Wealth and children are a test
إِنَّمَا أَمْوَٰلُكُمْ وَأَوْلَٰدُكُمْ فِتْنَةٌ
innamā amwālukum wa-awlādukum fitnah — Your wealth and your children are only a test
The same statement appears twice: once as the object of a command to know (8:28), once as a bare declarative introduced by innamā (64:15). The difference in framing fits each setting—one urging, one asserting within a sequence of commands.
The two verses share the clause that wealth and children are a fitnah, a test, and that with Allah is a tremendous reward. In (8:28) the clause is embedded under an imperative: wa-ʿlamū, 'and know', a second-person plural imperative, followed by the accusative particle annamā, so the statement is something the addressees are commanded to know. In (64:15) the same clause stands as an independent declarative introduced by innamā, 'only', with no verb of knowing; the second half drops the conjunction wa-anna ('and that') used in (8:28) and instead has wa-llāhu, 'and Allah', a nominal clause. The contexts differ accordingly. In (8:28) the command to know sits between a prohibition against betraying Allah and the Messenger and one's trusts (8:27) and a conditional promise attached to God-consciousness (8:29); the imperative makes the knowledge itself part of what the addressees are told to do. In (64:15) the statement stands between a warning that some partners and children are an enemy (64:14) and a chain of imperatives—be conscious of Allah, listen, obey, spend (64:16); here the declarative grounds those commands rather than being commanded itself. The reward clause is identical in both ('with Allah is a tremendous reward'), so the variation is confined to the framing: commanded knowledge with subordinated 'and that' in (8:28), plain restriction with innamā and a nominal clause in (64:15).
Where it occurs
- 8:28 Commands the addressees to know that wealth and children are a test and that with Allah is a tremendous reward, between a prohibition on betrayal (8:27) and a conditional promise (8:29).
- 64:15 States declaratively, with innamā, that wealth and children are only a test and with Allah is a tremendous reward, between a warning about partners and children (64:14) and a chain of imperatives (64:16).
All Qur'anic expressions