Giving some advantage over others
فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ
faḍḍalnā baʿḍahum ʿalā baʿḍ — We have given some of them advantage over others
Across seven occurrences the Qur'an applies one fixed comparative formula — some given advantage over others — to messengers, prophets, men and women, individuals generally, and even crops, showing a single grammar of differentiation running through every domain it names.
The expression pairs the verb faddala (to give advantage) with the reciprocal baʿḍ...ʿalā baʿḍ (some over others), and the Qur'an deploys it across deliberately different fields. It is used of messengers: among them is one with whom Allah spoke, and some He raised in ranks (2:253), and of prophets, with David granted a Zabūr as an instance (17:55). It is used of human communities: Allah gives some people advantage over others in provision, and the verse immediately notes that those so advantaged do not hand their provision to those their right hands possess so as to be equal in it (16:71). It is used of men and women: the men are described as maintainers standing over the women by what Allah has given some of them over others and by what they have spent (4:34), while 4:32 forbids longing for what Allah has given, by it, some over others, directing each sex instead to its own acquired share and to asking Allah from His bounty. It is even used of produce: adjoining tracts and date-palms watered with one water, yet We make some of them excel others in the produce, a sign for a people who use their reason (13:4). Finally 17:21 generalizes: look how We have given some of them advantage over others, yet the Later one is greater in ranks and greater in bestowal of advantage. Read together, the occurrences show the formula marking differentiation as Allah's act in every sphere — revelation, sustenance, gender, agriculture — while 17:21 relativizes all such advantage against a greater, future differentiation, and 4:32 and 16:71 both address the human response to it: not longing for another's share, and not denying the favor.
Where it occurs
- 2:253 Opens a survey of the messengers by stating that We have given some of them advantage over others, then lists instances: one with whom Allah spoke, some raised in ranks, Jesus given the clear evidences and reinforced with the Holy Spirit.
- 4:32 Forbids longing for what Allah has given, by it, some of you over others, replacing rivalry with each group's own acquired share and asking Allah from His bounty.
- 4:34 Grounds the men's standing over the women in what Allah has given some of them over others and in what the men have spent of their wealth.
- 13:4 Applies the formula to cultivation: tracts and palms watered with one water, yet We make some of them excel others in the produce, as a sign for a people who use their reason.
- 16:71 States that Allah has given some of you advantage over others in provision, then observes that the advantaged do not equalize with those their right hands possess, ending with a question about denying Allah's favor.
- 17:21 Generalizes the formula — look how We have given some of them advantage over others — and immediately sets the Later one as greater in ranks and greater in bestowal of advantage.
- 17:55 States that We have indeed given some of the prophets advantage over others, with David's Zabūr given as the concrete instance.
All Qur'anic expressions