Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: << ليجزيهم الله أحسن ما عملوا و يزيدهم من فضله و الله يرزق من يشآء بغير حساب >

The text says: Is "best" (ahsan) here to be understood as "good" (hasan)? Is the *lam* in "so that He may reward them" for the outcome, meaning their outcome is this, or is it for the cause, meaning they glorify and fear for the sake of Allah rewarding them with the best of what they did? In that case, it would be a *lam* of cause, combining fear and hope. Or do we say it is for the outcome, meaning they do those things out of fear of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), so their outcome is complete safety along with abundant reward? There are two possibilities: either the *lam* is for the outcome, meaning they glorify and fear, and their outcome is safety from what they fear and the attainment of abundant reward; or it is for the cause, meaning they do that in anticipation of the reward, so that Allah may reward them with the best of what they did. Then the author discusses this, saying: "Meaning His reward." Because in reality, they are not rewarded by the act itself, but by what? By His reward. The reward is the reward. The author had to estimate the act by the reward of the act, because that is what the reward is based on. This is the first point. The second point: he says "best" means "good." Why? Because the author, or perhaps one who suspects, might think that the reward is based on the best of what a person does. The reality is that the reward is based on the best and the good, is it not? When a person does good, the reward is for the good and the best. But this suspicion does not apply to the author's estimation, which is that the intended meaning is "so that Allah may reward them with a reward." The meaning becomes "so that Allah may reward them with the best reward for what they did." Accordingly, there is absolutely no problem, and we do not interpret "best" as "good," because interpreting "best" as "good" is a distortion. Which is more complete? "Best." Therefore, we say the verse is to be taken at its apparent meaning, and the superlative name is to be taken at its apparent meaning. The meaning is that they are rewarded with the best reward for their work. How is that? A good deed is rewarded ten times its value, up to seven hundred times, up to many multiples. If a person did a job for you and you gave him his wage twice, what would that be? The best reward. Yes, excellent. But the reward of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is better and better, because Allah multiplies for whom He wills. So the first, and indeed the obligatory, is to keep "best" as it is, in its form of superlative. We say "best," meaning the best reward for their work. So here, "the best" is not for the work, but "the best" is for the reward. Now, regarding the first estimation: Yes, why did Allah the Exalted express "good" for the work itself, even though "good" is for the reward? It is a reference to the fact that the reward is in proportion to the work, and therefore He expressed it with it. The work: as you measure, you are measured. The person who does not pray, for example, does he receive the reward of the one who prays? No. And the one who does not pay zakah is not rewarded with the reward of the one who pays zakah, and so on. The reward is for the work, and therefore He expressed the work as its reward, as a reference to the fact that the reward is of the same kind as the work, but it is the best reward possible. And it is said: "So-and-so spends without reckoning," meaning he is generous, as if he does not calculate what he spends. His statement: "This is in addition to the reward of the work" refers to what is obtained from the increase of righteous deeds, the increase of provision in this world, and the increase of what is stored for them with Allah in Paradise, such as the seeing of the Face of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), as came in the authentic hadith. His statement: "The intended meaning of the increase..." The increase is from the provision in this world, the increase from the reward in the Hereafter, and the seeing of the Face of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He).
And his statement: The meaning is that He, Glorified and Exalted is He, gives without a set limit. But what does "without a set limit" mean? How do we say "without a set limit" when Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, says: The answer is that this is an expression for the abundance of giving. That is why it is said, as the author said, "So-and-so spends without reckoning." What does that mean? It means he gives a great amount of giving with no limit. Otherwise, Allah the Exalted has measured everything with His knowledge and wisdom, even a drop of rain that falls on the earth; it is by a measure. So the meaning of his statement "without reckoning" is "without a measure," and it is an expression for what? The abundance of what he spends, not that he spends without being aware of what he spends. So He, Glorified and Exalted is He, knows what He provides, how He provides, and where He provides, but He, Exalted is He, because of the abundance of His giving, is like one who does not calculate.