Death is decreed among humanity, and Allah is never overcome
نَحْنُ قَدَّرْنَا بَيْنَكُمُ الْمَوْتَ وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمَسْبُوقِينَ
“We have decreed (or calculated) death among (or between) you, and We are not to be outdone.”
Core meaning The ayah presents two tightly connected truths
1
Allah has determined death among people with measured precision.
2
No one can outstrip, overpower, or escape that decree when its appointed term arrives.
Language focus قَدَّرْنَا — measured, determined, assigned, decreed
Root family and meaning range قَدَّرْنَا
The word قَدَّرْنَا (Qaddarnā) comes from the verb قَدَّرَ, whose trilateral root verb is قَدَرَ. Its noun قَدْر can imply an amount or quantity. From the same root also come قُدْرَة, implying power and capability, and قَدِير, the one who possesses power and capability.
Main verbal sense تَقْدِير
The main meanings of قَدَّرَ are to calculate, determine, assign, and decree. Its verbal noun تَقْدِير (Taqdīr) refers to a calculation or determination.
وَالْقَمَرَ قَدَّرْنَاهُ مَنَازِلَ حَتَّىٰ عَادَ كَالْعُرْجُونِ الْقَدِيمِ
Surah Ya-Sin states: “And the moon, We have determined for it phases, until it returns [appearing] like the old date stalk.” This shows that قَدَّرْنَا carries the sense of precise measured determination.
Phrase insight بَيْنَكُمُ الْمَوْتَ — death distributed among you
The ayah does not say “We decreed death for you” using لَكُم. It says بَيْنَكُم — between or among you.
Not merely “for you”
Specifically “among you”
Indicates distribution
Implication of بَيْنَ بَيْنَ
The word بَيْنَ (Bayna) is used in Arabic to imply that something is distributed. So death is not presented here as a flat identical event, but as something apportioned among humanity according to divine decree.
What this means for human lifespans الْمَوْتَ
The determination of death varies among us: some die young and some die old. Just as rizq is distributed so each person receives a decreed share, death too is distributed among people according to what Allah has decreed.
Phrase insight وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمَسْبُوقِينَ — never outstripped or rendered incapable
The سَابِق (Sābiq) is the one who comes first in something, while the مَسْبُوق (Masbūq) is the one who has been beaten, preceded, or outdone.
Ibn ‘Ashour’s explanation السَّبْق
السَّبْق (precedence) is a figurative expression for overpowering and rendering the other incapable. To outstrip someone necessarily implies that the one ahead has prevailed over the one left behind.
Meaning in this ayah بِمَسْبُوقِينَ
Thus the phrase means: “We are not ones who can be overcome.” Allah is not outdone, outstripped, rendered incapable, or overpowered in this matter.
Synthesis The decree cannot be escaped, altered, delayed, or advanced
1
Allah alone decrees differing terms and varying lifespans among people.
2
Some are decreed to die young, and others are decreed to die old.
3
No one can escape or change that decree, because Allah is not overcome in it.
4
When a person’s appointed term arrives, he cannot delay it by an hour, nor advance it by an hour.
Key concept Measured determination
Death here is described with the language of calculation and assignment, not randomness. The wording points to exact divine measure.
Key concept Distribution among people
The use of بَيْنَكُم conveys that death is distributed among humanity with differing terms across lives.
Key concept Absolute divine power
مَا نَحْنُ بِمَسْبُوقِينَ emphasizes complete power: Allah is not overpowered, overtaken, or made incapable in carrying out His decree.
Ayah takeaway
This ayah joins precise divine determination with irresistible divine authority: death is apportioned among people according to Allah’s decree, with differing lifespans and appointed terms, and none can outstrip, defeat, or alter that decree when its time comes.