No self is burdened except to its capacity
تُكَلَّفُ نَفْسٌ إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا
tukallafu nafsun illā wusʿahā — No self is burdened except to its capacity
The clause 'no self is burdened except to its capacity' recurs across five verses with a fixed core (نَفْس + إِلَّا + وُسْعَهَا) but a shifting verb form, so that the one who does not overburden is variously unnamed (passive), Allah (3MS), and 'We' (1P), while the clause is applied to family obligations, moral commands, and the record of deeds.
The expression pairs the verb كَلَّفَ (form II, 'to burden/charge') with نَفْس and the limit وُسْعَهَا, 'its capacity', in five verses. The noun phrase is constant: a singular نَفْس, indefinite, followed by إِلَّا and the accusative وُسْعَهَا with its 3FS pronoun referring back to the self. What changes is the verb's form. In (2:233) it is تُكَلَّفُ, a 3FS imperfect passive: no agent is named, and the clause stands between the duty of provision and clothing 'upon the one for whom the child is born' and the prohibition of harming either the mother or the one for whom the child is born — the burdening limit stands between the father's duty of provision and the prohibition of harming either parent. In (2:286) the verb is active يُكَلِّفُ with Allah as subject: 'Allah does not impose on any self except its capacity', immediately followed by the pairing of earning and acquiring, and then by a prayer not to be given a load or what exceeds power. In (6:152), (7:42) and (23:62) the verb is first person نُكَلِّفُ, 'We do not burden', spoken amid commands about the orphan's wealth, measure and balance (6:152), after the description of those who believed and did sound deeds (7:42), and before the statement that 'with Us is a written record that speaks with the truth' (23:62). Read together, the occurrences show the same limit on burdening stated in three grammatical persons — passive with no agent, third person, and first person — while the contexts range from family maintenance law to moral injunctions to the reckoning of deeds.
Where it occurs
- 2:233 States the limit in the passive with no agent named, within rules on suckling, provision and the prohibition of harming either the mother or the one for whom the child is born.
- 2:286 Makes Allah the explicit subject: 'Allah does not impose on any self except its capacity', followed by the self's earnings and a prayer against unbearable loads.
- 6:152 Uses the first person 'We do not burden any soul except to its capacity' amid commands about the orphan's wealth, measure, balance and just speech.
- 7:42 Places the first-person clause after 'those who have believed and done the sound/wholesome deeds', before the promise of the Garden.
- 23:62 States 'We do not burden any self except according to its capacity' and links it to the written record that speaks with the truth and the absence of wronging.
All Qur'anic expressions