsibility is simpler: what do I do with a blessing while it is in my hands? Gratitude should prevent me from confusing receiving with owning the source of what I receive.

Verse references: 27:40, 16:53, 14:7.

9. Qãroon: When a Blessing Becomes a Claim of Superiority

Verse

28:76 — Qãroon (the slave driver) was one of Moses’ people who betrayed them and oppressed them. We gave him so many treasures that the keys thereof were almost too heavy for the strongest band. His people said to him, “Do not be so arrogant; GOD does not love those who are arrogant.

28:78 — He said, “I attained all this because of my own cleverness.” Did he not realize that GOD had annihilated before him generations that were much stronger than he, and greater in number? The (annihilated) transgressors were not asked about their crimes.

28:79 — One day, he came out to his people in full splendor. Those who preferred this worldly life said, “Oh, we wish that we possess what Qãroon has attained. Indeed, he is very fortunate.”

Reflection on the Verse

Qãroon’s story is unforgettable precisely because wealth is not its only subject. His oppression, the warning addressed to him, and the explanation he gives for his success all matter. He attributes what he has gained to his own cleverness. I hear in that response a danger that extends beyond money: a person begins to tell the story of his life as though no source of good exists outside himself.

There is a difference between recognizing one’s effort and granting oneself absolute credit. I may have worked very hard. Yet my opportunities, the people who helped me, and circumstances I did not choose all lie beyond the narrow phrase “I did everything myself.” The verse does not deny the value of effort. It does expose the danger of turning achievement into a verdict about one’s own greatness.

Then come the spectators in 28:79, wishing they possessed what Qãroon possessed. Pride can influence those who admire it as well as those who display it. When I envy a successful person, what exactly am I admiring: wealth, righteousness, generosity, or the appearance of importance? If I never ask, I may quietly begin to prepare the same arrogance in myself.

Verse references: 28:76, 28:78-79.

10. The Counsel Given to Qãroon: Use the World Without Worshiping Success

Verse

28:77 — “Use the provisions bestowed upon you by GOD to seek the abode of the Hereafter, without neglecting your share in this world. Be charitable, as GOD has been charitable towards you. Do not keep on corrupting the earth. GOD does not love the corruptors.”

28:80 — As for those who were blessed with knowledge, they said, “Woe to you, GOD’s recompense is far better for those who believe and lead a righteous life.” None attains this except the steadfast.

28:82 — Those who were envious of him the day before said, “Now we realize that GOD is the One who provides for whomever He chooses from among His servants, and withholds. If it were not for GOD’s grace towards us, He could have caused the earth to swallow us too. We now realize that the disbelievers never succeed.”

Reflection on the Verse

The counsel given to Qãroon contains a balance I do not want to overlook: seek the Hereafter without neglecting one’s share in this world. This is another reason not to interpret 57:23 as a demand to abandon all earthly pleasure. Having resources and making responsible use of them are not the same as building one’s identity around them.

Verse 28:77 connects what GOD has given with doing good. The question is not only whether I own something, but what its presence enables me to do for others. This makes the warning against pride practical. It reaches into how I use time, money, influence, and opportunities. Do these things deepen my concern for people, or separate me from them?

In 28:80 and 28:82, the perception of Qãroon’s splendor changes. The people who envied him must reconsider what they admired. I have experienced smaller reversals of judgment: something once impressive no longer appears worthy of envy. The verses do not invite me to worship poverty or condemn wealth merely for existing. They invite me to examine whether material success is becoming the standard by which I decide the worth of a human life.

Verse references: 28:77, 28:80, 28:82; in the context of 28:76-79.

11. Why Do We Lose Our Balance in Both Hardship and Prosperity?

Verse

11:9 — Whenever we bless the human being with mercy from us, then remove it, he turns despondent, unappreciative.

11:10 — Whenever we bless him, after adversity had afflicted him, he says, “All adversity has gone away from me;” he becomes excited, proud.

11:11 — As for those who steadfastly persevere, and lead a righteous life, they deserve forgiveness and a generous recompense.

Reflection on the Verse

Verses 11:9-11 help me understand why 57:23 warns in two directions at once. When a blessing is removed, a person may become despondent and unappreciative. After hardship, the return of ease may produce excitement and pride. The outer circumstances have reversed, but both reactions can spring from the same mistake: allowing my immediate condition to define everything I believe about my life.

It is easy to forget that a blessing has not always been in my possession. Once it becomes familiar, I may begin to treat it as something owed to me. Losing it then feels like an injustice against the very structure of my life. And after a period of suffering, I may be tempted to act as if no difficulty could ever return. In both cases I am making the present moment promise more than it can deliver.

Verse 11:11 directs attention to steadfastness and righteous living. I hear an invitation to develop a moral continuity that my circumstances do not control. My values should not disappear with a loss. Neither should my regard for others deteriorate when I gain more than they have. What kind of person am I when circumstances change? That question may reveal more than how I behave when life goes as planned.

Verse references: 11:9-11, 57:23.

12. Wealth and Hardship as Tests: The Stories We Tell About Our Worth

Verse

89:15 — When the human being is tested by his Lord, through blessings and joy, he says, “My Lord is generous towards me.”

89:16 — But if He tests him through reduction in provisions, he says, “My Lord is humiliating me!”

64:15 — Your money and children are a test, and GOD possesses a great recompense.

Reflection on the Verse

The human being described in 89:15-16 makes two confident judgments about himself. When blessed, he interprets the blessing as special generosity toward him. When his provision is reduced, he takes it as humiliation. Yet the passage describes these circumstances in terms of testing. I recognize the temptation to mistake economic conditions for a reliable measure of spiritual standing.

Does a comfortable income prove that a person is more worthy before GOD? Does a period of financial hardship prove that someone has been rejected? I do not find either certainty in these verses. That matters not only for how I view myself, but for how I speak of the poor, the sick, and those who have endured great loss. The ease of another person does not license me to call that person righteous; the suffering of another does not license me to condemn them.

Verse 64:15 says that money and children are a test. Some of what matters most to us is therefore also where our conduct may be most deeply examined. I do not have to treat loved ones or possessions as worthless. But their value does not make them permanent guarantees, and their absence does not settle my value as a human being. Both abundance and want call for a truthful response.

Verse references: 89:15-16, 64:15, 57:23.

13. Mistaking the Temporary for the Eternal: The Fragility of Worldly Boasting

Verse

57:20 — Know that this worldly life is no more than play and games, and boasting among you, and hoarding of money and children. It is like abundant rain that produces plants and pleases the disbelievers. But then the plants turn into useless hay, and are blown away by the wind. In the Hereafter there is either severe retribution, or forgiveness from GOD and approval. This worldly life is no more than a temporary illusion.

18:45 — Cite for them the example of this life as water that we send down from the sky to produce plants of the earth, then they turn into hay that is blown away by the wind. GOD is able to do all things.

18:46 — Money and children are the joys of this life, but the righteous works provide an eternal recompense from your Lord, and a far better hope.

Reflection on the Verse

Shortly before 57:23, verse 57:20 describes a world that can become play, amusement, boasting, and accumulation. Its image of plants growing and later becoming useless hay is difficult to forget. I do not read this as saying that the growing plant was never real. Rather, it challenges the permanence I may have assigned to something that always belonged to a changing world.

Verse 18:45 uses another image of vegetation carried away by the wind, while 18:46 calls money and children joys of this life and places righteous works alongside a more enduring hope. I am not asked to pretend that the people and things I love have no value. I am invited to stop treating their present availability as if it could never change.

Recognizing that a blessing is temporary does not make me careless with it. It might make me more attentive to the people with me today and more responsible with the resources I now possess. I want to live neither by fearing the loss of everything nor by displaying everything I have. The world can be genuinely meaningful without becoming the final measure of my existence.

Verse references: 57:20, 18:45-46, 57:23.

14. What Does Pride Do to My Relationship with Other People?

Verse

31:18 — “You shall not treat the people with arrogance, nor shall you roam the earth proudly. GOD does not like the arrogant showoffs.

31:19 — “Walk humbly and lower your voice—the ugliest voice is the donkey’s voice.”

3:188 — Those who boast about their works, and wish to be praised for something they have not really done, should not think that they can evade the retribution. They have incurred a painful retribution.

Reflection on the Verse

Pride sometimes grows in private, but it rarely remains a purely private matter. Verse 31:18 speaks of arrogance toward people and the way one moves through the world. That challenges me to look beyond what I think of myself. Do I interrupt others? Do I dismiss someone’s work because it looks small beside mine? Do I treat people with fewer advantages as though they deserve less respect?

The counsel about walking and lowering the voice in 31:19 brings conduct into the picture. Verse 3:188 adds another uneasy question: what if I seek admiration even for something I did not truly do? Am I interested in making a useful contribution, or in creating an image of myself that is larger than the facts? The desire for recognition may begin before any explicit boast.

This is why I cannot reduce the second half of 57:23 to advice about managing my self-esteem. A blessing granted to me gives me no authority to diminish another person’s dignity. Effort is real. Achievement can be real. But neither grants the right to humiliate another person or collect praise that belongs elsewhere. Pride has consequences for people who did not choose to participate in it.

Verse references: 31:18-19, 3:188, 57:23.

15. The Verse After Pride: Why Does Stinginess Follow?

Verse

57:24 — They are stingy, and enjoin the people to be stingy. If one turns away, then GOD is the Rich, the Praiseworthy.

4:37 — The ones who are stingy, exhort the people to be stingy, and conceal what GOD has bestowed upon them from His bounties. We have prepared for the disbelievers a shameful retribution.

57:7 — Believe in GOD and His messenger, and give from what He has bestowed upon you. Those among you who believe and give (to charity) have deserved a great recompense.

Reflection on the Verse

I do not want to stop reading at 57:23. The very next verse turns to stinginess and encouraging others to be stingy. This does not prove that every proud person must be stingy. Yet the placement gives me something important to consider. If I believe my possessions are a measure of my absolute superiority, I may also become less willing to share them or acknowledge the needs of others.

Verse 4:37 also joins stinginess, encouraging stinginess, and what GOD has bestowed. Verse 57:7 calls people to give from what they have been given. Together these verses make pride more than a matter of impressive words or posture. It can appear in what I refuse to share, in my attempts to discourage another person’s generosity, or in a refusal to recognize the source of my provisions.

A success should not close my hand. I do not find here a new mathematical rule specifying how much every person must give in each circumstance. The question I find is more fundamental: what has receiving done to me? Has it made me attentive to other people, or has it taught me to protect an image of myself at their expense? Gratitude ought to open what pride tends to close.

Verse references: 57:23-24, 4:37, 57:7.

16. Accepting What Is Decreed Does Not Cancel Human Responsibility

Verse

53:39 — Every human being is responsible for his own works.

13:11 — Shifts (of angels) take turns, staying with each one of you—they are in front of you and behind you. They stay with you, and guard you in accordance with GOD’s commands. Thus, GOD does not change the condition of any people unless they themselves make the decision to change. If GOD wills any hardship for any people, no force can stop it. For they have none beside Him as Lord and Master.

9:51 — Say, “Nothing happens to us, except what GOD has decreed for us. He is our Lord and Master. In GOD the believers shall trust.”

Reflection on the Verse

Verse 57:22 raises a serious question. If events are within GOD’s knowledge and will, what is the place of my effort? Can I excuse a wrong I have committed by claiming that it was simply meant to happen? Verse 53:39 makes that escape difficult. It speaks of every person being responsible for his own works. I must not hide the things I do behind a statement about what is written.

Verse 13:11 also speaks of a people’s decision to change and of GOD’s will. I cannot use it to assert that every result is within my control; the verse itself would resist that reduction. But neither can I use 57:23 to defend inactivity. Not being consumed by a loss does not mean refusing to try again. Not being proud of a success does not mean denying the value of honest work.

Verse 9:51 directs trust toward GOD. In my own life, submission should involve doing what is right as far as I can, while recognizing that the final outcome is not my personal property. If I have made a mistake, I should face it. If I have treated someone unjustly, a claim about destiny cannot replace responsibility. If I have done what I could and something remains beyond me, I should not have to turn that limit into a lifetime of resentment. These are ethical reflections; they are not a complete account of how divine knowledge and human agency relate.

Verse references: 53:39, 13:11, 9:51, 57:22-23.

17. Arabic Roots: Grief, What Passes Us By, Joy, and Boasting

Verse

57:23 — Thus, you should not grieve over anything you miss, nor be proud of anything He has bestowed upon you. GOD does not love those who are boastful, proud.

10:58 — Say, “With GOD’s grace and with His mercy they shall rejoice.” This is far better than any wealth they can accumulate.

12:84 — He turned away from them, saying, “I am grieving over Joseph.” His eyes turned white from grieving so much; he was truly sad.

Reflection on the Verse

In the Arabic of 57:23, تَأْسَوْا۟ (taʾsaw) is related to the root أ-س-و (ʾ-s-w) and the meaning field of grief. فَاتَكُمْ (fātakum) is associated with ف-و-ت (f-w-t), conveying something that has passed or been missed. Seeing the two forms together directs my attention to what happens inside me when something is no longer mine to obtain. Yet root analysis alone cannot prove that all human grief is prohibited.

The form تَفْرَحُوا۟ (tafraḥū) comes from ف-ر-ح (f-r-ḥ), a root connected with rejoicing. In Rashad Khalifa’s Authorized English Translation, the wording in 57:23 is “nor be proud”; the Turkish translation of the Authorized English Translation says “gururlanmamalısınız”. Verse 10:58 also contains a form from the same root associated with joy. This is precisely why context matters: 10:58 calls for rejoicing in GOD’s grace and mercy, while 57:23 warns about how a person responds to what has been bestowed.

ءَاتَىٰكُمْ (ātākum) concerns what has been given and is associated with أ-ت-ي (ʾ-t-y). The words مُخْتَالٍ (mukhtālin) and فَخُورٍ (fakhūrin) connect with خ-ي-ل (kh-y-l) and ف-خ-ر (f-kh-r), drawing attention to self-importance and boasting. I do not want to import every imaginable meaning of a root into a single verse. The roots can sharpen the questions I ask, but the wording and context of the actual verses must remain the measure.

Verse references: 57:23, 10:58, 12:84; with the context of 57:22-24.

18. Other Claims

Verse

57:22 — Anything that happens on earth, or to you, has already been recorded, even before the creation. This is easy for GOD to do.

57:23 — Thus, you should not grieve over anything you miss, nor be proud of anything He has bestowed upon you. GOD does not love those who are boastful, proud.

12:84 — He turned away from them, saying, “I am grieving over Joseph.” His eyes turned white from grieving so much; he was truly sad.

10:58 — Say, “With GOD’s grace and with His mercy they shall rejoice.” This is far better than any wealth they can accumulate.

53:39 — Every human being is responsible for his own works.

Reflection on the Verse

Some philosophical or traditional approaches may describe the ideal person as someone who feels no grief at all. The intention might be to encourage strength in adversity. But Jacob’s deep sorrow in 12:84 makes me reluctant to present emotional numbness as a universal Quranic command. At the opposite extreme, reducing 57:23 to a pleasant sentence of comfort would leave its pointed warning about pride largely untouched.

Some interpretations of destiny may use 57:22 to argue that human responsibility is only an appearance. Others may minimize that verse and explain every outcome almost entirely through individual power. I do not have to claim certainty on either extreme. The same Quran that speaks of what has been recorded also speaks of a person’s responsibility for their own works in 53:39. I can take both statements seriously without claiming to have solved the whole relationship between divine knowledge and human choice.

Another claim treats worldly success as decisive evidence of divine approval, and loss as proof of personal humiliation. The language of testing in 89:15-16 calls for greater restraint. These competing approaches remain subjects for cautious comparison, not authorities that determine the meaning of the preceding reflections. My primary concern is still to read 57:22-24 together with the grief of Jacob and the call to rejoice in GOD’s mercy.

Verse references: 57:22-24, 12:84-87, 10:58, 53:39, 89:15-16.

19. Conclusion: Let Loss Not Consume Me, and Let Blessing Not Inflate Me

Verse

57:22 — Anything that happens on earth, or to you, has already been recorded, even before the creation. This is easy for GOD to do.

57:23 — Thus, you should not grieve over anything you miss, nor be proud of anything He has bestowed upon you. GOD does not love those who are boastful, proud.

57:24 — They are stingy, and enjoin the people to be stingy. If one turns away, then GOD is the Rich, the Praiseworthy.

12:86 — He said, “I simply complain to GOD about my dilemma and grief, for I know from GOD what you do not know.

27:40 — The one who possessed knowledge from the book said, “I can bring it to you in the blink of your eye.” When he saw it settled in front of him, he said, “This is a blessing from my Lord, whereby He tests me, to show whether I am appreciative or unappreciative. Whoever is appreciative is appreciative for his own good, and if one turns unappreciative, then my Lord is in no need for him, Most Honorable.”

Reflection on the Verse

When I began, I saw two instructions that seemed almost unrelated: do not grieve over what is missed, and do not be proud of what is given. I now see a deeper connection. In either condition I may place myself at the center of everything. When I lose something, I can begin to believe the whole world has turned against me. When I gain something, I can begin to believe all goodness originated with me. Verse 57:23 challenges both exaggerations by placing my circumstances beside GOD’s knowledge, His gifts, and the limits of my own position.

Jacob’s grief prevents me from teaching that sadness itself is a failure of faith. His turning to GOD shows that sorrow need not extinguish trust. Verse 10:58 keeps me from treating joy as a defect. So the person I hope to become is not someone incapable of crying or laughing. I may grieve, rejoice, work, hope, and lose things I love. None of those experiences should replace GOD in my understanding of life or become an excuse to treat others unjustly.

The response in 27:40 offers me a question worth remembering whenever something good comes my way: will I be appreciative? The verse after 57:23 also stays with me. Blessing can be enclosed within pride and stinginess; it can become a means of separating myself from others. I want to rejoice without boasting and to share without pretending that what I give makes me superior. In hardship, I want to acknowledge the pain without abandoning hope.

I cannot leave this reflection with a promise that I will always feel the right thing at the right moment. I can, however, leave with two questions: Will what I lost be allowed to determine who I am? Will what I received persuade me that I am greater than other people? I may not answer either perfectly today. But asking them may keep me from confusing the changing circumstances of my life with the One to whom I ultimately belong.

What is in my hands today may not remain there tomorrow. What I think I missed may have consequences I cannot yet know. That is why I want to carry joy with gratitude, grief with hope, effort with responsibility, and possessions with justice. I do not want loss to swallow me, or blessing to inflate me. Perhaps this is one of the quieter tests of submission to GOD: remembering my place in both moments.

Verse references: 57:20, 57:22-24, 12:84-87, 10:58, 27:40, 53:39, 89:15-16.

Note

2:32 — They said, “Be You glorified, we have no knowledge, except that which You have taught us. You are the Omniscient, Most Wise.”

GOD knows best.

Source: kuranteyit.com