20 Preface وَما أَرسَلنا قَبلَكَ مِنَ المُرسَلينَ إِلّا إِنَّهُم لَيَأكُلونَ الطَّعامَ وَيَمشونَ فِي الأَسواقِ ۗ وَجَعَلنا بَعضَكُم لِبَعضٍ فِتنَةً أَتَصبِرونَ ۗ وَكانَ رَبُّكَ بَصيرًاYusuf AliAnd the messengers whom We sent before thee were all (men) who ate food and walked through the streets:1 We have made some of you as a trial for others:2 will ye have patience? for God is One Who sees (all things).Cf. above, 25:7, and also 26:92-94.In God’s universal Plan, each unit or thing serves a purpose. If some are rich, the poor should not envy them: it may be that the rich man’s proximity is itself a trial of their value. If some are poor, the righteous rich should not despise or neglect them; it may be that their coming within their sight is a trial for the real feeling of charity or brotherly love in the rich. If A is bad-tempered or persecutes or ill-uses B, it may be an opportunity for B to show his patience or humility or his faith in the ultimate prevalence of justice and truth. Whatever our experiences with other human beings may be, we must make them subserve the ends of our spiritual improvement and perhaps theirs too.