Arabiq Online - Arabic of the Qur'an

Sūra al-Zumar 39:52

Our Qur’anic Word today is the beautiful verb بَسَطَ - يَبْسُطُ which means to spread out, to extend, stretch or expand something. 

In the Qur’an it’s used in many places, so Qabil, for example, stretched (بَسَطَ) his hand out to kill his brother, but Hābil said he wouldn’t extend his hand to kill him. There are also other mentions of hands stretching out to kill, to drink water, and palms either being held tightly back in miserliness or extending out fully to give in charity. It’s also used to describe the dog of the Ashaab al-Kahf extending its paws out over the threshold of the cave.

Most of the time, however, it’s used with the word رِزْق (rizq - sustenance)، to describe the way that Allah (swt) spreads out His provision and sustenance:

أَوَلَمْ يَعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّـهَ يَبْسُطُ الرِّزْقَ لِمَن يَشَاءُ وَيَقْدِرُ ۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ

Do they not know that Allah expands the provision for whomever He wishes and tightens it [for whomever He wishes]? There are indeed signs in that for a people who have faith.

In this last few nights of the month of Ramadan, when we ask Allah to secure our provision for the coming year, let us remember to ask Him to يَبْسُطُ that provision and give it baraka, that we may, in turn, نَبْسُط  for others.