What is with God is better and more enduring
وَمَا عِندَ ٱللَّهِ خَيْرٌ وَأَبْقَىٰ
wa-mā ʿinda llāhi khayrun wa-abqā — while what is with God is better and more enduring
Two verses share the clause that whatever people are given is only a utility of the lowly life, while what is with God is better and more enduring; one ends by addressing the hearers' reason, the other by specifying those who have faith and trust their Lord.
The two verses 28:60 and 42:36 share a near-identical core: whatever you have been given of anything is [but] a utility of the lowly life, while what is with God is better and more enduring. The shared clause sets what is given in the present against what is with God, marked by the comparative khayrun wa-abqā, "better and more enduring". The sharpest difference lies in what follows the comparison; the verses also open differently, with wa- ("And") in 28:60 and fa- ("So") in 42:36. In (28:60) the clause includes wa-zīnatahā, "and its adornment", extending the description of the lowly life's utility, and then turns to the addressees with a rhetorical question: "Will you not then use your reason?" (a-falā taʿqilūna, imperfect 2MP). The verse asks its hearers to draw the conclusion themselves. In (42:36) the adornment phrase is absent, and instead the comparison is qualified by li-alladhīna āmanū, "for those who have attained faith", followed by wa-ʿalā rabbihim yatawakkalūna, "and upon their Lord place their trust" (imperfect V 3MP). Here the better and more enduring is tied to a described group rather than posed as a question to the addressees. The surrounding verses support this difference: (28:61) immediately contrasts one who receives a good promise with one given enjoyment of the lowly life, while (42:37) continues describing those who keep away from grave sin—so in 28:60 the clause functions as a summons to reason, and in 42:36 as the opening of a portrait of the faithful.
Where it occurs
- 28:60 States that what is given is only a utility and adornment of the lowly life, then asks the addressees whether they will not use their reason.
- 42:36 States that what is given is only a utility of the lowly life, then restricts the better and more enduring to those who have attained faith and trust their Lord.
All Qur'anic expressions