Surah An-Najm — Ayah 53:31

وَلِلَّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ لِيَجْزِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسَاءُوا بِمَا عَمِلُوا وَيَجْزِيَ الَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا بِالْحُسْنَى

“And to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth – that He may recompense those who have done evil with what they have done and recompense those who have done good with the best [reward]”.

Ownership • Accountability • Reward

Continuity of the Two Groups

There is a continuity between this Aayah and the previous one in respect to discussing two groups.

Those who have acted badly (i.e., by sins)
Those who have acted well

The previous Aayah mentioned those who have strayed from Allah’s path and those who have been guided, and this verse mentions those who have acted badly and those who have acted well.

From singular to plural: The previous verse used مَن (Man “Who”) to refer to the one who has gone astray and the one who is guided. Here, Allah uses the plural form اَلَّذِينَ (Alladheena – “Who”) for those who have done bad and those who have acted in a good way. There is a shift from the singular in the previous Aayah to the plural here. It is like Allah is describing that you can all be individuals right now but you will be grouped up on Judgement Day according to your deeds.

Linking Ownership to Recompense

Concerning the connection between “And to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth” and “that He may recompense...”: two explanations are given.

Explanation 1 — Ibn ‘Āshūr

Ownership as kināyah for creation: وَلِلَّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ is a kināyah indicating Allah’s creation of the heavens and the earth; ownership here means creation.

Because Allah created everything, and everything He created was created with a purpose, humans were created with a purpose and will be held responsible for how they fulfilled that purpose. Thus it connects to: لِيَجْزِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسَاءُوا ... وَيَجْزِيَ الَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا بِالْحُسْنَى.

Explanation 2 — Abū as‑Sa‘ūd

Interjection (I‘tirāḍ): وَلِلَّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ is inserted like bracketed speech between two connected statements.

إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَن ضَلَّ عَن سَبِيلِهِ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنِ اهْتَدَىٰ

“No doubt, it is your Rabb, He (in fact) knows better who is lost from His path and He knows better who is committed to guidance”.

وَلِلَّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ

Interjected reminder of absolute ownership.

لِيَجْزِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسَاءُوا بِمَا عَمِلُوا وَيَجْزِيَ الَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا بِالْحُسْنَى

“That He may recompense those who have done evil... and those who have done good...”

The interjection sits between the knowledge of who is astray/guided and the statement of recompense.

Design Structure in Placement

An observed design: adjacency of “skies” with guidance and “earth” with evil recompense.

Guidance placed near “the skies”

People who are guided have a stronger connection to the skies and are more concerned with them, because revelation, Angels, the journey of the Prophet is connected to the skies and Allah is above them.

Recompense for evil placed near “the earth”

The focus of those who do bad, evil and commit sins is upon the earth and the worldly life. In addition all the sins are perpetrated on the earth. Thus the interjection powerfully connects both statements it is inserted between.

Ownership: Rights, Rules, Reward and Punishment

Ownership dictates full rights over what is owned: to set guidelines and boundaries and to reward or punish. Allah is the greatest owner of everything and can do whatever He wishes, yet He revealed a system clarifying good and bad deeds, promising reward for good and punishment for evil.

Because He owns the heavens and the earth, He alone determines rules, reward and punishment. There is a direct correlation between Allah’s ownership and recompense.

Language Insights

باء meaning: “because/for”

بِمَا عَمِلُوا

Recompense those who did bad “because of/for” what they did (their sins).

باء meaning: “with”

بِالْحُسْنَى

Recompense those who did good “with” that which is the most excellent (Al‑Ḥusnā).

أَسَاءُوا — Sayyi’ah
  • أَسَاءُوا (plural of أَسَاءَ) connects to سَيِّئَة (ugly deed), from سَوْءَة and سَاءَ — meanings of ugliness and repulsiveness.
  • سَوْءَة is used for a corpse; سُوء and سَيِّئَة refer to ugly deeds.
  • Allah says He will compensate those who did ugly deeds based upon what they did.
  • He used عَمِلُوا (“they did”) which, unlike فَعَلُوا, denotes intention and deliberateness — linking ugly deeds with intentionality.
أَحْسَنُوا — Iḥsān & Ḥusn
  • أَحْسَنُوا (plural of أَحْسَنَ) relates to حَسَنَة (a good deed) and الحُسْن (internal and external beauty).
  • It captures deeds that are good outwardly and based on good intentions — beauty inside and out.
  • إِحْسَان means “to do something well or in the best manner”.
Balance in Recompense
  • Allah will repay those who have done bad based on what they did, but He does not say He will reward those who have done good “according to” what they did.
  • Instead, He says He will recompense them with الْحُسْنَى — the superlative “the ultimate/absolute best”.
  • This shows punishment is commensurate with evil, while reward for good exceeds the deed: those who do good receive Al‑Ḥusnā — beauty outwardly (e.g., Jannah) and inwardly (what one feels when experiencing its reward).

Summary of Key Lessons

  • Allah’s absolute ownership underlines purpose and accountability.
  • Two groups: those who do ugly deeds intentionally, and those who do beautiful deeds with good intentions.
  • Interjection highlights ownership between knowledge of guidance/astray and the consequence of recompense.
  • Reward outstrips the deed: Al‑Ḥusnā for those who do good.
Ayah 31