No bearer bears the load of another
وَلَا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَىٰ
wa-lā taziru wāziratun wizra ukhrā — and no bearer (of a load) bears the load of another
The same clause recurs with an identical core in five different contexts, in three of them (6:164, 17:15, 35:18) paired with a statement that a self's acquiring, guiding and straying, or purifying counts only for or against itself, so that the repeated formula functions as the Qur'an's fixed expression of individual responsibility.
The clause wa-lā taziru wāziratun wizra ukhrā appears with an identical core in five passages, and its contexts show how the Qur'an deploys one fixed expression across different arguments. In (6:164) it follows the statement that no living self acquires anything except against itself, and precedes the announcement that all return to their Lord to be informed of what they differed over. In (17:15) it follows the paired claims that whoever is guided is guided for his own self and whoever goes astray goes astray against it, and precedes the statement that God was not one to chastise until sending a messenger. In (35:18) the clause is expanded: if one weighed down calls another towards her load, nothing of it will be carried for her, even if he be one of kin — the only occurrence where the formula is argued out rather than simply asserted. In (39:7) it stands between a statement about God's independence of human ingratitude and approval of gratitude, and the return to the Lord who knows what is within the chests. In (53:38) the clause stands alone as the entire content of a message, introduced by allā ('that...'). Read together, the occurrences show that the Qur'an treats this as a movable, self-contained formula: whatever the surrounding topic — seeking a lord, guidance and astrayal, warning and chastisement, gratitude — the same words mark the limit at which one person's burden stops and another's begins.
Where it occurs
- 6:164 Caps a statement that each self acquires only against itself, before the return to the Lord, who will inform them of what they differed over.
- 17:15 Completes the pairing of guidance and astrayal as each self's own affair, before the statement about chastisement following a messenger.
- 35:18 Stated and then argued: even a kinsman cannot carry any part of a weighed-down person's load.
- 39:7 Follows the claims about God's independence and approval of gratitude, before the return and God's knowledge of what is within the chests.
- 53:38 Stands alone as the whole message, introduced by allā, with no surrounding argument.
All Qur'anic expressions