seeking bounty (tabtaghū faḍlan)
تَبْتَغُوا۟ فَضْلًا
tabtaghū faḍlan — seek a surplus / bounty
Across these verses, the pairing of the VIII-form verb tabtaghū with faḍl frames human economic striving — travel, seafaring — as something God deliberately enables and even commands, and in several verses it is set directly alongside devotion, not against it.
The expression joins the verb tabtaghū (form VIII, 'seek') with the noun faḍl ('surplus', 'bounty'). In the verses given, the one who seeks is always human and the bounty is always attributed to God: min rabbikum (2:198, 17:12), min rabbihim (5:2), min faḍlihi (16:14, 17:66, 28:73, 30:46, 35:12, 45:12), min faḍli llāhi (62:10, 73:20), mina llāhi (48:29, 59:8). The contexts divide into two groups. In one group the seeking is a purpose built into God's subjection of the natural world: He subjected the sea and drives the ships so that people may seek of His bounty (16:14, 17:66, 30:46, 35:12, 45:12), and He made the day a seeing sign so that people may seek bounty from their Lord (17:12, with 28:73 pairing night for rest and day for this seeking). In the other group the seeking is an activity of believers described approvingly: those heading for the Inviolable House seek bounty from their Lord and approval (5:2), as do those with the messenger (48:29) and the emigrants (59:8); 2:198 states there is no burden in seeking surplus from your Lord; 62:10 commands it after the ṣalāh is concluded; 73:20 lists among the community the ill, those striking out in the land seeking Allah's bounty, and those fighting in His path. Read together, the verses show this seeking presented as neither incidental nor suspect: it is an outcome God arranges creation for, and in 5:2, 48:29 and 59:8 it is named in the same breath as seeking approval (riḍwān).
Where it occurs
- 2:198 Declares there is no burden in seeking surplus from your Lord, in the context of pouring forth from ʿArafāt and remembering Allah at the inviolable landmark.
- 5:2 Describes those heading for the Inviolable House as seeking bounty from their Lord and approval.
- 16:14 Names seeking of His bounty as a purpose of God's subjection of the sea.
- 17:12 Names seeking bounty from your Lord as a purpose of the day-sign that enables seeing.
- 17:66 Names seeking of His bounty as the purpose for which God drives the ships in the sea.
- 28:73 Pairs rest in the night with seeking of His bounty in the day as gifts of God's mercy.
- 30:46 Lists seeking of His bounty among the aims of the winds and the ships running by His command.
- 35:12 Names seeking of His bounty as a purpose of the two seas and the ships cleaving through them.
- 45:12 Names seeking of His bounty as a purpose of the subjected sea and the ships running in it.
- 48:29 Describes those with the messenger as seeking bounty from Allah and approval.
- 59:8 Describes the emigrants as seeking bounty from Allah and approval.
- 62:10 Commands seeking out from Allah's bounty after the ṣalāh is concluded.
- 73:20 Lists among the community others striking out in the land, seeking of Allah's bounty.
All Qur'anic expressions